Eyes, Lips, Face.. E.L.F - Product Review.

Hello lovely blogger people, 

I hope everyone had a ghoulish Halloween!  If you follow my Instagram; @tonitownsley you'll have seen I created a dead/zombie look for the occasion I feel it could have been better but it wasn't bad for a first attempt! 

Recently the girls at work have been raving to me about E.L.F products, so naturally like the thoroughly good co-worker that I am I had to try some out. I was astonished at how cheap they're products were so I thought I'd add to my little brush family, and I couldn't resist the Baked highlighters. E.L.F pride themselves on delivering top quality products at an affordable price, and they have every right to be proud. I spent pence on they're website and eagerly waited for the postie to arrive.

I  brought three brushes,

•  Stippling brush, 
•  Fan brush,
•  Blush brush.

 All of these brushes were a complete bargain at £3.95 each and come from the Studio Range. 

They all arrived displayed in a bendy plastic casing that reminds me of those see through pencil cases we used to take to school, with a separate plasticy slip on brush cover. Behind each brush was a grey slip of cardboard with how to use & clean instructions printed on that any new comers to make-up brushes may find handy, 

The brushes themselves are sleek and matte black with shiny black fennel's, so you wouldn't be embarrassed to display these on your dressing table! The bristles of the brushes are soft and fluff, Made from a synthetic hair called Taklon which is a more hygienic material to use rather than real hair, as real hair brushes trap dead skin particles & old make up. Sometimes even cleaning them thoroughly won't fully remove all the trapped nastiness. Whereas synthetic fibers will put back down what they pick up, without soaking in excessive makeup and picking up dead skin which makes them a lot easier to wash and more hygienic in the long run. Also you could buy five of these brushes for the price of one M.A.C brush that is likely to contaminate your skin in the long run, madness. 

I loved the colour choices of the Baked Highlighters, but sadly two of them were Out Of Stock. So I could only buy one which is probably a good thing in the long run! One is a beautiful pearly natural colour, the other a gorgeous warm pink with purple undertones, and bronze gold colour. I opted for the warm pink with it being the only one I could buy, but I don't think the gold colour would suit me my skin is porcelain so shimmery bronzers can sometimes look a bit too harsh on me. 

The shade name is 'Pink Diamonds', and I know sometimes shade picking whilst internet shopping for makeup can be disastrous.
 BBBBBBut this colour did not disappoint and I feel the picture on the website didn't do it nearly enough justice, it's a warm autumn/winter pink that would look lovely on it's own with maybe a matte contour like Benefit's - Hula. Or teamed with a dark pink blush to achieve that ultimate winter cheek. The pinkness of the colour doesn't really come through when it's applied to the skin but it does create a beautiful flush which I like as it's not going to alter the colour of the blusher you wear too much, unlike some highlighters. Be warned it does look quite iridescent and doesn't swatch particularly amazingly because of the colour not paying off. 

The product itself retails at another astonishingly good price; £3.95 and contains 5g of product. The packaging itself is sleek and pretty, and displays the product beautifully. I will let the pictures do the talking!
- Tip: Apply highlighter with a Fan brush to the upper cheek bone and apple of the cheek,  for a more precise and natural looking highlight. 
I'll leave links below for you all if you want to purchase the products! 

'Studio' Blush Brush:
www.elf.co.uk/blushbrush

'Studio' Stipple Brush: 
www.elf.co.uk/stipplebrush

'Studio' Fan Brush:
www.elf.co.uk/fanbrush

'Studio' Baked Highlighter - Pink Diamonds:
www.elf.co.uk/bakedhighlighter

As always I hope you've enjoyed reading and I really do recommend buying E.L.F products they are well worth the little money you will spend. I forgot to mention to the fast & reliable delivery service. My products were delivered within two days of my order being confirmed and I had just paid for bog standard delivery. So 10 to points to E.L.F! Please feel to +1, comment and subscribe! Also don't forget to look for me on my other internetty places! 
Until next time, 
'The Average Mum' x.

Benefit 'Tan About Town' minis collection.

Hello lovies, 

I'm back with a brand new post about a little something I picked up yesterday, from my local Boots! These are only available instore, so get yours whilst you can. For the beautiful price of just £9.95 I purchased a Benefit minis set 'Tan About Town'. There were two different sets available but sadly I've forgotten the name of the other.. (Goes to google in search of answers, finds no answers sorry loves!) and this is the one I chose to buy, because it contained three products I've been dying to try out. 

