New Origins York Store!

As you may have guessed I'm a little Origins obsessed, so when I heard they were opening a second flagship store I had to go take a visit! Just a couple of seconds away from the minster is the new store and its in a grade II listed building which really adds character to the store.



The store is in two sections with a retail space on the ground floor and a Hygge sanctuary on the first floor. Decked out with furnishings from Oliver Bonas and Liberty print chairs its dream décor, the pictures don't really give it justice!




The sofa space is somewhere you can just go to relax, read a book or wait for a fabulous facial in the peacock print chairs. The old beams really add to the feel of the store and makes it feel very cosy.  I was pampered by the lovely Hannah with a fabulous facial and mini head massage.



The retail space downstairs is also beautifully designed to go and browse all the products. In my facial I tried out some of the new products including Modern Friction Cleansing Oil and Modern Friction Cleansing Stick. Having one the mini-facials is the perfect way to try out new products and give your skin a treat.                  



Make sure if your in the area to pop by and say hello to the wonderful team that work there and maybe treat yourself to a mini-facial. Its situated at 25 Stonegate, York, YO1 8AW.

Tiffany Does Lashes

This is one of the most exciting launches for me personally this year. My wonderful friend Tiffany who is a makeup artist has just launched her own line of lashes! They're human hair lashes and completely cruelty free, vegan and designed by her own fair hand!

 

There are eight different designs; So Fetch, You Can't Sit With Us, So Obsessed With Me, You're Like Really Pretty, You Go Glen Coco, Full Of Secrets and I'm A Mouse, Duh!


(You Can't Sit With Us)

(You Go Glen Coco!)

(I'm A Mouse, Duh!)

(So Fetch)

(So Obsessed With Me)

(You're, Like, Really Pretty)

(Full Of Secrets)

(On Wednesday's We Wear Pink)

I'm so proud of Tiff for creating these lashes, there are so many to choose from and can be reused if you look after them. For such easy to apply quality lashes they are priced very well. I'm also obsessed with the marble and copper packaging!You can pick them up over here: http://www.tiffanydoesmakeup.co.uk/shop/ you can also see pictures of Holly with the lashes on over on the website to get a better look at them!

Bannatyne Spa Day

For my birthday I went for a spa day with my mum at the flagship Bannantyne Spa in Clarice House in Bury St Edmunds. We had the Summer's Coming Spa Day package. I had a Bannatyne Facial, mini Swedish back and scalp massage. My mum had a Swedish back massage, leg massage and a Welcome Touch facial.



We were shown round the facilities and then shown where to get into our robes and slippers ready for our treatments. You wait in Reception for your therapist and was then led to my treatment room which was lit in purple and felt very relaxing for a coloured room! My skin felt so much better after my facial which was using mainly Elemis products -it was nice to try a new brand! I was very impressed with the Elemis Papaya Enzyme Peel, my skin felt so smooth after using it.



After my treatments I waited for my mum in the relaxation room, which had premium heated beds to lounge on and I now want one at home! The Spa also had a heated swimming pools, hot tub, detoxifying steam room and a sauna. You could also use the gym there.



We had lunch in the restaurant where I had a sirloin steak with vine tomatoes and chips and my mum had prawn sandwiches. The food was really nice but the chairs really could do with a revamp. It was odd having a lunch with everyone sat in robes but it was also relaxing.

Overall I had a wonderful experience and felt very pampered. I would certainly go back for treatments again. Which Spas have you been to? Let me know if there are any others you'd recommend.

BlondMe Haircare

I just thought I'd share with you a new shampoo and conditioner I've been trying out. I've been using the Schwarzkopf BlondMe keratin restore shampoo for all blondes and corresponding BlondMe conditioner for all blondes.



The colour of the shampoo is pearlescent which is really pretty and think it helps add shine to my hair. It smells really fresh and clean and I've found the smell sticks around longer than other shampoo I've tried. I think if I were to repurchase then I would maybe go for the cool blonde version just so I have more control over tone for my blonde rather than the all blondes.

The conditioner feels really nourishing and I can tell when I haven't used it. I think it's very important to look after your hair especially if you've colour treated it. Again smells lovely and fresh so that's a bonus. It is a heavier conditioner so I tend to not use this every time I wash my hair.

If you've tried any other shampoos or conditioners for blonde hair I'd love to hear your recommendations!

