The Girl Before.

Imagine if you had a chance to live in a beautifully designed home in a cool London neighbourhood and only had to pay a fraction of what such a house normally rents for. Would you be tempted? Of course you would.

How about if you had to pass a stringent series of interviews to gain occupancy? How about if the house is an experimental piece of technology that senses where you are and what you are doing? Or even, how about the house anticipating your behaviour and understanding your thought patterns? It's beginning to sound less appealing right?

And then you find out that the previous tenant had died inside the house in mysterious circumstances? Would you still be tempted? Maybe not...

Well that's the premise of The Girl Before. 

Nicola is looking for a new start and is delighted to have been selected to live in such a fabulous house, however, not long after she moves in strange things start to happen inside the house. At first she puts it down to blips in the house's sophisticated tech systems but then things start to occur that appear to be both menacing and personal. When Nicola finds out about the death of Emma, the houses previous occupant, she starts investigating and things become even stranger and more frightening.

The Girl Before is a fast read told in a series of short chapters alternately narrated by Emma and Nicola. While I did enjoy the book, finding myself eager to pick it up to find out what happened next I was at odds with a large part of it. 

It's a tale centered on two women, written by a man, and large parts of it simply didn't reflect how a woman would behave or react. There were some truly cringe making sex scenes that were both unnecessary and very badly written, I'm also still pondering why Nicola, who casually threw on Prada dresses, needed subsidised rent!

Bad sex and unlikely female behaviour aside this is an intriguingly plotted thriller that progresses quickly. There's a sense of unease throughout the book and a twist in the ending that I wasn't expecting but the author and editors needed to pay more attention to how real women act and feel to make the story more credible. 

Cleansers: Summer 2017.

Once again it's time to take a seasonal look at the current crop of cleansers I'm using. (I don't use any of these to remove eye make up by the way - my eyes are very sensitive so I always use a separate specific eye make up remover product.) 

 Now that it is hot I'm all about beauty products that feel cooling and fresh on my skin. I don't need to use products that are quite as thick or nourishing as the ones that I use in the colder months but 

 I need something that is effective enough to remove heavier sunscreens whilst still being gentle on my skin. 

 My current selection features a couple of old favourites and a couple of newer (to me) products. They are all pretty light formulas, I can't deal with a thick balm or anything too oily when the temperature is scorching so let's take a look...

Mario Badescu Cleansing Gel.

It's been a while since I have had a bottle of this on my shelf but it's an old favourite that not only does a great job of both removing make up and cleansing skin but is also wallet friendly. I must admit that I had my reservations when I first used this some years ago - it is a lurid shade of green and it's old fashioned fragrance is incredibly strong - but it feels lovely, rinses away easily and leaves my skin feeling soft and looking clear and bright thanks to gentle fruit acids that lightly exfoliate. This doesn't sting my eyes at all so it's a good face wash to keep in the shower. 

I do hate the ugly home made looking packaging of this but I like the product so much I'm willing to overlook it! 

ulta.com

Tata Harper Purifying Cleanser.

This may well be my favourite cleanser! Like the Mario Badescu Cleansing Gel it is non foaming and lightly exfoliates with fruit acids but it does everything that Mario does just a little better and it feels so much more luxurious. 

I love everything about this lightweight non foaming gel but I particularly enjoy it's zippy uplifting fragrance. This is far too good to use to remove my make up so I use this purely for second cleansing at night or as a morning face wash if I need something to awaken me. There's nothing I don't like about this - although it's expensive you only need to use a little so a bottle lasts for quite some time and it's a very pretty bottle to have hanging around at that.

us.spacenk.com

Lierac Cream Cleansing Milk.

Lierac is a French pharmacy brand that is very much overlooked in my opinion. It's not the easiest to find in the USA but whenever I come across it I try to pick something up and so far I have loved every product that I have tried from them. 

I'm not normally a fan of cleansing milk finding them often to be too liquid to be effective and somewhat messy to use but this is thicker than most other milks that I have tried with more of a body lotion like feel which means that it is perfect for massaging into your face. It's not at all greasy yet it dissolves make up like a dream and rinses off easily. It also cools and soothes skin on application and I like it so much that often I will use it as a first and second cleanse particularly if I feel that my skin feels irritated or needs some extra moisturising.

dermstore.com

Soap & Glory The Ultimelt.