My tan about town set includes a mini Porefessional, Bad gal lash mascara & hoola bronzer. Which is brilliant if you want to try out some of the most boasted about benefit products without paying the full price and buying the full size to discover they don't match your skin tone/type and so forth. I've used mine only once and already I'm pretty convinced I need to go out and buy the normal sized products of all three, I know I have a problem! My makeup storage is bursting at the seams, and I just keep adding to the chaos. 

But really who can blame me at such a stunningly good price? 

The mini porefessional contains 7.5ml of product, which is brilliant when you consider you pay £12.00 for a smashbox primer that only contains 12mls of product! That's £1 a millilitre! 

The hula contains 3.0g of beautiful matte contouring goodness! 

And finally the Bad gal lash Mascara contains 4.0g of lash life changing formula.

I saved what I deemed to be a really nice and sweet thing to do until last! Slotted inside the packaging of my minis was a card offering me a free make over at a Benefit counter near me. What a lovely gesture, for saying I've only spent £.9.95 on their products! This is also a genius way to attract new customers who might otherwise have avoided Benefit products due to the price tag. But will fall inlove with product and realise it's worth it. I.E; me! As always this blog post was in no way sponsored or endorsed. I can't wait to try out more Benefit products in the future! 

Thankyou for reading, and as always please feel free to +1, comment and share! 

Until next time lovely blogger folk, 

'The Average Mum' x.

How to clean your make up brushes, in 5 easy steps using 6 simple products.

Hello my loves,

I hope you've all had a lovely week, I know I have. I started my new job last Monday, and I really like the place that I'm now working at. Everyone's really friendly, and all of the staff have made me feel very welcome into their work family which is lovely! The twins have had a lovely week at school, and Emilie won the golden balloon as an award for extremely good behaviour - Proud Mummy Moment. Unfortunately Lucie was very er difficult that day (their words, not mine) - A Realistic Mummy Moment. Although I couldn't be too disappointed as that was only the second time in over a year we have been pulled in for bad behaviour by a teacher.. oopsy. 

 This weeks blog post is a small tutorial on how to quickly, easily and efficiently clean your brush collection. I don't like to use dirty makeup brushes on my face, because they don't always put back the product that they pick up and brush hairs can harbour old makeup and bacteria. Which isn't really a nice thought, if your using that all over your freshly washed and cleansed face. In a way it almost defeats the point of washing your face because you're just reapplying dirt, so the whole process becomes somewhat futile. 

Dirty brushes can also be a leading cause of bad skin, not actually the amount of makeup you wear. How nice your skin is or not isn't defined by the amount of makeup you apply, but more about how much you remove your make up and cleanse your skin after removing it. Using a face mask once a week, and exfoliating two to three times a week will help to drag any of the remaining makeup out of your pores. Wearing a primer will also help to stop makeup sinking too far into your skin, but the same applies as with a foundation you still need to exfoliate your face to drag the primer back out of your pores as primers are designed to make you look 'poreless' see what I did there?! 

I broke the art of thoroughly and quickly cleaning your brushes down into 5 easy steps, using 6 simple products. Unfortunately my collection of nearly 40 will never be washed all that quickly, and it took me an hour. But for a deep clean that's not too bad. IF i was SPOT cleaning I would have been done in half the time. I'd recommend spot cleaning your brushes using a wet flannel every 5-7days and deep cleaning your brushes using this method atleast once a month. If you're a pro you should be doing this after every client. 

1. Gather together; A small plastic bowl. Some cotton wool balls/pads. Liquid makeup remover. Gentle shampoo (I use baby shampoo). A small cup of a water. A small towel. 
2. Place some cotton wool into the bowl, and set some dry cotton wool aside. Lay the towel out onto a flat surface, and put the babyshampoo and water to one side for now. 
3. Take your make up brush and gently brush it over the damp cotton wool, you will notice the product will begin to leave the brush. Continue this motion until you're confident that there is no product left. To check the brush's cleanliness wipe it on some of the dry cotton wool you placed aside earlier, if the cotton wool is clean then so is your brush. Lay your brush flat on top of the towel to dry. (never leave them upright or turn them upright whilst wet as the liquid will run down into the glue, then hairs will begin to fall out.) 
4. Use the same technique on eyeshadow brushes, lip brushes & gel eyeliner brushes. For face & concealer brushes we use a slightly different technique due to the greasy formulas of foundations. Take the cup of water and baby shampoo, make sure you only have about an inch of water, as you don't want to get water into the fennel of the brush (the metal bit). Change this water as and when needed, it will get dirty! Put a blob of shampoo into your hand and dampen the tip of the foundation brush, then swirl it into the shampoo to create a foam. You will notice the product bleed out into the soap on your hand. 
5. Place the brush back into the water, and swirl around then pinch the bristles between your fingers to drain the excess water. Repeat with more Shampoo until the bubbles come back clean.  Making sure you've drained all of the excess water then move the brush around in circular motions on the towel your others are drying on. This will return the brush to its regular shape in a gentle way. Lay this brush down on it's side next to the others, repeating the same process of holding it downright to avoid water running into the glue. 

