My Husband's Wife.

Lily is a young lawyer, newly married to Ed. In spite of her professional successes Lily is unsure of herself and their relationship is affected by her insecurities and jealousies. Their marriage is never easy and it becomes even less so when Ed abandons his day job determined to make his name as a fine artist. 

Carla is the daughter of their Italian neighbour. When Ed paints her the portrait sells to an anonymous buyer for a record price launching his career. Fifteen years later Carla turns up, out of the blue, on their doorstep. She is a stunning, self possessed young woman and Ed sees her reappearance as a chance to kick start his now flagging career - once again he paints her portrait. 

Meanwhile, Lily has become a well respected barrister. Her relationship with Ed has never been easy, now it's even more clouded by Carla's presence, and Lily's strange connection to Joe, a formerly convicted murderer.

I had had My Husband's Wife on my 'to read' list for some time, it had glowing reviews and I was keen to read this best seller. After fifty or so pages I was so frustrated by this book that I was ready to cast it aside, but I plowed on (because of all the good reviews) convinced that it would improve. Sometimes I should trust my instincts because I ended up hating this book, honestly, I thought it was terrible. 

The pace of the story was so slow, the author dragged everything out so much. The characters were not only unrealistic, they were unlikeable (for instance simpering Lily, supposedly a high flying lawyer yet the worst judge of character and totally lacking in self esteem...) The plot/storyline was very contrived and I felt that it relied far too heavily on bizarre coincidences that were highly unlikely to occur. Even the ending was a letdown  - a tangled confusion that, although it did tie up all the ends, did so in a very unsatisfying way. 

This was a bad book all round for me. I can't think of one redeeming feature of it and frankly I'm astounded by all those great reviews.

Not recommended.

Kiehl's Healthy Skin GWP.

Normally I restock Mr C&C's Kiehl's products whenever there is a Barney's Love Yourself event but this year he needed quite a major restock and I split my buys between Barneys and Kiehl's as they had a great GWP available with any $75.00 purchase. 

The Healthy Skin promotion had a choice of three makeup bags containing different selections of products and although my preferred choice was out of stock by the time I put my order together I am still pretty darn pleased with my second choice. 

I'm keeping the new Calendua and Aloe Soothing Hydrating Mask which I'm excited try after my next at home exfoliating facial along with the Calendua Herbal Extract Toner. I do remember purchasing this toner in the distant past so I'm curious to revisit it, it is alcohol free and looks super pretty as it contains actual flower petals.

I'm generously gifting Mr C&C the samples of Ultra Facial Cream, Midnight Recovery Concentrate and Daily Reviving Concentrate but I'm keeping a firm hold of the cosmetic bag that came with the gift, as for once the bag itself is the best part of the gift. Normally I'm all about the samples and I will gift or donate the bag that comes with GWP's (having said that I do have a fairly large drawer full of ones that I liked enough to keep!) but this one feels rather special.

It's the perfect size for a day to day make up bag and I like the design of it so much, I especially like the way the illustrations represent the heritage of Kiehl's. This bag is so well made. The fabric has a wipe clean coating on the outside, the zip is sturdy, and not only is it lined, it's padded so I won't end up smashing powders and compacts when I carry them around. 

Although this promotion is over if you love Kiehl's products it is worthwhile signing up for theirmailings as there are offers such as this frequently available.
There's also a members rewards program that offers a Lip Balm as a birthday treat, samples with every order and a yearly cash reward when you record your purchases. Kiehl's stores are a delight to visit but these days I tend to buy everything we need from them online as Ebates give a very generous cash back on Kiehl's purchases. You cam sign up for mailings at kiehls.com

And if you don't yet have an Ebates account why not open one at ebates.com? I will admit to having been pretty skeptical but it really does work. I pay my Ebates cashback into a Paypal account which I then use for Cult Beauty orders...Which makes my Cult Beauty purchases free! Brilliant!

Wholefoods Beauty Bag 2018.

Every spring WholeFoods Market have a big beauty sale. There's 25% off everything in their WholeBody beauty department and they also have a very limited amount of specially curated beauty bags stuffed full to the brim with samples and minis available for purchase. The bags are on a first come first served basis and usually sell out very fast so I hot footed it to my nearest WholeFoods on Friday morning when they were issued and managed to snag one. 