TBH I've got somewhat mixed feelings about this thick creamy cleanser. It's easy on the pocket and comes in a practical tube that makes it a cert for your travel bag. It's a truly lovely consistency, thick and creamy but lightweight at the same time and it melts away make up almost instantly. But sometimes when I use this it makes my skin feel a little prickly - it doesn't make me red and it's not all that often that it does but there is something about the particular blend of oils in this cleanser that doesn't quite agree with my skin and makes it temporarily uncomfortable. And that's a real pity because other than that it is a very good product. I've almost come to the end of this and sadly, because there are a lot of aspects of this that I liked, I won't be getting it again.

ulta.com 

May Lindstrom The Pendulum Potion.

This is the only product left from my post about Spring Cleansers. 

Although it is intended to be used as a cleansing oil I use this as more of a treatment once or twice a week when I press a few drops of this into my face before I shower. Once in the shower the steam helps it absorb and when I get out my skin feels softened and clean. This does a good job of relieving any congested areas that I may have and it smells very aromatic. It is expensive but using it the way I do it will last me for quite some time so I expect it will be here again when I look at my Autumn round up of cleansers!

maylindstrom.com 

I feel that this is a rather pared down streamlined collection of cleansers compared to some previous selections of mine but it covers all my needs and sometimes it's nice, not to mention easier, to have fewer choices...

Into the Water.

There's something a little sinister about the picturesque English village of Beckford set on a river. At it's center is the Drowning Pool, a deep turn in the river, where centuries ago young women who were suspected of witchcraft were drowned. Over the years quite a few troublesome women have met their end in the same water...

Then, over the course of a recent summer, the pool takes the life of a teenage girl, and a single Mother who is obsessed with the pool and it's history. Did the two women commit suicide or is there a more sinister explanation of their untimely deaths?

Into the Water is the much awaited follow up to Paula Hawkin's wildly successful The Girl on the Train. It is a very different type of story but I found it to be just as dark and captivating. 

Told in a series of short, almost bite sized, chapters by the inhabitants of Beckford the story leaps backwards and forwards in time. It is a complex tale with many layers and narratives that fuse together drawing a dark picture of life in a village touched by sinister mysteries, secrets and witchcraft.There's also a truly unpredictable ending, revealed as the intertwining threads of the characters stories mesh together, that is very satisfying.

Into the Water was expertly plotted and written and I was engrossed in the tale until the very end. I found it to be a very satisfying book that stood up to the hype surrounding it. Do you know, I think I even preferred it to The Girl on the Train?

Recommended.

Party Girls Die in Pearls.

Ursula arrives at Oxford University eager to study and perhaps attend a few balls and parties. That is until she discovers the body of one of Oxford's elite students who has been gruesomely murdered. Ursula and flamboyant American student Nancy are soon swept up in a web of blue bloods and intrigue. Plunged into a whirl of dinners and parties the duo become amateur sleuths (and Ursula is asked to write the lead story in revered college newspaper, The Cherwell) as they try to solve the murder mystery whilst navigating their way through the upper crust social scene.

Party Girls Die in Pearls is the first comedic murder mystery from Vogue contributor Plum Sykes. It's a light hearted romp through 1980's Oxford peppered with larger than life characters. It's a traditional English style 'whodunnit' Agatha Christie type murder mystery, not a modern day psychological thriller. The story zips along and it is an easy and amusing read. 

I didn't love this, the plot was pretty good but I found that the characters were all a little over the top and their high class antics became somewhat tiresome and repetitive after a while. The best part of the book for me were the fantastic descriptions of 1980's fashion that were spot on and evocative. 

I have read the author's two previous books and found that I preferred them to this one but if you like an old fashioned mystery with a touch of humour and high fashion Party Girls will doubtlessly keep you entertained.    

Walmart Beauty Box (Trendsetter) Summer 2017.

Walmart Beauty Box is a subscription box that ships to you four times a year once you have signed up for it. Containing an assortment of full sized products, samples and money off coupons the box itself is free and you pay just $5.00 a box for shipping. There are two variations of the box intended to appeal to different age groups, I receive the Trendsetter box which is aimed at younger shoppers, there is also a Classic box for older shoppers.

Simple Cleansing Face Wipes (7 wipes).

I very rarely use wipes myself but Mr C&C likes to use them to freshen up so I'm always okay with receiving them in boxes as I can pass them on to him.