As usual I hope you enjoyed reading this blog, and I hope it has taught you perhaps a better or quicker way to clean your make up brushes. If you yourself have any tips on brush cleaning, please do comment below with them! Thankyou for reading, and until next time lovely blogger people. 
'The Average Mum' x.

NYX radiant finishing powder and Rimmel Fix & Perfect proprimer! **REVIEW**

Hello lovely blogger folk,

I hope you're all well, I realise it's been two weeks since I last posted but with going back to school and generally trying to get back into routine after the summer madness!

It's review time and as you should all know by now,  I love a good product review, because it normally involves brand new makeup, yippee!

Now where do I start today,  these two products are AMAZING (yet cheap!) they've been living in my collection for little over a week and have already become my dailies. I'm a woman in love, and I don't see myself snapping out of this muliticoloured powder/nice smelling primer induced love anytime soon!

 I love primers, so much that I have a primer draw. I know it's a little excessive, but every makeup addict will agree with me that finding a primer for your skin can be so hard. They don't always do what they say on the tin so to speak. I find they tend to dry my skin out, and leave my make up cakey. Over the years, I've gotten through quite a few ranging from Avon to MAC and even that seemed to dry my skin out. I was yet to find that PERFECT primer, and that is the story of how I came to find this one from Rimmel..

The consistency is unlike anything I have ever felt before with a Primer, alot of them have quite a plastic like texture to them because they are silicone based (this doesn't help if you suffer from patches of dry skin.) Where as this one feels more like a lotion than it does a primer, and it smells quite similar to most Nivea products, it's a nice clean refreshing smell that I enjoy having on my face. Again I'm sure you will agree with me when I say I don't like wearing products that don't smell nice, because quite often you can smell them all day as they're in such close proximity to your nose. The packaging is a simple white tube, with a blue lid & writing, so really it won't look too offensive sat on you're dressing table. ( or rammed in your primer drawer..)

Most chemists/supermarkets supply Rimmel make up these days, with it being a cheap affordable alternative to more high end brands. This particular product retails at around £6.99  and contains 30ml of product. This really is such a good price for the product you're buying, and I don't think you'll find a cheaper better primer than this! If you think you have let me know! This was nearly half the price of my Smashbox primer (£11.99), and it works so much better for my skin type! It soothes my dry skin rather than sticking to it, and ticks off two of my three boxes when buying a make up product. 

• Wearability.
• Good Value for money.
• Pigementation and colour pay off.

Next up is the NYX  - Radiant finishing powder. At first I genuinely thought this was a highlighter, as it reminds me a lot of the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks! But I was mistaken and it's an all over setting powder for your face. This pastel green/yellow/blue/pink/purple/white setting powder has colour correctional properties (hence the different colours) that balance out the natural tone on your skin. I.E; green cancels out redness in your face. Which is why alot of make-up artists use green primers before photo shoots & big events! The product comes packaged in a sleek black plastic container, with a clear lid that allows you to see the product through the top. 

 When I first looked at it, I thought the consistency was going to be a little bit on the chalky side of life, mainly because the colours are pastel so they look like chalk. But it's not at all, and it swatches beautifully onto your hand and applies beautifully onto your face! Again, most chemists supply NYX products, if you can't find one close to you these are available online and I will leave you guys links below! I picked this up for £9.50 and it's definitely worth the price for a finishing powder.

 I still use my Rimmel Stay Matte powder to set my foundation & concealer, then once I've contoured, and added blusher I go all over my face with this badboy using a big fluffy Eco Tools powder brush, rather than using highlighter.  Pairing this with the Rimmel Fix & Perfect primer is make-up setting perfection, I've been ill this week suffering from hot flushes and even then my make up still didn't budge! So I am one happy customer. 

Product Links: 

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Primer

NYX Radiant Finishing Powder

As always, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this weeks blog and if I've helped you find a budget beauty bargain, let me know!! I love to share these products with you guys, and I really do enjoy writing this blog. Things may become a little slack soon because I've just got a new job working in a Kitchen, I'm so excited  as I really love to cook and it's all homemade food & desserts. I'm going to try and blog once a week still, if not definitely twice a month! If you didn't know I'm always doing mini-reviews on my instagram, so feel free to follow:

@tonitownsley 

As always please feel free to +1, comment and subscribe! Until next time lovely blogger folk, 

'The Average Mum' x

Autumn.. Come at me bro!

