Little Lottie: February 2014

Monday 24 February 2014

High-street Luxury Bath Time.

I love to occasionally re-create a spa retreat in my bathroom and give myself that extra pamper. (Because we're worth it)

Usually my showers consist of the same old shampoo, conditioner, body wash and all that jazz but once a week I recommend a switch up, your skin and hair will love the sudden change and feels like your trying a product again for the first time.

I started by taking 2 teaspoons of cold-pressed coconut oil and melting it in my hands to make a hair mask. Slather this all over your locks and throw into a bun (it gets slimey) Whilst you're at it pat a small amount onto your face for a moisture zap!
Usually I would leave this overnight but this time it stayed on for a few hours.
Raw Coconut Oil - Holland and Barett £11
Into the shower I hopped and whipped out the new Herbal Essences Moroccan My Shine shampoo and conditioner, which may I add is superb. I stopped using Herbal Essences as it is very perfumed but my love of oils over-ruled with this purchase and I'm hooked again! Smells amazing, feels amazing, now I know why Nicole is always screaming in the shower. 
Herbal Essences Moroccan my Shine £3.79

After my intense conditioning sesh I tend to skip any after shower hair treatments but as a treat I will often rub in a nut size amount of the Toni and Guy prep Leave in Conditioner.
Toni and Guy Prep Leave in Conditioner
To make my skin as silky soft as my hair I coat myself in Lush King of Skin body bar which smells delicious and is so quick to apply, simply rub the crown shaped body butter in all the right places for irresistibley dewy skin. (Read my Lush review here)


After all that pampering I like to let my hair do it's thing then I roll it all up in my Superdrug foam sleep in rollers. For a final touch get into some fabulous pj's and add a hair wrap to keep those curls tight!  (I always pat some coconut oil under my eyes and on my lips for an overnight treat)
My shower set from Yesstyle.com


Coconut oil makes a great lip treatment


The results; effortless curls and hair like silk!

What do you use on pamper night?

Little Lottie xo



Lottie tries: Eye cream.

Eye cream... Is it a moisturiser, anti-ager or cover up?

Boots Simply Sensitive Eye Cream
Maybe at the age of 18 i shouldn't be concerning myself with eye cream at all but since some Boots vouchers came through my letter box and I  received one for discount on the Boots Simply Sensitive range I've had a little tube sat on my dresser.

I eventually tried it, after all, the skin under your eyes is one of the most delicate and should be looked after. I think that fact alone made me think I didn't want to irritate my eyes with lotions and potions and so hadn't bothered with the extra expense. 

Oh Boy was I wrong, I love it! It has a tiny price tag and the benefits of using it definitly show. Looking at the lengthy ingredient list on expensive eye creams often puts me off but this little beauty makes any under-eye concealer glide on! (There is none of that flaky/cakey look under your eyes when you're trying to hide the night before) 

I'm impressed with the moisture boost my little eye bags receive from this baragin and I encourage all ages to either use a moisturiser under eyes or go for something simple like this. 
Before
Dewy Afterglow

I personally use this after cleansing but try to avoid slathering it on over twice a day. You only need the smallest amount to create a gorgeous dewy effect that makes the eyes appear more awake.

A little disclaimer: I have sensitive skin that reacts to perfume but don't have any eye problems such as dark circles or puffiness so this works well as a treat for my eyes but I wouldn't be able to tell you if it works on noticeable problems.

As a natural alternative I use coconut oil under my eyes before I get some shut eye.

I hope this was helpful to anyone debating eyecream and if you know of any other benefitial eye juices let me know!

Little Lottie xo

Monday 17 February 2014

Around the World in 1 Blog Post

My main ambition in life is to see the world. 

I'm a bit of a homing pigeon so couldn't go backpacking for months but I definitely want to see the sites, walk on white sands and get a tan once in a while! 

I'm very lucky to have gone where I have and seen the beautiful places I’ve explored, so as I carry on making my way around the world one holiday at a time I will share my adventures.

(I apologize in advance for making anyone feel like holidaying)


Going WAY back to 2009 I took a rather small family trip to the Isle of Wight. The island isn’t far but with the sun shining on the pool and white sandy beaches I felt like I was a million miles away. The island is gorgeous and quaint with many white beaches and piers dotted about. We visited the white cliffs and of course the local donkey sanctuary!