This year's bag cost $20.00 and was worth over $100.00 - well worth getting up early for!

And I really do love this year's bag, not only does it look great it is made by Piece & Co. Piece & Co  source their products from independent artisans and small businesses and create them from sustainable fibers with totally transparent business practices. (pieceandco.com). This year's bag is a striking black and white print and is made of the softest cotton. It is also fully lined, and has tassels (yay!).

Inside the bag there is a headband from another sustainable, empowering company satvaliving.com  which will come in handy when I'm masking. 

Even more excitingly there are also fourteen skincare and make up items!

Skincare items include:

Acure Brilliantly Brightening Facial Scrub (1fl oz), Alba Botanica Hawaiian Detox Warming Mud Mask (one time use), Andalou Naturals Hyaluronic DMAE Lift and Firm Cream (.14oz), DermaE Radiant Glow Face Oil (.13fl oz), Evan Healy Rose Cleansing Milk (1oz), Pacifica Coconut Water Cleansing Wipes (x10), Thayers Rose Petal Witch Hazel (3 fl oz), Trilogy Rose Hip Oil (.17 fl oz) and a tube of Weleda Skin Food (.34 oz).

There are three full sized make up items in the bag! A Mineral Fusion Bronzer Duo, a Burt's Bees Lipstick (mine is in the shade 'Brimming Berry') and a Lip Care Stick by Dr Hauschka. There is also a mini Mineral Fusion Mascara. 

And there's more! Also included were coupons for $10.00 off Satva Living products and $10.00 off Dr Hauschka purchases of $50.00 or more. 

All in all this is a fantastic beauty bag! I'm particularly looking forward to trying the Evan Healy Rose Cleansing Milk as they are one of my favourite green beauty brands. I'm also pleased to get the opportunity to try the Thayers Rose Petal Witch Hazel. The Dr Hauschka Lip Care Stick is going straight into my handbag.

I think that this is the best beauty bag WholeFoods have produced so far and I'm so pleased that I made the effort to shop early and managed to get one.

 (I also really enjoyed the Cheddar and Scallion Scone I picked up for breakfast!!).

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.

Eleanor Oliphant is a misfit, at odds with modern society, extremely lacking social skills and graces, but highly intelligent. Eleanor sees the world very much in her terms. Eleanor is stuck in a dead end job. Eleanor lives alone. Eleanor has no friends... As you can tell Eleanor is obviously very far from completely fine...

Following a series of unrelated incidents Eleanor tries dipping her toes into the modern world, as she experiences new things she begins to loosen up a little and become more social. Soon with the help of a small circle of new friends Eleanor also begins to also 'discover herself' and begins to see the tragedies of her past in a new light, finding that friendship and sociability can be both fun and rewarding.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine has had so much publicity and seems to have been on almost everyones' 'must read' list. Honestly, I'm a little puzzled why that is...

It is a well written book with great characters and Eleanor is extremely likable (if a little frustrating) but overall it's all just a bit of a strange story. I did quite enjoy it and I sped my way through it's 400+ pages but I didn't love it. The comic element never really took off for me and I found it was more of a depressing and somewhat emotional read rather than a funny one.

Overall it's not bad, it's certainly quirky, but it left me feeling a little confused and disconcerted (a little like Eleanor herself maybe?), and it left me wondering why so many people are talking about it and praising it while I failed to succumb to its charms.

The Chalk Man.

Jumping back and forth in time The Chalk Man is a creepy suspense thriller set in a small English village. In 1986 Ed and his friends are twelve years old. That summer is marked by three incidents in the village: a distressing fairground accident that the boys witness, the arrival of a strange new teacher at their school, Mr Halloran aka The Chalk Man, and the discovery of a body. Fast forward to 2016 and Mickey, an old friend of the boys is back in town proposing to write a book about the truth of what happened that summer.

I can't say too much more without giving too much away but is you like thrillers with a touch of supernatural suspense then this one's for you!

The Chalk Man isn't a long book but it has a fairly complex plot with twists and turns coming at you thick and fast. It's a dark read and there are some seriously creepy scenes. (If you're of a nervous disposition you may not want to read this alone in a dark house...) It's cleverly plotted and well written with a neat ending that explains everything, tidies up the loose ends, and finishes with yet another unexpected eerie twist.

Recommended.

White Fur.