Hello lovely blogger people,

The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting longer, as the leaves on the trees slowly wilt from green to brown. It's definitely Autumn, and it appears to have arrived a little early this year. Well Autumn, come at me bro cause I'm ready for you!

Long gone are the pastel mints and yellows, now to be replaced by oxblood and tarten prints. It's time to say byebye to bronzed dewy skin & summer dresses, and hello to a matte complexion with a dark Autumnal lip. Preferably 'Avon oxblood, with Deep plum liner' (as pictured above).

I've decided to write up a list of my 10 Autumn must haves for 2014, some are making a return from last year purely because I like to try and get as much use/wear out of an item as possible. If you're going to buy it, use it!! 

1. Firstly is my new purple jumper! It's such a great Autumnal colour, and the little patterened collar really livens it up. A great jumper is a Autumn/Winter must have, and one with an added collar is even better! Everything looks better with a collar.

 I picked this up in an end of line sale, but New Look & Primark always have a brilliant range of versatile jumpers, that vary in price. Also for convenience Tesco's have really upped their shit in terms of Women's clothing! 

2. My second item is my lovely red tarten Swing Dess, I kept seeing a lot of photos of Michelle Keegan wearing one of these last year with leggings and a leather. I loved the look, so I went on a cheeky little internet search and found this one for £4 on Amazon. I was worried it would be too small or fall apart the first wash but it has held up brilliantly, I tumble dry it too. It's the comfiest thing I own, if I'm having a frumpy day this is what I'll wear!

I'm not sure if this is the seller I got mine from, because it was last year but here is a link to buy one of these on Amazon's website: www.amazon.co.uk/tarten-swing-dress

3: Number three on my list is my big wooly scarf! I picked this scarf up last year, at Asda believe it or not for about £8.00! It's the snuggliest, biggest scarf I have ever owned and perfect for those freezing Autumn/Winter school runs or the commute to work! Mine is grey gingham and reminds me of a picnic blanket. A great scarf is a staple wardrobe piece. They're a brilliant way to accessorise a boring jumper or coat whilst being efficient too! 

4. My fourth item is a Snood! If you're not sure what this ship is it's Scarf and Hood. So you're essentially wearing a big tube of fabric around you're neck. I don't use mine for the hoodyness though, just it's neck warming facilities. I picked this up last week at Tescos for £4.00, and although it's not a traditional Autumn colour I'm not quite ready to let go of my love for Mint Green! It's a lovely soft fabric and is perfect to wear with a plain jumper on a bitter Autumn day.

5. My fifth item is a new Candle I picked up in my local Tescos whilst I was doing the food shopping! It's made by a Scotish company called 'Shearer Candles', and it smells divine! I think candles are a really important part of keeping your home cosey and warm in the winter months, they really do add a certain ambience.  As well as looking quite snazzy too, I really love the purple and white jagged liney patterned tin. As you can tell I'm brilliant at describing things. It smells like winter berries, and Autumn. I've had it for about a week now and even with burning it every day I still have about half left. It was only four pounds in the shop and even though they only had about three different flavours? Scents? I dunno, ones. We'll use that. They only had three different ones in the shop, but on their website they have plenty more so I decided to link you up!

 www.shearer-candles.com                                                                                                                                                             6, 7 & 8. I decided I would these three products together, as they're all made by and purchased from Boots! The first two products are nail varnishes, although my nails are currently short I still have a vast collection of varnishes from when they weren't and I'm really trying and failing to grow them! So if you have any tips to help me stop biting PLEASE HELP ME!!!! The colours of these polishes are beautiful, and both are perfect for Aut/Win2014! 'Damson Dream' is a beautiful deep purpley/red that applies beautifully *2coats for perfection*, dries well & has a lasting finish. The second has all the above qualities, it's called 'Totally Teal' and is a gorgeously warming alternatives to the mint greens we've had over the summer.  Dark nails & Bordeaux lips are massively in during winter months and look gorgeous teamed with a boho chic look! 

