SUNDAY BRUNCHIN' AND BROWSIN'

Happy weekend pals! I fancied doing something a lil bit different on the blog today, I feel like I've done lots beauty posts and so I thought I'd share a bit of what I've been up to this weekend, this post is going to be a one of a series of posts about things to do in my home town.  I know a few of my followers are from my little hometown of Chesterfield or live very near by so I'm giving you a few ideas of ways to spend your weekend if you don't famcy wandering too far whilst sharing what I've been up to with you guys so love a little further afield.

I've been dreaming of Sunday brunch all week and where else would I head to other than my favourite bistro in Chesterfield, Bottle&Thyme? I love this cute little bistro, the atmosphere is wonderful thanks to the super friendly staff and cozy interior. The breakfast menu contains everything a brunch lover could dream of from pancakes and waffles to a full English with a smashed avacados on toast chucked in for good measure. I went for the pancakes with mixed berries, honey and Greek yogurt which was ofcourse amazing as always and mum opted for scrambled egg on toasted sourdough with added bacon. If you live in or around Chesterfield and haven't tried Bottle&Thyme yet then babes you're missing out. They recently won not one but two awards at the Chesterfield Food and Drink Awards for Best Newcomer and Best Customer Service, and they thoroughly deserve it as every member of staff is welcoming and so friendly. I could go on but I really think the awards and the pictures really speak for themselves, get over there!

Every last weekend of the month our little market town hosts the Artisan Market, a little celebration of everything handmade and unique. There are a collection of stalls including food stalls, decor bits and pieces stalls and accessory stalls. I love spending the a Sunday morning browsing all the different bits and pieces and I rarely walk away without buying anything. So after stuffing our faces at Bottle&Thyme we made our way down to the market. This time I picked up some macaroons from Klass-Kitchen, I got a selection of different flavours including hazelnut, salted caramel and raspberry and yeah ok I couldn't help myself and may have eaten two before even taking these pictures, and they were heavenly! I've already looked them up on insta and you can actually inbox them to order some of their delicious goodies. I also grabbed a couple of locally made ales for Conor, cos I'm the best girlfriend ever. Obviously. Not gonna lie beer ain't for me, give me a fruity cider any day but you can keep your beer. Conor on the other hand loves the stuff. I picked up two that are made by Buxton Brewery and to be honest just picked the ones I thought sounded nice, Pale and Wild Boar, and yes maybe I did pick them because I liked the packaging. Anyway there's a little description on the pictures down at the bottom and again you can find them over on Instagram. Right so I wouldn't really be me if I saw a stall selling bath bombs and didn't buy some now would I?! The Wax and Works stand was probably my favourite, candles and bath bombs galore, I grabbed a pack of the Rose scented bath chill pills, essentially mini bath bombs and my mum bought a Fairy Dust wax melt. I can't wait to run a bath tonight slap on a face mask and drop a few of these babes in the tub, Sunday chills at their best.

So that's been my Sunday, spent brunching and browsing and now I have to get back to Stranger Things 2. I only have one episode left to watch and I can already sense the ST2 withdrawals starting to kick in! I hope you've all had a fab fun filled weekend! Oh and also, we didn't steal the dog. We actually dog sit and furry little fella is Teddy.

A NOT SO ORDINARY DUO FOR FRESH SUPER SOFT SKIN

Ok so I might have gone a tad crazy with the old skincare shopping this month but after seeing this brand being so highly recommended by so many of my favourite bloggers it was pretty much top of my list last payday. The Ordinary seems to have popped up on my insta feed out of nowhere with it's minimal look and clever sounding product names I had to read all the descriptions carefully, spent a lot of time getting the products mixed up and still maybe picked them on a whim.

I ordered the Lactic Acid 10% and the 100% plant-derived squalane, which both sound terrifying to a chemical skincare novice but after reading the product descriptions and figuring out what both of them actually do I decided to give them a go. So as I've said in a previous post I've recently started suffering with eczema and I have a few little patches on my cheeks so I obviously have to be careful what skincare and makeup I use because the patches can get irritated quite easily, so when I ordered the products I was slightly nervous about the effects they were going to have on my skin, I really wanted to love them but obviously if they irritated the eczema they were going to be big no no's.

So the Lactic Acid 10% is by fair my favourite of the two, this one is a lightweight serum that you apply in the evening after removing make up and cleansing and leave to soak into the skin. The Lactic Acid basically exfoliates the skin and targets uneven skin tone while the other ingredient Tasmanian pepperberry reduced signs of inflammation. I've been using this a couple of times a week, not every evening and I don't want to irritate my skin, and my skin has been feeling a lot fresher as well as looking more even and glowy after just a couple of uses. I get red patches on my chin and cheeks regularly and this has really helped to reduce the redness and generally even out my skin tone and my skin looks a lot fresher and brighter. I also really like the fact that it's a lightweight serum it doesn't feel thick or like my skin can't breathe and it doesn't leave a oily coating it completely soaks into my skin and leaves it so fresh and soft.

The 100% Plant-Derived Squalane is a tiny bit disappointing. I really really wanted to love both of these products and I honestly do like this one but there's just something about it I can't get on with.
It's basically an oil that you apply after cleansing and toning morning and/or night before priming. Squalane is used to hydrate the skin and leave it feeling plump and soft and guarding against dry patches. You can also use it in your hair, just add a few drops to towel dried hair for extra shine and protection from heat. Ok so what I don't like about this product is that it just wouldn't soak into my skin, I don't know if it's because I have combination skin and I can go through quite oily phases but it just didn't soak in at all I found myself touching my face after up to half an hour after applying the product and there was always some oily residue left, BUT I do love the product when I use it in my
hair I've used it the last couple of times I've washed my hair and after blow drying my hair looked so shiny and healthy and it just felt super soft. Personally I just don't get on with the product as a
skincare product but it could be great for people with dry skin and I'm definitely going to keep using it as a hair protection product!


Both products are super affordable at just £5.50 for the Plant-Derived Squalane and £5.80 for the Lactic Acid, they're only 30ml bottles but you only need to use 3 or 4 drops of each a day so they are brilliant in terms of price! Have you used either of these products? Or any The Ordinary products?