Jamey comes from a wealthy, preppy New York family. Elise was brought up by her single Puerto Rican mother and spent her childhood in homeless shelters and public housing. When Yale student Jamey moves into a shared house next door to Elise's in New Haven, it is love at first sight for Elise and she is determined to do whatever she can to make Jamey fall in love with her.  Of course the path of true love never runs smooth, especially when there's a family trust fund and 'good name' at stake Jamey's family are prepared to do what they can takes to split the unlikely couple up. Will the couple from vastly different backgrounds stay together or fall apart?

I had White Fur on my 'to read' list for a while but I almost didn't read it when I saw it being compared to Lauren Goff's Fates and Furies which I was highly disappointed by when I read it a few years ago. I am so thankful that I decided to pick this book up because all I can say is 'Oh wow!' White fur is exceptionally good, if I read another book half as good as this is this year I will be very happy!

The writing is superb, some sentences are simply dazzling. The characters are wonderful and so believable and the situations the couple find themselves in are portrayed so vividly it feels as if you are actually right there. This story flows and progresses so well, there are moments that are simply spellbinding. 

A love story that will have you perched on the edge of your seat holding your breath? Yep, that would be White Fur!

I loved the story and I loved the characters, above all I loved Elise. She's a fantastic heroine with sex appeal, street smarts and strong values. 

Do yourself a favour and read White Fur, it's brilliant!

Highly recommended.

Barneys New York Love Yourself GWP Spring 2018.

It feels a little odd writing Spring when it's chucking down snow outside but at least yesterday when I went to Barneys to pick up my Love Yourself purchases and bag was warm and springlike!

Barneys Love Yourself event is one of my favourite beauty events to shop. Purchases of $200.00 or more (pre tax) get an amazing gift of samples, mini and even full sized beauty products all packaged in one of Barneys own design toiletry bags. These goody bags are always packed with a range of high end products and along with Space NK Beauty Edit bags are my very favourite gifts! Barneys offer either a male or female gift bags(I always get the female one!) and in addition to the bag itself many brands offer extra samples or small step up gifts with a certain amount of purchases. 

The Love Yourself gift bags always contain a mix of skincare, haircare and perfume items. This time around there is only one make up sample, which I don't mind as make up samples with the exception of mini mascaras are the samples I tend to use the least. There's also no body care items this time unless you count a mini tube of toothpaste as body care! 

It's certainly a skincare heavy bag although I can't see anyone being disappointed with this as a gift!

There are thirteen skincare items, including the standout item of a full sized box of five Vitabird Dual Mask Sheet Masks. I'm not a huge fan of sheet masks as a rule but I'm quite excited to try these out as I was so impressed by the Vitabird C powder that I received in the last Love Yourself bag.

Whilst I'm in the mask department I'll mention that there's also an eye mask from MDNA Skin included, a sample of Malin+Goetz Detox Face Mask, which is a deep cleansing gel mask along with a 20ml sample of The Organic Pharmacy Collagen Boost Mask. (I feel bad complaining about free samples but The Organic Pharmacy Mask has hardly any product inside - maybe three or four ml at the most - I hope I was just unlucky and they are not all like this. This would have been a great sample if it were full as it's almost half size and would have been worth over $50.00).

Moving on to other skincare items there are three cleansers. 5ml of classic Eve Lom with a muslin cloth, a tube of Cle de Peau Softening Cleansing Foam (excited to try this as I'm hoping it's similar to The Ginza Foaming Cleanser!) and a big 30ml sample of Sunday Riley Ceramic Slip which I'm very pleased about as I love this cleanser, especially in the warmer weather or if my skin feels a little congested.

There are two super fancy eye cream samples: Revive Anti Age Eye Serum and 3Lab Super Eye Treatment. These two samples alone are worth $71.00 which makes up for my Organic Pharmacy Mask disappointment! 

Finally for skincare there are four samples of luxurious face creams: Sisley Black Rose Skin Infusion Cream, La Mer Moisturising Cream, Georgio Armani Crema Nera Extrema and Chantecaille Anti Pollution Mattifying Cream.

There are four generously sized haircare samples including a tube of my favourite Oribe Gold Lust Shampoo. I also love OUAI Hair Oil and I like Davines Oi All In One Milk so I'll use all these up pretty soon. There is also a sample of Sachajuan Ocean Mist Salt Spray which I will eventually use, although not for a while as I have so many salt/texturizing sprays already from gift bags which is good as it means I never have to buy any!