The other product pictured is a gorgeous body from Boot's Soap & Glory range, to me it really is glorious! Applied to damp warm skin this body butter will melt into your skin leaving you feeling SOFTER than a baby, and smelling like Cotton Floss! (Cotton Candy if you're American.) I brought the travel sized mini for £2.50 (50ml) opposed to paying £10.50(300ml) and I have to say I'm glad I did, it has lasted me so well! Because a little bit really does go along way as long as your skin is damp. Too much body butter will leave you feeling sticky! Down below is a link to Boots website incase you would like to purchase this! (Unfortunately the NailVarnishes have been discontinued, Noooo! :( But give it a month and all the Autumnal stock will be in and I will find you some gorgeous budget nail goodies then.) 

www.boots.com

9 & 10: These two products are my favourite Lip-Duo of all time! If you're not a fan of dark vampy lips, stop reading now but if like me you are.. read away! Firstly I just want to say how scared I was of wearing a dark lip at first, and the first time you wear one you WILL feel self conscious.. unless if you're Rihanna! But aslong as you team it with a very neutral eye look during the day you can't wrong. If you're in a rush, and don't have time to do your cat eye.. whack on some vampy lippy instead. People will be so distracted by your loud obnoxious lips they won't even notice your pea eyes! Both of these products are from Avon, and weren't at all that expensive. They also work perfectly together as a team. The lipstick is called 'Oxford Wine' and really does look like dark red wine, and the Liner is in the shade 'Deep Plum'. Both products are made with some kind of witchery as the formula is perfect! The liner glides on nicely even over the most chapped of lips, and the lipstick whilst easy to use isn't all that messy. Though I really wouldn't recommend application whilst drunk, a bit like drink driving.. it's offensive! 

I hope you all enjoyed reading about my 10 Autumn Must Haves! I really enjoyed writing this blog, although I did have a MASSIVE bitch fit when the photos wouldn't stay where I wanted them too. Blogger sort it out! So yeah sorry about that, I had an awesome Idea for the pictures but it didn't really work out! Are there any staple products you need to get through the Autumn, if so what are they? Let me know, I love to get feed back! As always, please feel free to +1, comment and share. Also check my 'other internetty places' page to find my other social media sites!

Until next time lovely blogger folk,

'The Average Mum' x.

Cosying up my lounge in time for Autumn

Hello lovlies,

Does anyone else ever have those days where you sit and look around your house, only to realise you actually hate it? I've been having this feeling about living room for a few months now. There wasn't really a lot of ornaments or proper toy storage around the room, and I really loved the idea of having a wall full of hanging ornaments and small quirky pictures.

I've been making a start on my wall for a while now, and plan to build it up over time with little ornaments I find here and there. I don't like the thought of buying these from chain stores, as I want the wall to really get peoples minds thinking when they look at it, 

I want colour, texture, and literature. 

I decided to go for a beige and red theme, I know it's pretty simple but it's something I can cool down in the summer and warm up during the winter with big gingham throws and chunky cushions. I brought a big brass effect vase, and some traditional curtain tie backs. I want to find a big ornate mirror to dominate the largest wall in my lounge, but nothing the shops are offering has tickled my fancy so to speak. I'm thinking about going to the British heart foundation and other places like that. I'm massively into up cycling, although I'm yet to do it myself my mom uses all girls old clothes to make new clothes or blankets with. 

Another part that was driving me bonkers was the overwhelming amount of toys in the room, every spare corner was rammed with no longer played with toys! I transferred some into the girls playhouse and sneakily put some in the bin. I felt like I was robbing a bank trying to fit that half a jigsaw in the bin without the twins seeing me! I shopped around for some storage thinking I would probably settle on the cube storage units from IKEA, but something somewhere in my mind said Argos will be place. 

So off to Argos I went (typed!) and found they had a massive sale on, Yayy. Internet shopping + sales = my partners worst nightmare! I found a forgeous (fucking gorgeous) side unit for a bargain of £32.00 (half price) with FREE next day delivery. It's pine, with 4small drawers and two cube storage holes. I brought two white rectangular wicker baskets to sit inside. 2for£10 in Store 21! 

It was fate, and by that time the next day it was up in my living room, hiding the girls toys away.

I purchased a lovely little lantern and some new photo frames to sit atop the side board, and added a small basket of flower heads that I'd had drying out in the kitchen. I feel like all of these new little bits have made my living room very cosy and a nice relaxing space to be..when you're not tripping over Peppa Pig or Thomas the Tank Engine that is! 

I finished my living room off with some textured sofa cushions, in red & cream and a big brown and red rug! Perfect for the little ones to play on. My next plan of action is to rip up the laminate flooring and get a thick shaggy carpet laid! My house is old and feels cold up until July. 

I've posted a snap of a few of the new bits I got, and I hope you love them all as much as I do! 

If you know of any lovely little boutiques or sites I can order some mindboggling wall ornaments from please leave me a link :) is anyone else sprucing up their house in time for autumn!? If so let me know how! I hoped you enjoyed this post. 

As always please feel to comment, +1 and subscribe! Or find me at some of my other internetty places. 

Until next time, 

'The Average Mum' x. 

Baking with my babies!

