Well, I don't know about you, but July has disappeared before my eyes! That's probably down to being off work; I'd hoped to get lots done before starting my new job but that hasn't really happened... I haven't really done anything exciting this month, to be honest, but let's have a little look at July anyway, if only for the sake of tradition!
Empties
Omg. So many empties. To be fair, the mascaras aren't actually empty, they've just reached that point where I'm very conscious that I've had them open waaaay longer than the six-month rule, so I've finally got round to rotating them out to try some new ones before I give myself an eye infection. #BadBeautyBlogger
Will Repurchase: The Body Shop Hemp Body Butter | You'll always find a Body Shop body butter or two in my stash, and the Hemp range is brilliant for my eczema-prone skin. // Swimovate Poolmate Swimmer's Shampoo | I love the coconut scent and this has seemed to work really well to prevent chlorine building up in my hair. Already onto my second bottle! // Carmex Lip Balm | I mentioned this in my post about beauty products I'll never be without, so you won't be surprised to hear I've already repurchased this little number, albeit in the Cherry version! // GOSH Forever Eyeshadow Stick in 'Beige' | I'm so sad to have finished this! It's the perfect cream shadow in a handy stick format, great on its own or as a base. I'll finish some other cream shadows first but will definitely buy again! // Neal's Yard Garden Mint & Bergamot Hand Cream | I loooove NYR hand creams and always pick them up when they're free with magazines! This one smelt lovely.
Might Repurchase: Merumaya Melting Cleansing Balm | I loved the texture of this on my skin and it worked well to dissolve make-up. I'm obsessed with trying new cleansers though so I don't know when I'll buy this again. // Merumaya Mud Marvels Mask | I really liked this mask, it felt like it did a good job of cleansing my skin without being harsh or drying. // Sure Bright Bouquet Anti-Perspirant | I never feel like spray deodorants are as effective as cream/stick ones, I just tend to keep one in my bag to freshen up - this did the job & smells quite nice! // Dr Organic Manuka Honey Conditioner | I'm still not 100% sold on the scent of this, which was very strong, but it did leave my hair feeling soft and well-conditioned.
Won't Repurchase: Superdrug Dry Skin Relief Lotion | I've had this ages, having obviously bought it before I figured out that my eczema hates Mineral Oil. I've used it up for the sake of finishing it. // Blistex Orange & Mango Lip Balm | This was a Poundland buy and whilst it smelt/tasted amazing, it wasn't the most moisturising, so I'd probably skip it in future. // Dove Maximum Protection Anti-Perspirant | I actually didn't mean to buy this (I thought it was the Sure one in very similar packaging) and it didn't work as well for me, so once I've used up the other one (trust me to buy two of the wrong thing!) I won't be buying again. // Tarte Gifted Mascara | Despite the packaging being bloomin' gorgeous, this was distinctly average as far as mascaras go, and it smelt weird. // Dr Organic Aloe Vera Shampoo | This smelt good but doesn't seem very well suited to my super-oily scalp - perfectly nice but not for me! // Maybelline Full N' Soft Mascara | I'm clearly not very loyal to mascara! This was alright, but I don't think it's actually even available in the UK? // Nuxe Rêve de Miel Hand Cream | Unpopular opinion alert; I don't really like the scent of Nuxe products. I just thought it was too strong in this, which isn't ideal when your hands are as sensitive as mine.
Sample Sachets
I've decided to stop doing my 'Six Mini Reviews' posts as they'd started to feel like an obligation rather than something I was writing because I wanted to... But I still want to share the sample sachets I've tried, so you'll be finding a wee round-up in each month's post!
Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra 24H Foundation | Good coverage but it didn't last brilliantly on my oily skin, so I wouldn't buy the full size (£30/30ml here) // Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Skin Therapy Oil | Well this smells incredible! The sachet got a bit messy but the pump on the full-size sounds ideal - I'm sorely tempted (£10.49/150ml here) // Clarins Multi-Active Day Cream | I think this is intended for skins more mature than my own, although it did smell really nice & left my skin well-prepped for make-up (£42/50ml here) // Dermalogica PreCleanse | I love a good cleansing oil and this worked really well! I'd definitely consider buying a full-size bottle, though it is pricier than I'd like (£34.35/150ml here) // FOREO Night Cleanser | I quite liked the texture of this although I wasn't keen on the scent - I did feel like it cleansed my skin well but probably wouldn't buy again (£30/100ml here) // Garnier Ultimate Blends Weightless Nourisher Balm | This actually made my hair feel so nice! If it weren't for the fact it's silicon-based, I'd definitely buy again (£4.49/300ml here) // Pilaten Black Head Pore Strip | I've tried this before and my views haven't changed; it's great for extracting every hair it touches, but didn't seem to do much for my blackheads. Also, ouch. (£4.10/60g here)
July Goals
You can catch up with the goals I set myself for July if you're interested in the full post... Otherwise, read on to see how I got on!