Pantene Dream Care Shampoo (1.7 fl oz).

Pantene Dream Care Conditioner (1.7 fl oz).

 For some reason I don't often purchase Pantene but I usually like their products whenever I do. I'm always happy to get minis of shampoo and conditioner as they are so handy to take on short trips. These samples are a decent size, they have a fresh, clean scent that I like and they both claim to hydrate and moisurise hair. 

Real Techniques Brush Cleansing Gel (.25 fl oz).

Strangely, I'm rather excited to try this brush cleanser, 

I love Real Technique brushes so I have high expectations for it! 

I'm kind of slack when it comes to cleaning make up brushes so I enjoy getting samples of brush cleansers for the simple reason that it forces me into doing it.

Eco Tools Mask Remover Sponges (2 sponges).

These two sponges are made of wood pulp (cellulose) and as well as removing masks can be used for daily cleansing, apparently they also gently exfoliate while removing excess product.TBH I'm not sure about them purely because I'm so devoted to using flannels/washcloths and I hate the feel of certain cottons and tissues on my face but I will willingly try these next time I use a mask. 

Got2B Ultra Glued Styling Gel (1.25 fl oz).

I never use hair gel so this is going in my giveaway pile. The fact that the packaging contains the words 'invincible' and 'ultra glued' scare me into thinking that this will result in hard crispy hair! 

Impress Press On Manicure (30 nails).

These are very summery. The pack I received contains a mix of anchor designs, nautical stripes, and a coral-y red. They are very cute, but not my style at all, so it's another one for the giveaway pile.

Smile Direct Coupon.

The box also contained a coupon for Smile Direct Club which was worth $155.00 towards online cosmetic dentistry (basically teeth straightening). I won't use this as cut price medical procedures scare the hell out of me and it seem to be too good to true so there has to be a catch somewhere right?. 

Overall.

I've said this before but I really don't think that you can go wrong with the Walmart box. It is so inexpensive and the fact that it only ships quarterly means that you don't get bogged down with repeat products. 

Sure, I didn't love everything in this month's box - the press on nails and hair gel hold no appeal whatsoever for me - but the face wipes, shampoo and conditioner are all practical and useful and I look forward to testing out the mask sponges and brush cleaner. I don't know the value for all the items in the box but the value of the ones that I will use add up to more than $5.00 so I'm happy.  

You can sign up for Walmart Beauty Boxes at walmart.com. 

Details and sign up link can be found under 'special offers' in the online beauty section and you can sign up for both variations of the box, 'Trendsetter' and 'Classic' if you wish.

Empties June 2017.

Due to my heavy use of sample sachets last month, June's empties pile is somewhat smaller than usual. As well as plowing through my stash of sachets I also made an effort to use up as many perfume vials as possible and to repurpose samples of foamy face cleansers as body wash and so I managed to use up twenty two non sachet samples and four full sized products.

Skincare.
I finished a full sized Sunday Riley Ceramic Slip Cleanser, a repeat purchase that I especially love to use in warmer weather, it feels cool, fresh, and soothing, and leaves my face feeling clean and balanced. La Roche Posay Serozinc was a cooling and calming hydrating spritz of mineral water containing zinc. I liked it but didn't find it to be any different to any other 'tins of water' that I have used.
The Ginza Creamy Foaming Cleanser and Energizing Lotion are both wonderful products that I have used before, my skin feels soft whenever I use them and is less prone to redness and congestion. I also enjoyed re-using REN Glycol Lactic Mask. This fruity gel mask always feels such a fun product and gives impressive results, leaving me with a brighter clearer complexion in just a few minutes.
Weleda Almond Soothing Facial Lotion was a good basic moisturiser that absorbed well, felt soothing and was delicately scented with almonds. VenEffect Anti Aging Lip Treatment was a lightly textured white cream that smelled of apricots. I used it as a lip balm but didn't find that it left my lips noticeably different in any way.
Finally, from my skincare stash, I re-purposed three samples of Malin+Goetz Grapefruit Face Cleanser and a generously sized sample of Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel as body washes as I found both of them to be too drying to use on my face.

Haircare.

I really enjoyed Ouai Hair Oil which smoothed my hair without weighing it down or making it look/feel greasy, it smelled great as well. I was disappointed with Davines Oi All in One Milk, I love the oil in this range but I found that the milk didn't do anything apart from detangling my hair, the ends were still frizzy when I used this. I also found the packaging unpractical - the product is quite thick, almost like a serum, so it didn't work in a spray on format.