Hello lovely blogger people, 

Sorry this weeks blogpost is a little bit late! I did post one but it had to be removed due to unforeseen circumstances, and I didn't have a backup blog that was fully written or ready. You could say I had gone back to being blocked. Until yesterday when me and the girls baked some Peppa Pig cakes.

As a treat for good behaviour and being my best friends we decided to make some Peppa cakes. We didn't have anything in the house to make them with, so we took a trip to our local shop to buy the mixture, and some eggs. The twins were absolute angels on the way down, and we had so much fun on the walk. Both of them were in brilliant moods, and so was I. Sometimes I find with having twins they swap round with their bad behaviour, so a day with good behaviour off both of my girls is always a treasured one indeed! 

The sun was shining and we were smiling. We got back home and I took their little table into the kitchen so they could make the mixture themselves, and really get involved. They also made a right mess, but I like it that way. A messy cook is a good cook! After a good ten minutes of stirring everything together I gave them some big girl spoons (as Lucie put it) to decanter the mixture into the cake cases, we had one incident where most of the mixture landed in the cake tin..

That doesn't sound too bad but all of the other cases were half-full of mixture, so I couldn't clean it up properly. We ended up with a cake baked into the cake tin, oops. 

We put the cakes in the oven, well I did because it turns out I might have tried to keep the twins away from the cooker a bit too much.. The minute I opened the door the girls ran to the other end of the kitchen! When I asked why, their reply was "we'll get burnt, it's hot". At least they know I suppose.. It's better than them getting burnt. 

Whilst the girls waited patiently for their cakes too cook & cool, I cleaned up the pandemonium in my kitchen. Mummy's get all the fun jobs! 

I sat the girls at the breakfast bar to decorate their cakes, I'd forgotten they would need to use the small table again, so I cleaned it up and put it back into its original place. The cakes only came with some chocolate icing/frosting  to look like Peppas muddy puddles, and some Peppa & George fondant stickers. 

So I put some sprinkles and chocolate chips into some small bowls for them to add on, and add them on they did! They both upended the bowls all over the cakes, and sprinkles went everywhere!

It was quite funny, and adorably cute when they said "sorry Mummy" they really do have good manners, and it makes me so proud everyday. The message behind this blog is that, even just doing a small activity like baking cakes with your kids can become something so much more. All they want is your attention, not money or material things. I've loved this summer holiday with the girls, and I'm going to be so sad to see my beauties go back to school! We've created alot of fun memories that I'll treasure forever. The best is yet to come, on Friday as an end-of-summer treat we're taking them to Cbeebies Land for the day! We'll be meeting up with some lovely friends of ours who also have twins, and I can't wait to see all the children meeting their favourite Characters! It's going to be the best Anniversary treat ever, me and Matt have just celebrated our five-year anniversary. I brought him a race-track day, he got me Cbeebies tickets! Everyone's a winner. :) I'm so excited eeep. Anyway I've blabbed on for alot longer than I intended too, so I'm going to edit this and shoot off. I hope everyone else has had a lovely summer with their babies, let me know what you've been upto! 

As always Thankyou for reading and I hope you enjoyed this blog! Please leave me a comment :) +1 and share. 

Until next time lovely blogger folk, 

'The Average Mum' x.

'Get intouch with me'

Instagram:  @tonitownsley

Twitter:  @tonitownsley

2000 and whatttt?!?

Hi lovely blogger people! 

Just a quick little blog I'm firing straight off my iPhone to say THANKYOU! 

I didn't expect my blog to get 10reads let alone over 2000 in less than a year! 

I know compared to some blogs this is a minute number, but to me it seems MASSIVE! Thankyou so much for sticking with this blog, and following me on my journey! I have so much to tell you and catch you up on! 

Watch this space lovely blogger people, and again Thankyou, Thankyou, Thankyou! 

Until next time, 

'The Average Mum' x. 

Cheeky Little M.U.A Haul!

Hello lovely blogger people,

I really hope you all enjoyed my last product review. It was on Lush products, if you didn't read it go do so now, or Santa won't visit you. I'm joking... Maybe! ;) 

This blog is a haul blogggg, Yay! I love buying new make-up to add to my kit, especially when it's a good price and is really good quality too! 

All of my products today are from the same brand 'M.U.A - Make Up Acadamy' the brand is the high-street drugstore Superdrugs own Make up brand, and is very reasonably priced yet also very good. 
I'm not sure about anyone else but when I'm buying new Make Up, I'm looking for three very important things. 

1. Good pigmentation & colour pay-off. 
2. Wearability. (How long it lasts for.) 
3. Good value for money.

I think this brand definitely ticks all of these boxes, and as an added bonus it is available on pretty much every High Street, unlike a lot of Make Up that is only available online or in big shopping centers! 

