I Shall Become Organised Desktop...

Along with blogging comes a hell of a lot of things to think about and do, resulting in to do lists and photo's all over the place. One thing that I find makes it so much easier to plan with, is a desktop organiser. I had a gorgeous one on my last laptop, but I've not yet had it fixed, so I had to create a new one and thought why not share it with you guys? All I do is find an image on Google for the background, then I add the boxes and writing on picmonkey.com.

This is the one I created today...

Simply right click on the picture, click save as and then set it as you desktop background

Let me know what you think

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Weekday Wonders : Rowton Hall Edit

With an awful start to the year and things not having gone to plan so far, Dan and I most likely will not get the chance to go on a summer holiday, pulls a sad face, so when Dan was told by his work that he had some holidays to take before the end of this month, he immediately booked two weeks off and I booked the second week off, this week, so that we could at least spend some time off together, even if it isn't abroad. With this happening at such short notice, we didn't have the time or money to book and do anything extravagant but we did decide that a night away somewhere would be nice...

After settling on the decision to take a spa break, we found a great deal with Secret Escapes and booked a one night stay at Rowton Hall Hotel and Spa in Chester. It is only 12 minutes away from Chester Zoo, so naturally we decided to have one day in the spa and one day with some furry little friends!

On Monday we set out on our road trip to Chester, which took us around just 2 hours to reach, pulling up to the hotel we set our eyes on the most beautiful building, an old manor house turned country house hotel, originating from the 14th century, acquiring 37 rooms in total and with the friendliest staff, I have to admit me and Dan couldn't have been any more out of place!

We arrived at 12pm but weren't due to check in until 3pm, so we made use of the spa facilities which consists of a pool, sauna room, steam room, treatment rooms and gym. I would love to say I enjoyed a luxurious treatment but in all honesty we were happy just sat reading our books on the loungers by the pool and we popped in the pool and steam room for a bit towards the end. It was just nice to relax away from our computers, TV's and noise.

At 3pm we checked into our Executive suite and literally collapsed on the bed, it had already been a long day! I then forced myself up to take pictures as I wanted to show you guys how amazing it was! Dan adored the room, me not so much, I hate old fashioned decor and this was exactly that, don't get me wrong it was pretty, but I'm just a more modern kind of girl. The bathroom however was super dreamy, the kind you'd want in your own home, all white, with mirrors galore, perfect for selfies, yes I took plenty, and even a TV to watch whilst relaxing in the bath. I did take a long soak with my Bayliss and Harding soap petals, review to come, before I got ready for our evening meal.

We booked our table for 7.30, however when we arrived we were told to wait in the bar, after around 20 minutes we were given a menu to look at and our orders were taken shortly after but we didn't actually get a table until 8.30pm. I wouldn't have minded too much if they were rushed off their feet but it wasn't particularly busy. Our starters took a while to arrive and we didn't end up leaving until around 10.30pm straight after dessert, as much as I would have liked to have actually sat down at 7.30pm and eaten straight away, the staff were amazingly friendly, you are treat like royalty, and we did get free drinks because of the wait. The staff carry your drinks from the bar to your table, and when I asked where I could get water for my room, they told us it would be brought up to us and we weren't even charged, even though it was bottled water, I was seriously impressed! The food was out of this world, and I'm not good with food, I wish I could have photographed it, but it just wasn't the place.

We got up early the next day to get ready for breakfast, usually when we stay in a hotel we just throw on our joggers and a hoodie and I will go down to breakfast with no make up on, but with how posh the hotel is, every one was dressed well, with a full face of makeup even for breakfast! We then headed back to the room to pack, checked out and headed to the Chester zoo, which I will review in my next post...

Epic fail of my OOTD post when we arrived, didn't realise my scarf covered the whole thing...

Dress - Primark £3

Cardigan - Zara - Last year

Boots - RiverIsland - £38

Scarf - H&M - Last year

Bag - Primark - Last Year

Conservatory...

Spa...

In love with this bathroom, there's a shower at the side of the bath too...

Mirrors around the bath...

Aromatherapy Associates in the bathroom...

Evening meal outfit and selfie...

Dress - Primark £3
Necklace - Primark £3
Tights - Primark - Super Cosy Tights - £4
Shoes - Primark - last year
Watch - DKNY
Bracelet - Pandora
Nail Polish - A petal for your thoughts - Gelish
Phone Case - Ebay

Have you been to Rowton Hall Hotel and Spa?

Love

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Loving...#1

I love when bloggers share things that they are currently loving at one particular time because it gives you a little insight into what makes them tick and becomes another little interesting post to read alongside their usual topics. I've had a few things that I've wanted to photograph and share with you guys, but with them being in different categories to each other I was a little stuck as to where to put them, then the penny drooped, hours later, as it does, and I thought why not do a post of my latest loves? So here they are...

Fresh Flowers...

Dan bought me this gorgeous bunch of lilies and roses for Valentines Day and when we came home yesterday from our break away, we noticed that the lilies had opened up! It's so nice to have fresh flowers in my room, they smell amazing and they make me smile every time I see them.

Yankee Candle in Pink Honeysuckle...

When I went into Asda last week, I spotted some new Yankee Candle scents, one being this Pink Honeysuckle scent, I only got a votive as I wasn't sure on it at first but it smells so nice, fresh and floral and it's getting me really excited for spring. The scent of flowers and this candle filling my room is really perking me up at the moment, I may have to buy a larger size to see me through Spring and Summer.

