Zoeva Classic Brush Set

It wasn't long ago that I wrote about my favourite Real Techniques brushes and while I still love them, my sister bought me this gorgeous set of brushes from Zoeva for my birthday and I have to say it was love at first use.

The Zoeva Classic Brush Set contains 8 brushes for your face and eyes and comes in this rather sophisticated leather look clutch bag. It even has it's own dust bag that's how posh it is!

I think the brushes look super sophisticated with their black handles and I like that each brush says on it exactly what its for. The set contains the following: Luxe Highlighter Brush 105, Stippling Brush 125, Cream Cheek Brush 128, Soft Definer Brush 227, Concealer Buffer Brush 142, Crease Brush 228, Pencil Brush 230, and the Wing Liner Brush 317

I am impressed all round with these brushes but I have to say there are a few that stand out above the rest. First of all the stippling brush is amazing for applying foundation, I love the light and flawless finish it gives. the concealer buffer brush is absolutely perfect for getting concealer in every nook and cranny, its great for the around the nose area.I am also really enjoying the Lux Highlighter brush, this works perfectly with my Mac Soft and Gentle highlighter to give my cheeks the right amount of glow.

The Classic Brush set retails for £52.95 and while that does sound quite pricey it actually works out at just over £6 a brush which is a complete bargain. Zoeva also do a Rose Gold Collection and although I don't 'need' them they are beautiful and owning the classic set has just made me want them even more as I'm sure the quality is just as good.

What do you think? have you tried any brushes from Zoeva?

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Longleat Safari park

Although it’s now pretty much turned to winter here in England (yes it’s still August) we did manage to squeeze in a few day trips and enjoy the sun while it lasted. A few weeks ago my boyfriend and I went to Longleat Safari and Adventure Park and to be honest I didn't expect it to be half as good as it was. Obviously the sun helped but the whole place was just stunning and peaceful.

I love animals so you can imagine my excitement every time I saw something that moved. I will warn you now there are a lot of animal pictures here but it’s nothing compared to the amount that I actually took!

Look how cute the lemurs are! I was kind of expecting them to be dancing around like in Madagascar but we rocked up at nap time, I just wanted to cuddle them all!

Next up were the monkeys, talk about cheeky. If there was something on your car that they could grab they would.

Yep this little guy is holding the valve where water comes out for your back windscreen!

I Absolutely loved the deer and I couldn't believe we got the change to feed them.

As you can see they were not shy, they were practically in the car waiting to eat.

Deer Selfie!

This elephant looked so sad, it was so hot he was throwing mud over himself to keep cool.

The big cats always look so majestic.

But I definitely wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of them, check out those teeth.

We got slightly nervous when about 15 of these guys walked passed the car. an inch closer and their horn would have been through the window!

Standard ice cream break.

This is a red panda, I'd never even heard of these before but they are so cute! Kind of a mix between a bear and a fox.

I was quite proud of this butterfly shot.

next up was a boat ride to feed the sea lions

and we finished with a walk with the penguins.

Phew. It was such a fantastic day and I cannot recommend this place enough. Have you been to Longleat?

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A Healthy Balanced Lifestyle

First of all apologies for the lack of posts recently, life has once again taken over but it’s all good.

Today I wanted to talk about a healthy lifestyle. I am always trying to be healthy and make sensible choices when it comes to food and the majority of times I am successful. However there are obviously times when things slip, I’m only human after all and for me usually the slip happens at a weekend. Whether it’s going out for a few drinks with the girls, date night with my boyfriend or just general laziness, my hard work for the week has usually been undone by Sunday night when I’m feeling horribly sluggish and stupidly sorry for myself. Then the whole cycle re starts Monday morning. I’m hoping some of you can relate to this.

Anyway to help keep me on track I have decided to create a health Instagram account to try and keep me motivated throughout the weekend and not ruin everything by eating a bag of chips that I don’t event really want. Of course I’m not going to give up all treats or stop socialising but I just want to try and make as many heathy choices as possible meaning that if I do go out for a curry Saturday night I won’t have that horrible feeling of guilt after.

The above picture is some of the yummy creations that I have been posted on my Instagram, you can find me over at Charliesprogress if you fancy a peak. I have found since starting this account that not only  has kept me more motivated but also a made bit more adventurous with what I eat so I’m not just posting the same old salad every day. I like to make my food as colourful as possible so that means as much veggies as I can pack in.

I’ve also started experimenting more with breakfasts at the weekend, hello flourless pancakes! I also have been posting my cheat meals so you can see the pizza I ate when we went for an Italian and the incredible steak from last Fridays date night.

I’m not sure if this post has been of any interest to anyone but it’s something that I have been enjoying doing lately and hopefully it might inspire some people to be a bit more creative with cooking.

Do you try to stay healthy? Is there any Instagram accounts you would recommend for motivation?

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Our Little Trip to the Cotswolds

You know when people post pictures on Instagram of picturesque villages, beautiful flowers and little shops filled with cute little trinkets?  Well I absolutely felt like I had stepped in to one of those photographs when we visited Bourton on the water in the Cotswolds.

My boyfriend planned this trip as a surprise for my birthday and I had honestly never heard of this place before and I couldn't believe how perfect it was when we pulled up.

The stream runs all the way through the village and you can go in for a paddle, I will warn you though the water was freezing! More fool me for thinking it would be warmer because the sun was out.

It's also the home to the motor museum which we didn't go in but I thought this car bush was pretty cool.

This little shop was so lovely, I was drawn to it because of the name and wicker baskets outside. 

Obviously no day is complete without lunch so the inner child in me came out and I opted for a fish finger sandwich - you're never to old for a fish finger sandwich!

So I am now pretty sure that I am ready to retire and move here but apparently I have a fair few more years to go until that can happen. At least now I know this little gem is here and I will definitely be visiting again.

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