The first product I purchased is an Eyeshadow palette called 'Undress Me' that claims to be a duplicate for the 'Urban Decay, Naked2 palette'. I researched this beauty before buying, and discovered it was only £4.00 and that alot of other fellow beauty bloggers had purchased both and compared them, then found this palette to be a very good duplicate. 
The palette itself contains 12 shades, ranging from matte nudes to shimmery darks. 
Everything a girl needs to go from day to night effortlessly!

They have very high pigmentation, and the colour pay off is exceptional for a four pound eyeshadow palette! I can't fault this, with even the darker colours being easy to blend. The packaging of the palette is simple and black, with a clear lid to view the product through. It is quite cheaply made, so I worry dropping this would result in a few broken shadows. 
**Tip** When working with dark eyeshadows, use a clean fluffy blending brush like a M.A.C 217 or a Real Techniques Crease brush. It will move and blend the product alot easier.**
I highly recommend this! 

The second product I brought from M.U.A is the 'Undress Your Skin' highlighter, I'm a little highlighter obsessed so I couldn't help myself! Also, this another dupe product so I had to try it!! Again I had stumbled upon this product whilst reading a beauty blog, and read that it was a fairly close product to the 'M.A.C Whisper of gilt Highlighter' Nice play on words there M.A.C.. which was sadly only available for a limited time. (Cue the cries of pro M.U.A's everywhere..) 

IF applied sparingly and with a clean blush brush this product can make a wonderful highlighter  and since it only set me back £3.00 I can't complain too much. But say you were to wear this out at night or around flash photography...  it might come across quite glarish under the false light. But in natural light, ontop of a peachy blush this product can look so beautiful! Again the package of this product is quite simplistic, a white container with a nice clear lid so you can view your product. The plastic is cheap on this product also, but that's expected. Just store this product well! 
**Tip** Tap excess product off your brush to avoid using too much** 
I recommend this product... if used sparingly!! 

Product number three is a Mascara, now I've always purchased more expensive mascaras because I'm prone to conjunctivitis if my eye makeup isn't hypoallergenic. But I'd had no trouble with my other M.U.A products so I decided to give their 'Extreme Curl Mascara' a go. Frankly I'm quite glad I did, firstly it smells like cucumbers! So nice, because every female knows what I mean when I say I do not miss that mascara smell! 

Secondly it comes in a nice silver tube, that faintly resembles the new mascara from Rimmel.. the actual name has escaped me! But even perfect people have off days! The formula itself isn't at all clumpy, and this shit really is BLACK! Again it was only £3.00 and it also hasn't given me any eye problems! My only little niggle is, the wand is very straight so the first few times I used it I ended up with mascara on my nose! It's just getting used to the wand..
'The wand chooses the wizard Harry..' Sorry I couldn't help myself! 
I highly recommend this product! 

My next product is a blush! This only set me back about £3.00 and is called 'The Mosaic Blush' the appearance lives up to the name of this product! It's gorgeous, and has a little bit of everything packed inside the simple plastic black and clear pot! The colours are seperated into small mosaic shaped pieces and there's around six varying shades in there! Two shades for highlighting, a nice purple and a shimmery muted gold. Two shades for bronzing, a light matte shade and a darker more shimmery shade, and two shades to add that pink flush to your cheeks, in orange and dark red. The colour pay off and pigmentation again in this product are outstanding.
I highly recommend this product to anyone who is a beginner at contouring/highlighting and adding colour to their face! You really can't go wrong with this beauty! 

My final and favourite product is the 'Cover and Conceal' concealer. It comes displayed in a small white and clear plastic tube, and is applied with a wand. The formula itself is quite watery, and it has very little coverage. BUT before you close the page down, I will say it makes a wonderful illuminator, and is very good if you're looking for something to create that coveted dewy skin look! This product sells in Superdrug for £1.50 and if I didn't already own about 82 concealers I would have been upset by it's lack of coverage. I think really they need to change the name and purpose of this product, then we'll be onto a winner!
I would recommend this product, just don't go in with the mind set that this will cover and conceal cause it will not! It will however illuminate your gorgeous blogger faces! 

All products are available to purchase in Superdrug stores or online at: 
www.superdrug.com

As always I hope you enjoyed reading todays blog, and I really hope it helped to find you a budget beauty bargain! Next week I'll be back with a skincare blog so keep your eyes peeled! 
Feel free to comment, +1 and share! Thankyou for reading..
Until next time lovely blogger folk, 
'The Average Mum.' x

Lush.

