Onken Raspberry & Honey Yoghurt!

Okay, so anyone who knows me knows how much I love eating granola and yoghurt for breakfast, and this usually comprises of Jordan's Super Berry granola (A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!) and some Greek-style yoghurt with honey flavouring, occasionally with berries scattered on top. Beautiful.

Having been in this habit for quite some time now, when I was picking up some more honey yoghurt I noticed, out of the corner of my eye, what I believe to be the most glorious sight in my life this month.

Onken's Raspberry and Honey Yoghurt.

Has this ALWAYS existed?! Have I been stupid and blind?! HOW have I not ever seen this before?

Resisting the childlike urge to grab 6 before I realise that they are a figment of my imagination, I picked one up and practically ran to the till, desperate to get this home and try it. And wow. My gosh I was not disappointed.

This tastes INCREDIBLE. Seriously though, amazing. The raspberry isn't at all artificial tasting, and neither flavour is too overwhelming. I occasionally find raspberry yoghurt to be slightly sharp, but the honey in Onken's product offers an ideal balance for this, and it truly is GREAT with granola.

Seriously, guys, you have to try this stuff.

I'm, like, fangirling Onken SO hard right now.

Healthy & Sensible Sleep!

It's a well known fact that some people can get to sleep quicker and with more ease than others. I have a good friend who is generally asleep just ten minutes after her head hits the pillow.

SORRY WHAT? HOW?

Seriously, I can't do that.

I have over time, however, developed my own, erm, 'tactics' to get a better night's sleep, which I find particularly effective at stressful times (exam season and the like) where the precious, valuable sleep time is taken over by thoughts of 'Oh my gosh I'm going to fail.'

I would like to point out here that I am in no way a sleep therapist and I really can't promise that these techniques will work for everyone!

1) TURN OFF YOUR PHONE

Seriously, I know this gets said all the time, but it really does work. And don't do what I did at first and just put it on silent, because you WILL check it, and that's even worse than it being on. Real talk.

2. IF YOU MUST HAVE IT ON...

...Then download a Sleep app, like SleepGenius, which plays soothing music designed to work in harmony with your body and relax you, getting you to sleep. Really though, it sounds like bulls**t, and I was initially skeptical, but it works.

3. HERBAL TEA

These actually work. I always find that a warm drink soothes me, and I'd particularly recommend herbal teas with sleep-inducing ingredients, such as camomile or lavender. One that I find particularly effective is Twinings' 'Caramelised Apple', which tastes absolutely divine as well as sending me straight off to sleep!

4. WINDOWS

Ideally, your room should be in a sort of mid-temperature range to allow you to be comfortable, so if you need to, open your window.

5. WRITE A TO-DO LIST

If the thing keeping you up is stress and you lie awake thinking you just have too much to do, I find that making a list of things you need to do before going to bed is particularly helpful. This way, you can wake up tomorrow and the list will still be there, you won't have forgotten anything.

6. IF ALL ELSE FAILS...

...Get up, walk around and get a drink. This is actually, like, SCIENTIFIC. This actually helps. So yeah.

I'm really sorry if none of these work for you! But if they did, great! :D

EOS Lip Sphere Review

Okay, so I've wanted one of these bad boys for quite a while (2 and a half years, but who's counting?) but was put off by the price (as well as the fact that I already own about 6 unfinished lip balms. Oops.) At approximately £5.50, this American hype seemed just that bit too much of a stretch for the size of the product -- I mean, it couldn't really be THAT amazing, could it?

But whilst I was shopping on Amazon, I saw this in my viewing history, and couldn't resist sneaking one in, but then came one of the hardest decisions of my life to date: Which flavour?

After almost half an hour of indecision (I'm not even joking) I finally settled for the 'pomegranate and raspberry' flavour. Boasting shea butter and jojoba oil amongst its ingredients, this sounded like it would be a worthwhile purchase, after all.

Amazon, as always, delivered promptly and early into the estimated time frame, and the cute pink packaging of this product was absolutely gorgeous! I was thrilled to discover, and am thrilled to be able to tell you, that this lip balm not only tastes absolute GORGEOUS, but soothed my lips into the most smooth state they have ever been in after just a few days (and being a self-confessed lip balm addict, that really is saying something!). I hadn't been expecting to write this review for a while, but after such speedy and effective results, I really would fully recommend this, even at the (ever so slightly ridiculous) price.

Simple Skincare Review!

If you've read some of my older posts, you'll know that I have very dry, very sensitive skin and I often get spots (attractive, I know). You may also know that for quite some time now I have been frantically hunting for a 'miracle product' which will help me out with all of these issues - impossible, right? That's what I thought too, until I stumbled across the 'Simple' range with it's beautifully earthly green and white colour scheme.

Simple skincare is specifically formulated for sensitive skin, and so is beautifully gentle as well as refreshing on your face both in the morning and at the end of a long day. As the name suggests, this regime is gloriously simple and straightforward as well as quick - the exfoliating facial wash is, unlike other exfoliators, delicate yet effective. Barely any scrubbing required -- which is all the better for your skin, or so I've read!

One thing that I think makes this range stand out is the day cream. This moisturising balm is so very light that I don't have to wait more than a minute before I can apply my make-up without that clammy, wet feeling left by most moisturisers. In addition to this, the deep cleansing face mask is just perfect for those who, like me, have sensitive skin but love a pamper evening, as well as those who hate the mess of most face masks. The easy-to-use tube allows minimal 'spurts' and the even consistency of the mask works its magic within minutes (but of course, you have to revel in a scene or two of 'Mean Girls' before you take it off, I'm pretty sure it's Girl Law).