There are six perfume samples including the 'his n hers' samples by LOEWE that seem to come in every Barneys' gift bag. Other perfumes are Maison Margiela By the Fireside, Tiziana Terenzi Andromeda (I just had a spritz of this and it's gorgeous! It's a fruity white floral with outstanding sillage.) and two very different rose fragrances - the very wearable Diptyque Eau Rose and Byredo Rose Noir which is a heavier musky, almost leather like rose. 

Final bag items are a mini Marvis Toothpaste, always a useful if somewhat odd inclusion in this bag I feel, and a mini Le Rouge Mat Lipstick from Givenchy is the shade 'Rouge Stiletto' which, although I adore anything by Givenchy, is not a wearable shade for me so I will pass it along to someone who can.

And now for the extra samples I received...

 As ever I used this event to stock up on items from Chantecaille and Kiehl's. 

Chantecaille's extra gift was a yellow reusable shopping tote commemorating their twentieth anniversary along with samples of a mask, serum and cream from their luxurious Bio Lifting range.

Kiehl's gave out luxury samples of their Super Multi Corrective Cream, Super Multi Corrective Eye Opening Serum and the classic Midnight Recovery Concentrate Serum.

I was also given three Diptyque samples. Along with their 34 EDT I was given samples of their new Fleur de Peau EDP and Tempo EDP. Both of these new fragrances are gorgeous! Tempo is exactly my kind of scent and although I had intended my next fragrance purchase to be Byredo Velvet Haze I'm now undecided after trying this... I can't get them both as they are actually very similar to my nose....ahh decisions, decisions!

I didn't picture my purchases as they are always so similar for this event - I definitely use it to restock rather than explore! But in case you are interested I bought Chantecaille Just Skin TM along with one of their Cheek Gelee cream blushers in the shade 'Lively'. From Kiehl's I restocked Mr C&C with a bottle of Midnight Recovery Concentrate Serum and a tube of Midnight Recovery Eye Cream.

My beauty cupboards are full to bursting now, and while I'm not exactly on a 'no buy' I've plenty of things that need using so it's going to have to be a super special deal to tempt me to buy anything soon!

If you've read this far and want some Barneys' beauty goodies for yourself (or as gifts?) the Love Yourself event is on until the end of Sunday 11th in stores and also online at barneys.com

Happy shopping! 

Empties: February 2018.

February has flown by - it always seems to as it is a short month! However, short or not I still managed to finish eleven full sized products and fifteen samples.

Skincare and Perfume.

I only used up five full sized skincare items. 

Mario Badescu Facial Spray with Aloe, Herbs and Rosewater has become a bit of a fixture in my routine. I use this inexpensive spray as a refreshing spritz and also as a second toner. I love the delicate rose fragrance of this spray, it's comforting and relaxing. This particular bottle is huge and I actually decanted it into a smaller spray so that it fitted on my bathroom shelf better.

F.A.B. Facial Radiance Pads are textured rounds soaked with exfoliating acids (fruit, glycolic and lactic). They are very convenient to use and are a good introduction to acid toning as they are very gentle. Personally I prefer something a little stronger and while I loved how convenient these were for traveling I most likely won't repurchase them as I prefer the more inexpensive Nip+Fab Glycolic Fix Extreme pads. 

Rodial Glamtox Night was a bit of a disappointment as I love the Cleansing Balm from this (now discontinued) range so much. This cream was thick and almost balm like. I found it sat on top of my skin rather than sinking in so it was of little benefit. I did like the jar/ pump packaging though.

I bought The Ordinary Lactic Acid 5%+HA 2% to compare and contrast it with my beloved Sunday Riley Good Genes. It's a thickish slightly tacky serum and although I can't say that it improved my skin very much there's nothing bad about it - especially as it is only $5.00! It lacks the silky feel and brightening and plumping effects of GG but it's a good budget option and I will buy this in the stronger 10% concentrate to try in the future.

I sadly used up the last of The Ginza Moisturising Emulsion. It's a very good basic moisturiser that's great for daytime as it layers so well with other products. I really enjoyed this but I believe that it is only available in Japan so I can't see myself using it again any time soon unfortunately!