IPhone 4s Case...

You can purchase it here for £4.79

Dan recently got a new contract and being as though my phone is on the blink and my contract isn't up until August, Dan gave me his Iphone 4s. With how clumsy I am, I knew I needed to get a case immediately and I took to Ebay to find one. I thought this one was really cute, it's well made and fits my phone perfectly and there's room for my bank card in case I accidentally end up making a purchase somewhere.

Trips away...

Me and Dan have been fortunate enough to take a few mini trips recently staying in various hotels and just spending some quality time together. Most have been business trips so we have been arriving late and leaving early, but when we went to Chester this week, I'm currently writing my post on this, we were there to simply relax and enjoy and it was nice to just have time away from all the madness going on in our lives.

What have you been loving lately? Do you think I should keep up with this post? Let me know in the comments below...

Love

The Brush Guard Brush Cleaning Kit

Along with having an addiction to makeup comes the need and want for makeup brushes, and as much as I love using them, I absolutely loath cleaning them. However if you don't want spots and you want your eyeshadow colour to be the one you've actually chosen and not a mixture of every colour you've ever applied, it has to be done. 

Working in the nail industry I often sit reading the latest Sally's Salon Services magazine whilst eating my lunch, yes I can multi task when needed and a few weeks back I spotted a brush cleaning kit by The Brush Guard, which seriously intrigued me. It is available online however I begrudge paying delivery charges and I wasn't desperate for it so I didn't bother ordering it. Then last week, my boss sent me to Sally's as we were running low on some products and whilst in there I spotted the brush cleaning kit, so I decided it was fate and bought it. Ooops! 

I must admit I became eager to test this kit out, as it does look pretty interesting and I thought it may make brush cleaning more fun, but I had to wait a few days to do so. ooo the itch!

The Kit...

The Brush Guard Cleaning Kit usually £13.99 now on offer for £11.19 Sally's 

(All Prices in this post are excluding VAT)

 Kit contains:

1 x Washing Cup

1 x Drying Vase

1 x Squeaky Clean Brush Shampoo

1 x Blotting Cloth

1 x Pack of Brush Guards ( 1 x L, 2 x M, 2 x S, 1 x XS) 

You can also buy these 2 items seperate:

1 x The Brush Guard Variety Pack £4.99

1 x The Brush Guard Squeaky Clean Shampoo £4.99

As you can see the Kit is amazingly good value for money, after buying both the above items, you could just spend £1.21 more and get 3 extra items! It would be silly not to.

The Brush Guard Cleaning Kit is designed to 'get the ickies out' i.e old makeup, skin cells, dust & dirt, oil and of course gunk. Whilst the brush guards aim to protect your brushes from damage whilst allowing them to dry and keeping their shape.

How to use...

Step 1 - First off you soak your chosen brush with water, i.e run it under the tap, then apply a few drops of the shampoo into the washing cup and rub the bristles of the brush along the bottom of the cup, which has a sudsing surface to allow the dirt to be removed whilst working up a lather to clean the brush. 

Step 2 - You can then rinse your brush under the water or like me rinse the cup, fill it a quarter of the way with warm water and continue to rub the bristles along the bottom of the brush, whilst swirling it in the water to ensure all the nasties are gone.

Step 3 - Blot the brush with the blotting cloth, I found it easier to gently press the brush between the folded cloth, to remove any excess moisture.

Step 4 - Reshape the brush bristles with your fingers.

Step 5 - Choose the correct brush guard for your chosen brush (there is a guide in the pack,) and slide this over the end of the brush up towards the bristles, and push it past the end of the bristles around a quarter of the way.

Step 6 - Place the brush bristles down in the drying vase and allow to dry.

Once the brushes are dry you can remove the brush guards to apply makeup, leaving the guards on whilst the brushes are not in use allows them to keep their shape and avoid damage.

My Thoughts...

I have to say my thoughts are very mixed on this kit! I love the kit, I think it's a fab idea, I love each part of the kit, I even love the towel, how sad am I? However I am a little dissapointed too.

Having only 6 brush guards, I should have picked up an extra pack and having lots more brushes, I left some bristles down with guards on to dry and the rest with the bristles up and without guards. I cleaned them at around 7.30pm Sunday night, so they would have all been in the drying vase around 8pm and when I came to use them around 10 am the next morning, around 14 hours later, the ones in the brush guards were still wet. The drying vase is supposed to allow the brushes to dry quicker, and so is gravity when their face down, but we can't exactly blame gravity here. It did only take a quick excess blotting for them to be useable, however they were still a little damp meaning my makeup didn't apply as well and I didn't have time to wait for them to dry. 

That being said, I found that the washing cup cleaned my brushes a hell of a lot better than the palm of my hand does and I do love that I have a pot to stand them in over night, rather than leaving them on a towel. I'd say it could be down to the fact that I just hadn't left them long enough to dry, however the ones without brush guards on were perfectly dry and there was a range of different sized brushes in the pot. I will give it another try and see how it goes, maybe next time I will do them Sunday morning ready for Monday morning and see if it works leaving them that bit longer. However it will not be a waste either way, as I can still use the kit to clean and will just leave my brushes to dry in the stand bristles up without guards when washed and use the guards when the brushes are in my makeup bag to prevent damage.

Overall I love the kit and think it will actually encourage me to clean my brushes more!

Have you seen the Brush Guard Cleaning Kit? Would you use it?

Love

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