At extremely cheap prices (all products lie within the £1-£5 mark at most drugstores or even supermarkets), I was really not expecting miracles, but having only used this range for a week, I am really surprised and over the moon to say that even my nightmare skin has cleared up beautifully (although I'll spare you the images!), and is now a lot healthier, smoothly moisturised and hydrated. I would definitely recommend this product, and it will certainly become a repeat purchase for me!

Glasses as a fashion accessory

I think that the idea of glasses as a fashion accessory and not just as a visual aid is refreshing. Gradually, even I have noticed that, since I got my first pair of glasses (black with slight gold detailing) there have been more and more designer pairs for women available on the shelves of opticians (Sorry to say that I really cannot speak for men's eyewear).

I only really need glasses for clarity, and so I wear them when I read or, usually, when I'm blogging or watching T.V. Seeing as these are all things that I do often enough, I wanted them to feel like an accessory, and I knew that I would, generally, be wearing them at school (where I care a lot more than I should about people's opinions). Despite my initial thoughts and my setting aside an entire day for the task, it really wasn't difficult to find a pair that I liked, and I picked up these stunning Lipsy frames with pink arms for a lot less than the original £90 price (I don't know how, there was a mish-mash of offers that somehow applied to me) and I actually really love them.

GO eyewear fashion.

June/July Favourites!

Hey, Bees!

First off, I'd like to apologise for not posting in a while; I have a number of excuses: firstly, blogger is banned from the internet at my boarding school and so, much to my frustration, I was not able to post :( Secondly, even if I had wanted to (and believe me, I did!), I forgot my password and so couldn't get onto the account.

I'm an idiot, I know.

Anyway, blog recovered, DoesntSheSparkle is back up and running! (JOY!) and I'm starting the recovered blog almost exactly a year later than my last post with my 'June/July Favourites'.



1. The Body Shop Tea Tree Flawless BB Cream

I only recently started using this product because I found that 

I was quite often going out for a short period of time, or I didn't have time to apply full make-up, or I even wanted to give my skin a bit of a make-up break, and this product offers coverage without being too heavy. When I use this product (I have the lightest shade) it doesn't leave my skin feeling shiny or wet, and it's just perfect for the warm Summer months (ha, yeah right, Britain.) where you don't want to cake your face in foundation, concealer, powder etc. Although I haven't tried it myself, I reckon that you could even wear this while chilling on a deckchair and taking the odd dip in the pool! Thumbs up from me!


2. Sleek Contouring and Blush Palette

If you've read through my previous blogs (please don't, they're cringy!) you'll recognise this as one of my favourite products from last year, too, and it's safe to say that nothing has changed! Unbelievably, I am still on my original kit, and I am crazily impressed that it's held out for so long, especially considering that I have dropped it a fair few times and the lid doesn't even click into place any more. I think that the rose gold blush is just perfect for the Summer and for people who, like me, have gold undertoned skin rather than silver (so if the latter applies to you, sorry!)



3. Seventeen Lip Crayons

I'm still loving these. My Summer shade is the lighter, orange crayon and my Winter the dark pink (which I have stupidly left in a friend's coat pocket after a night out!) These are simple, they aren't messy and I haven't had one break yet! These have also lasted a long time and have barely shrunk, so again, I am really impressed. I would definitely recommend this product, and I know for certain that I'll be using it throughout the Summer and well into Autumn as well; I tend to have a more lightweight set of essential make-up that I carry around when I travel (which is something I'd definitely suggest by the way), and this is always, always in it.

4. Eyeko London Skinny Liquid Eyeliner in Black

I originally got this as a free gift with a magazine, and so I wasn't expecting miracles, but it came at the   perfect time as my kohl pencil ran out (literally) the day before! I thought I'd give it a go in the   meantime, just before I got the chance to buy a new one. I've never been particularly good at applying eyeliner smoothly, and my past attempts with liquid have NOT turned out well (I promise, if I had photos, I would show you - check my crazy trust.) But this eyeko product surprised me - it wasn't too wet or sticky, it created a smooth line and the pen-style applicator made it so easy that even I can apply it, and, as you know, that really is saying something.

5. I love... Sugared Pomegranate Body Spray

This is a cute little product I picked up in the queue at Primark (you know where they line all the really cheap, really cool little cute gifts) and I can never resist things like this! Having previously used (and loved) the raspberries and blackberries range of shower products, I thought I'd give this a little go as it really is only tiny and was very cheap. Safe to say, though, that I love it, and I can't wait to go back and get more, maybe some other fragrances - but the handy little size means that I can keep it in my handbag, and I'm betting it would even fit in a decent sized clutch for those more formal events, not that you'd particularly need to top it up - the smell lasts for absolutely ages! I applied some in the morning, and my grandma commented on it that evening when I went for dinner.

6. Skullcandy Uprock Headphones

Okay, so I have tiny ears. In-ear headphones (or earphones) don't actually fit in my ears, and seeing as I spend a lot of time travelling, it is both annoying and painful to use these. For this reason, I decided to quickly and cheaply pick up some from Amazon. After I'd already ordered an array of lip balms and a Harry Potter hoodie (oops), I left only about £20 for a pair of headphones, picking these up for about £17. I wasn't expecting great things, but when these arrived I was pleasantly surprised. They came literally one day later in a nicely packaged box - if I'd wanted them to be a gift, I'd have been over the moon with the presentation. They're really good quality, and I'm so happy that I won't have to suffer painful ears any more on long journeys!



So, bees, these were my updated June/July favourites! Thanks for reading, it's great to finally be back! :)

I love you all!

DoesntSheSparle
xx