New Jewellery Bits

I just thought I would share with you some of my new jewellery choices I've picked up recently. Lately have been getting more into wearing jewellery and getting back into wearing earrings. I was looking around Lilac Rose in Cambridge which is a beautiful little shop, perfect for finding gifts or treating yourself to jewellery, clothing or other accessories. I came across two brands that I hadn't previously heard of  Orelia London and Estella Bartlett. I picked up the Estella Bartlett gold bee necklace and a multipack of earrings from Orelia when I was there. I had always wanted a little bee necklace and the Estella Bartlett one was the nicest one I had seen, other ones I had seen either didn't look very bee-like or was very large for what I was looking for. I just wish they did matching gold earrings!



I then saw on Lisa Angel's Instagram the Orelia Mini Coin and Horn Necklace in Gold which I thought was a very affordable dupe for the Missoma x Lucy Williams necklaces that I see all over Instagram. I purchased mine on the Orelia website because it had sold out on Lisa Angel so I think other people had clocked on to it being a good affordable dupe!

Winsor Bishop Jewellers

Winsor Bishop Jewellers on Trinity Street, Cambridge invited myself and other local bloggers to the store to be introduced to the brand and to try some beautiful pieces on. Winsor Bishop is a trusted independent family British jewellers established in 1834, based in Norwich and recently launching in Trinity Street Cambridge. Winsor Bishop is renowned for one of the ­best portfolios of Swiss watches in the country such as Patek Philippe, Rolex, Breitling, Omega, Bremont and Tag Heuer; all sitting alongside an exquisite collection of high end diamond, precious stones and pearl jewellery and the iconic Winsor Bishop House Collection.



The store on Trinity Street is so sleek and elegant, just like its jewellery! The staff were so approachable and welcoming. We were given glasses of champagne and little cakes while we tried on some of the beautiful pieces.



These are some of my favourite pieces I saw on the night. The diamonds they use are hand mined by an expert who travels the world to collect the jewels for the store, which are then designed in house. This means you can tweak designs or design your own piece which they can help





They also offer Jewellery Design, Watch Servicing & Repairs, Jewellery Services and Check, Valuations, Interest Free Credit and Pre-owned Watches.

They have also just launched Halycon Days in their store, where they have created a variety of hand-decorated and hinged enamel bangles.

I was amazed that for a solid style bangle how comfortably it sat on my wrist. They are an affordable option for gifts as well starting at around £85 which if you chipped in with friends could be an good gift option.

Vanity Tour!

Its come to the time that I have become happy with how I store all my beauty bits and pieces. I was on a fairly restricted budget as well as the space in my room was rather restricted to a desk about 100cm or smaller so it took me a while to get the right desk and drawers etc.



It is a bit of an IKEA fest with the desk, drawers, mirror, lights and some of the extra storage being from there. I got the white MICKE desk with the matching draws which fits perfectly in my tight space I had to work with. The mirror is the NISSEDAL mirror (you could also substitute this with the STAVE but I didn't like the colour with my room) and the MUSIK wall lights which we had to wire so that they could be plugged in as they are designed for a bathroom (this was very simple DIY and all over Pinterest!). The stool is LULEA* from Maison Du Monde, with my obsession with copper I had to get this stool with its copper legs!



The copper basket underneath my desk is what I used to store skincare in because I have a ridiculous amount of. I picked it up from H&M for £17.99 from their home collection. I also have another small Primark copper basket for new skincare or doubles of products that are new. As for other storage I have a old Nutella jar for my cotton buds, Kilner drinking glasses for my cotton pads and small brushes, SKURAR pot from IKEA for bigger brushes and a lipstick holder from Homesense (the little Hello sign was from Paperchase).



As for my other makeup storage I have the GODMORGON box with compartments on top of my drawers for my go to all the time makeup products. Then in my draws its all a bit free flowing other that the Ferraro Rocher lid that it containing some smaller bits of makeup in my draws. Finding draw dividers for these draws hasn't been easy as they are shallow and not that wide but the Ferraro Rocher box lid worked well!

 

With the large draw my pallets keep works as a sort of jigsaw so that they don't move around when the draw opens and closes. Even though the desk is small you can get an idea of how much you can fit in it here.



I hope this helps people have some ideas on how to store makeup and skincare!

*Affiliate Link