Sample wise I managed to use up two cleansers. Alpha-H Essential Cleansing Balm was a rose scented no frills cleansing balm. It was a little thick in texture and I found that I needed to warm it up a little on my fingers before applying. It didn't do a very good job of removing eye make up but it did emulsify and rinse off easily and it had a pleasant rose fragrance. It's rare that I'm not enamored by a Chantecaille product but their Rice and Geranium Foaming Cleanser is a bit too soapy for my liking and I find the small exfoliating grains in it get caught in my hairline.

I used four different mask samples. Mizon Vita Lemon was a splash on Vitamin C mask. I found this messy to use and it also had no effect whatsoever on my skin. Revive Masque de Glase was a simple pink clay mask, it was slightly dry in texture (that may have been because it was a sample size). It was a good non messy clay mask that wasn't drying but if I was going to spend big bucks on a clay mask there are others that I prefer. I used a two pack of Caolion Masks - Pore Original and O2 Bubble Pore. I wasn't expecting to like these but they were dramatically effective! My skin felt very, very soft and my pores did indeed appear smaller! I also finished a sample of Sisley Black Rose Cream Mask. This is a truly luxurious hydrating mask,samples of these are always a real treat to use and it always leaves skin plumper and healthy looking.

Clinique Moisture Surge Concentrate is a new addition to the popular Moisture Surge range. It is a very wet feeling clear gel serum that as well as feeling cool and soothing is very hydrating.

I can see why everyone has been raving about Dr Jart+ Ceramidin. I found it to be an excellent moisturiser that had plenty of slip so that I didn't need to use much. It absorbed well and made my skin look and feel comfortable. This cream really felt as if it was 'giving something back' to my skin and it's top of my shopping list for when I next need a basic moisturiser. Sunday Riley CEO is an intensely orange scented gel cream moisturiser. I found it to be a nice hydrator but didn't notice any skin brightening effects. The scent was very zingy and uplifting - a little too bright for night time use but good for a morning pick me up.

Caudalie Vine(Activ) Eye Cream is nicely hydrating but other than smoothing out the under eye area I didn't find that it addressed any other eye area concerns such as circles and puffiness. It feels lightweight but is a little oily and does take some time to sink in so this is better suited to nighttime use.

I also used two samples of perfume. Maison Margiela Lazy Sunday Morning is one of those light clean fabric softener type scents - very inoffensive but not my kind of fragrance. Jo Malone Oud & Bergamot was a smoky Oud with fresh tea like notes, however like all other Jo Malone fragrances it lasted next to no time on me so I wouldn't purchase it. 

Haircare.

Miriam Quevedo Hydra Pure Shampoo was a lightweight sulphate free shampoo that lathered and rinsed well, leaving my hair in good condition. I was quite impressed by this colour protecting shampoo, it smelled good too. 

Protect & Oil was an Argan type hair oil that I used as a leave in conditioner, it left my hair soft and didn't make it look stringy or weigh it down at all.

Bumble and Bumble Don't Blow It markets itself as a fine hair styler. I'm not sure about that, but it was an exceptionally good leave in conditioning hair cream that kept frizz at bay and made my hair look smooth and sleek. I liked this so much that I already have a full sized one. 

OUAI Texturizing Hair Spray was so good! It left my hair looking tousled and added so much volume to it. This is my favourite texturizing spray right now.

Finally for haircare I used a full sized Pantene 3 Minute Miracle Conditioner. This was quite thickly textured, a cross between a hair mask and a conditioner really. It was okay, my hair didn't feel especially soft or anything when I used this so I wouldn't get it again as there are better drugstore conditioners out there for me.

Body Care.

This month saw me coming to the end of all my Space NK Life body products. I have had so many of these from a big TJ Maxx haul that it feels quite strange not to have any of them hanging around my bathroom anymore! These were all such great bath products that I picked up for a few dollars each and seeing these three together the clean graphic design of the matte packaging looks so fresh and modern. I liked the light scents of these, all of the body lotions were especially nice. I think Space NK should bring these back as a lower priced toiletry range... 

And of course Empties wouldn't be Empties without a handbag sized Crabtree & Evelyn Hand Cream. This month's was Somerset Meadow which smelled grassy, clean, and fresh.

That's all for February!

I've lots of samples on the go at the moment so while I'm doubting that I will finish too many full sized products in March I am expecting that there's certainly going to be quite a pile of skincare samples finished.