• Run at least twice a week. This has actually been a lot easier than I expected because I didn't renew my gym membership when it expired, meaning I've had no choice but to run. I've been running 3-4 times per week, usually around 3 miles, but on one occasion 7.5!
• See friends at least twice. Yep! One evening walk with a couple of friends and one pub quiz night with a larger group of friends - tick! Even if we did just mostly talk about Pokémon...
• Finish the month at least £600 from the bottom of my overdraft. I over-achieved on this by about £100, which I'm pleased about because my car insurance is due in August and I haven't had a proper payday in July! I've paid about £7 less in interest on my overdraft this month, so it's nice to see the hard work saving paying off a little. I won't be setting an overdraft goal for August due to the July payday/car insurance situation, but I'll be picking back up in September with a vengeance!
• Carry on clearing out in my bedroom. Oh-ho, I did this good and proper! I've taken about four bin bags full of stuff to the charity shop and thrown out a good load more - all the time off has been put to good use! I've cleared out a whole heap of things I was hoarding and replaced it with a new bookcase which I love. I addressed both the book situation and the top of my wardrobe, which were the two areas I mentioned in my goals post, so I'm happy with this one!
• Reach 3k followers on Twitter and 1k on Instagram. I hit my Twitter target around the 12th of July and am actually now well over 3.1k, so I'm pretty pleased with that one. I've had by far my best month in terms of growth on Instagram but fell short of my target, having been hovering around 980 followers for the last few days - so close, and yet so far. I'm hopeful I can hit that milestone in August, though! I've been making a lot more effort with Insta lately and have been really enjoying the platform. [If you want to follow me here, I'll send you virtual cookies!][Update to add: I actually hit 1000 around 10pm, yay!!]
July Loves
How cute is Kay's Clefairy-inspired make-up look?! Pokémon Go has really taken over this month and I love her creativity in coming up with this look!
I've been stalking Rhianna over at Robowecop pretty much non-stop lately (can we say "massive girl crush"?!) and basically love everything she writes, but her post about the dangerous side of wellness blogs really stuck a chord with me. Having worked with young people with eating disorders, I totally agree with Rhianna that a lot of the current "clean eating" movement can encourage extremely unhealthy relationships with food, which can be so incredibly destructive and in the worst cases, fatal. Bonus: her post on being relatable as a blogger is also a crackin' read!
Hannah shared her hilarious summary of 17 things that happen when you start playing Pokémon Go and it was disturbingly accurate!
I loved Charlotte's three-month update post about her gorgeous daughter Daisy Nelle. I've followed Charlotte's blog for years and have read with baited breath through the first six weeks of Daisy's life, spent in hospital; I was so pleased for them all when she was finally able to go home, and it's amazing to hear how well little Daisy is doing now!
Here on The Indigo Hours, favourite posts have included how to set goals (+ achieve them!), a 'Summer Styles' make-up look with the #BeautiesOnFire collab, and my top tips for nailing a graduate job interview. Make sure to check them out if you haven't already!!
July in Summary
It's actually been quite a weird month; I worked a few shifts at the start of the month in my old job, and spent most of the rest of the month waiting for DBS clearance to come through to start my new one. It's finally arrived and I've got a start date of the 1st of August (tomorrow! eek!) so July has been a bit of a limbo really. I meant to get a bit ahead with my blogging and get a few posts scheduled in so I'm not stressing when I do finally start the new job, but, erm, then Pokémon Go happened and I became utterly distracted with trying to catch a Jigglypuff, so we'll just have to see how August goes I guess! Please bear with me if things are here, there and everywhere over the next couple of weeks...
This ended up as a very lengthy post, so thank you for your dedication if you reached the end! How has your July been? I'd love to hear what you've been up to!
xo
[Photo credits to bloggers mentioned & linked. Post contains affiliate links.]
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