Body care.
I liked both of the body lotions that I used this month and they were both ones that I had used before. Space NK Life Jump Start Body Lotion is light and easily absorbed but it packs a good punch of hydration and it's citrus scent tinged with mint is very uplifting and awakening. Vaseline Intensive Care Advanced Repair is an unscented cream that isn't at all greasy but is intensely moisturising, it   feels basic but is very effective. 

Make Up and Perfume.
I managed to use up two mini mascaras. I'm not a fan of ByTerry Mascara Terrybly as in addition to it's awful pun of a name I find it has a tendency to flake off throughout the day. I did quite like The Essential Mascara by Kevyn Aucoin,  it's formula is somewhat dry but I like it's curved wand that add curl to lashes as you apply it very much.
I finished nine perfume samples this month. I really like Tam Dao by Diptyque which is woody and spicy and warm. I also enjoyed Diptyque Geranium Odorata, a peppery floral and Etat d'Orange Libre Encens et Bubblegum which is sweet yet smokey and a good summer scent.
Tom Ford Oud Wood and Byredo Blanche were both okay but I didn't particularly like them and I wasn't at all keen on Atelier Cologne Mandarine Glaciale or Maiyet for Barney's. I disliked both Lady Gaga Fame and One Direction You&I so much that I could not wear them and used them as room sprays simply to use them up.

July sees me back to using 'real' products rather than sachets so I'm expecting a much bigger pile of empties than this at the end of this month.

Month of Foil 2017: Empties and Comments.

What's a 'Month of Foil? 

It's nothing complicated I simply concentrate on using up all the sample sachets of product I have accumulated in an effort to use up old product and declutter, I try to do it once a year.  

If I had multiple samples of the same product I used them up one after the other. Obviously with only one or two applications of product it's difficult to form a proper opinion of results (although I could pretty much tell with a couple of uses if I didn't like something) but if I had multiple sachets the cumulative use of them allowed me to be a better judge of them.

How did it go?

Well, if I say so myself, I had a rather successful month and I managed to use up a total of 132 foil sample sachets.

I was out the gate running with this project as I had plenty of samples to choose from and on the first day I opened a lot of sachets! I started ripping sachets open but soon found that some sachets are better made than others and after a few messy openings I learned to keep a pair of scissors to hand to avoid spills and waste. I did find that even with neatly clipped corners it was easy to squeeze out too much product and I certainly used more product than needed on quite a few occasions to use up what had oozed out or to finish a sachet if there wasn't enough product left for a second application.

On day one I was full of enthusiasm but when day two dawned I must say that I wasn't thrilled by the prospect of only using samples. Luckily I had a good selection to choose from and by the time I had had a rather luxe morning shower (Tata Harper face wash, Rahua shampoo and conditioner, Jo Malone body wash and body lotion and a spritz of Diptyque) I was back on track.  

After a week I was a little fed up of samples and took a night off and made a routine that incorporated all of my favourite skincare items. The next day I felt a bit guilty and was enthusiastically back on the sachets!

Two weeks into the project I was accustomed to using sachets. I had got into the routine of selecting different products each day and choosing what to use up next, although I'm not sure if that was because it was easier as I had less choice of products perhaps? I had by this time used up lots of odds and ends and had used up certain categories of product such as body lotions and cleansers so I was back to using full sized products for at least some of my routine.       

At the end of the month I was pleased to have put all those samples to good use. I had discovered a couple of new products to put on my shopping list and tried out a few things that I didn't like at no expense. A couple of times during the month I dipped into my usual products if I felt my skin needed special treatment/attention but overall my skin looked pretty good considering how many different products and combinations I had used on it - I did have a lot of samples though so I could still tailor my skincare needs.

The Products. 