Hanging at the white cliffs

Pool area 

My next destination was my first trip without my family and the longest trip I've taken to this day! With the promise of 2 weeks in China, seeing the Great Wall and learning the Chinese language I signed up for a school trip to Beijing. It goes without saying this was a once in a life time opportunity that I will never forget. The capital is gorgeous and impeccably clean despite the pollution and bad press they may receive. It was boiling at 40 degrees most of the trip however due to illness me and the group were kept in a hotel for over a week because of swine flu. This meant we missed out on the Chinese lessons but still had an amazing time!
Olympic Stadium, Beijing 2009

The Summer Palace, China 2009
Me at The Great Wall Of China, 2009
A year later, in 2010 I headed to Africa for a family beach holiday in Tunisia. This was an amazing experience but the culture is very different and sometimes upsetting to animal lovers like us soppy lot! After many falls off a banana boat, a henna tattoo and a few coliseum visits I was eager for the next holiday. 
Colosseum 

A spot of flying
 In 2012 I went to Turkey, Marmaris to be precise. This was an amazing family holiday although I missed my other half rather a lot (soppy romantic). I saw so many beautiful sites including turtles, tombs and mud baths! I consumed A LOT of exotic cocktails and had a bad night with a fishbowl but Turkey was one of my favourite places and I plan to go back this year to revisit the beautiful beaches and green covered hills. 
17th Birthday on the harbor

Beach 

Pigeon Tombs
Last year my sister and I took our first trip together without mum, we needed a girly break and wanted a cheap and cheerful holiday to get away from work and reality. We ended up popping into the travel agents one day with no idea where to go and walked out with a week in Spain! Despite the wind making it slightly chilly we had an amazing time, spent 2 full days in a theme park and went around Barcelona eating ice cream! We also experienced our first bar crawl and drank a lot of peach snaps. 
we had a swinging time ;)
Blustery Beach

Theme Park

Barcelona
Not too long ago in May my fiancĂ© and I went on our first holiday together, after 4 years together we wanted a romantic getaway and I was desperate to show him the world. We were soon on a plane to Cyprus for a week of…Rain. It rained for 3 dismal days and we started to lose hope in our luck but we had 4 days of sunshine that made it all worth it. We visited Paphos and ventured up in the mountains where we drank lots of wine and ate gorgeous meze. 
Enjoy the wine tasting

The famous theatre

Aphrodite's Rock


As life goes on, year by year I aim to explore more places. Travelling has become somewhat a passion, if you have any destinations you think I should explore leave a comment!

Little Lottie xo

Saturday 15 February 2014

Lottie tries: Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water

Gone are the days of using makeup wipes, now we want something as pure as... Well... Water!

Bioderma was huge in 2013 but with the likes of Garnier and L'Oreal making dupes for half the price and available in this country I just had to try it!

I'm all about the ingredients of a product, due to my rather sensitive skin I have to stay away from most skincare containing perfume and mineral oils so I scanned this label for any nasties and I’m impressed. Just the sheer fact that this product looked like water and screamed gentle at me meant I had to try it.

Before joining the micellar hype I was using coconut oil to remove makeup which is very luxurious but too heavy for acne prone skin like mine and so I had to opt for the lightest option out there. I soon found the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water sitting pretty on the shelf with its very familiar pink lid. ('doesn't Bioderma have that lid?')

I was very impressed with how little of the product you actually need on a cotton pad to effectively remove all makeup, the bottle still seems full even though I've been using the product for weeks! There is nothing I love more than a purse friendly beauty item.
I wouldn't say it's extremely effective on waterproof makeup without lots of scrubbing but for the price I can't complain.

I love the fact you don't have to wash the cleansing water off so even after a few cocktails there is no excuse not to take the slap off ladies!

If you know any natural makeup removal recipes, let me know.

Little Lottie xo
 






Friday 14 February 2014

Beginnings


Today I start my blog. 

I should probably start by introducing myself . Welcome to Little Lotties! My name is Charlotte, I live in beautiful Cornwall and I'm an 18 year old girl with very normal problems! Im a very normal girl in a very normal world, but just maybe I could put a smile on someones face.

Little Lotties will my tiny space on the internet to make a difference to someones day or perhaps you will take one look and move on but whoever you are... Hi.  

I start my blog as not only a place for me to express via keyboard but because I seem to be constantly on the hunt for the perfect products, emptying my purse along the way in hope that a bronzer or lipgloss could make me the perfect version of myself. I hope that by reviewing and sharing my tips I can help any other damsels in distress and maybe find my perfect product along the way!

Makeup and girly necessities are things I enjoy but I also want to face challenges and insecurities - mainly being my anxiety and skin issues. The internet can often seem very intimmidating but it's so easy to sit behind a screen and forget all of that whilst I babble on about the latest beauty phenomenon to hit the shelves at Boots.

But for today lets keep it simple ;)

Little Lottie xo