Skincare.
I used sixty three samples of skin care over the month. Eleven of these were cleansers but I did use two sachets of Kiehl's Calendula Face Wash as body wash as I find it to be far too foamy and drying on my face. In addition I used a sample of exfoliator, SW Basics Exfoliant which was fairly gentle but frankly felt odd - I was rubbing a bunch of pantry ingredients on my face. I also opened two face wipes, although I didn't actually use the Olay Daily Facials as it stung as soon as I put it on my face.
I used seven sachets of eye cream. I loved Dior Prestige Concentrate Yeux but both Dermalogica Total Eye Care SPF 15 and DHC Eye Bright made my sensitive eyes smart.
I used fourteen sachets of serum. I enjoyed the four sachets of Kane NY Serum Savant that I used but it is very expensive. Chanel Hydra Beauty Serum and Dr Dennis Gross Ferulic and Retinol Wrinkle Recovery Overnight Serum were also very good and I would consider buying both of them.
I had many sachets of facial moisturiser so I picked the ones that I liked the best to use. In the end I used eighteen sachets of moisturiser and five sachets of face oil. The creams that I liked the best were Dr Sebagh Vital Cream, Kate Somerville Goat Milk, Kat Burki Vitamin C Intensive Face Cream, Sunday Riley Tidal, Bakel Oxyregen, and Belif The True Cream Moisturising Bomb.
Finally I used five sachets of masks and one sheet mask. I prefer a mask that applies directly to the face rather than a sheet mask, and the best masks I used were Tata Harper Resurfacing Mask and Fresh Rose Face Mask.

Haircare.
I used thirty nine sachets of hair care, seventeen were shampoos and twenty two were conditioners. I did intend to use a hair mask but didn't manage to get around to it... I loved using Rahua again, I had almost forgotten how good it is, and I also enjoyed the Oribe Gold Lust products. I must say though that I find it so annoying that shampoo and conditioner samples are both the same size ( with the exception of samples from Shea Moisture) as no matter how hard I try I always end up using more conditioner... 

Body Care.
I used twenty one sachets of body care products. Four of these were hand lotions and of these I found the Diptyque Hand Lotion and Mario Badescu Hydrating Hand Cream to be very good.
I used five sachets of shower gel and I really enjoyed the Jo Malone ones which were strongly fragranced and left my bathroom smelling wonderful. I would buy these rather than Jo Malone perfumes, they were that nice.
I used two sachets of body oil which I found them to be very messy in this format and ten sachets of body lotion. I had three sachets of Amlactin Restoring Body Lotion which was very rich and emollient but smelled so awful I could only use it on my lower body.

Make Up and Sun Screen.

I used nine sachets of make up. Four of these were primers. I found YSL Forever CC Primer to be very thick and uncomfortable and it left a very noticeable white cast on my face. DHC Velvet Skin Coat was a waxy silicon primer, I find these to react badly with my skin so I didn't even attempt to use it. Luckily I had a sachet of Hourglass Veil to restore my faith in primers!
 I also loved Too Faced Shadow Insurance, it was the best eye primer I have ever tried and I will certainly get this when I next need an eye primer.
I used two sachets of tinted sunscreen, neither of which I liked all that much and two sachets of foundation of which I found Chanel Ultrawear Flawless Foundation to be way too matte and dry looking but Dior Nude Air was very good, it was light and natural looking and lasted very well even in hot weather - I may have to splurge on this!

And that's it for foil samples for the moment. I still have a few in stock but I'm looking forward to using my 'normal' products. As ever I found this month to be a useful exercise that pointed me in the direction of both a few things to purchase and a few to avoid.

He Said, She Said.

Kit and Laura are a young couple at a festival in Cornwall celebrating a solar eclipse. Immediately after the eclipse Laura witnesses a brutal crime. Wanting to help Beth, the victim, Laura stands as a witness for prosecution at the trial of the perpetrator who is found guilty and imprisoned.

Fifteen years later, after traveling the world to witness other eclipses, Kit and Laura are still devoted to each other and are awaiting the birth of twins. But things aren't exactly normal... Both of them are guarding deep secrets from each other and they are living unobtrusively under false names, fearful of Beth discovering their whereabouts.

 Soon, the past will catch up with them in dramatic ways. 

I have been reading a lot of thrillers lately and this one was so good - the plot is extremely clever and the writing is superb. An air of tension and edginess is present throughout the story making it thoroughly absorbing. I couldn't wait to pick He Said, She Said up again whenever I set it down. 

Some readers have complained that the story is too slow and drawn out but I didn't find that to be the case. There were a few times when the behavior of Kit and Laura seemed to be too needy and desperate but that all made sense when I reached the end of the book. 

And what an ending! It was such a surprising one that I would never have guessed it, and while it wasn't quite the ending I wanted it didn't detract from the book's appeal at all. 

Recommended.