Hello :) 

I feel rather sheepish writing this, like a friend you haven't seen for a while who feels slightly guilty for staying away so long! I'm afraid life got in the way of my internet dreams, but I'm back! Also I kind of lost my writing skill, I was completely blocked. But after a short break I feel a lot better and have lots of new material to write about! 

I decided to keep today's blog short and sweet and treat you all to a small product  review as my way of saying sorry for neglecting you lovely blogger people! 

I've always had really chapped lips and after trying all of the obvious remedies I decided to try a lip scrub from Lush! I've had Lush products before and I loved them, I love the fact they only use natural and organic products, I love the fact they're extremely against animal testing and I love the very fair prices. 

I purchased what I would describe as a pretty wicked duo! A scrub to get rid of the dry cracked skin on my lips, and a balm to soothe them after exfoliation. 

Together both of these products cost around £11.00 I ordered offline so I paid a little extra for delivery! As always I have done a seperate paragraph for each product! Enjoy.. 

(Links for online purchasing below, *this is not a sponsor*) 

Lush: Bubblegum Lip Scrub. 

This lip scrub is amazing, not only does it work wonderfully the first time you use it and every other time afterwards.... It's also edible. Yes you're eyes aren't deceiving you, soft lips and a snack all in one gorgeous looking pot! I love the packaging it's the classic simplistic packaging from Lush we've all come to know and love. Inside the jar is 25grams of heaven! It's also small enough to carry around, winner! 

Lush: None Of Your Beeswax Lip Balm. 

*i purchased this as it is a recommended product to use along side the lip scub.*

I'm not normally a massive fan of lipbalms/glosses as I always find them too sticky and feel they have a really funny plasticy taste. So I was rather dubious when this lip balm claimed to leave you with 'supple lemony smackers' but everything's worth a try! 

So you can imagine my shock when it really did leave them tasting lemony and feeling supple! I highly recommend using this to sooth your lips after exfoliating because if they're really chapped (like mine!) they can feel quite soar afterwards! The lip balm is contained in a small Lush tin, and contains 8grams of lemony goodness! 

To order these offline visit.. 

www.lush-cosmetics.co.uk

Both of these products were £5.50 each and I really do class these as A Budget Beauty bargain. I know they seem quite pricey, but they last and work! 

I really hope you enjoyed reading today's blog! I'll be back soon with some more for you, watch this space! 

As always please feel free to +1, comment and share! :) Thankyou for reading. 

Until next time lovely blogger folk, 

'The Average Mum'. x

A little catch-up!

Hello lovely blogger people, 

How have you all been? I know I said on my last couple of posts I am really sorry about my absence over the past few weeks, I've been jotting down blog post ideas and all that malarky but haven't gotten round to writing anything up! We've been having some issues with our broadband recently, everything on the router is perfect but one thing will just be refusing to connect. For nearly 2years it has coped perfectly with 2smart phones, a laptop and a Ipad. After rebooting the router it will work again for a certain time, then repeat the process. If anyone else has had this problem, please feel free to give me advice on fixing it, I would be eternally grateful! 

Currently in the UK children are off school on half-term which is just a week long holiday. The twins are off Pre-School, and typically because it's England the weather has been beyond shocking! Rain, rain, rain and oh did I mention... RAIN!!! So we've done painting, and practicing writing, messy play with felt-tip pens! This morning we turned our living room into a shop.. On Tuesday the twins created their own house within my house for them and their babies. Which was so cute! But the babies were soon forgotten as the twins decided to tuck eachother into the dolls beds!

Now I'm not sure if anyone else with twins has experienced this, but sometimes when I try and play with them they tell me to go away because they want to play together... not sometimes, most of the time! I think it's lovely that they don't want me, as odd as it sounds. I like the fact they are happy to play with one another, although arguments and sibling rivalry are becoming a regular guest in our house. Mine really are as bad as eachother though, some days one more than the other.

I grew up with an older brother and we would argue over who was breathing what air somedays so I'm not too worried, also I think they'll grow out of it. Because just like me and my brother were they are kids! KIDS WILL BE KIDS TONI, KIDS WILL BE KIDS. Being stuck in the house after a sunny spell doesn't help, there has been no opportunity for the twins to go in the garden, or for us to go to the park. 

This will be our last week of doing nothing for while though, the next month is pretty hectic but I tend to blog more when I'm busier because I have more to talk about. I've also done ALOT of make-up shopping this past month, and I won a give-away! So I shall do a cheeky little make-up haul for all of you, feauturing some slightly higher-end products that I won from said give-away! 

Also before I go, one more Mummy moment for today! The twinlets had their Pre-School photos last week, and within two days the proofs were ready to pick up. I was so excited, plus I'm the most impatient person EVER, so as you can imagine I was pretty chuffed!
In typical fashion I forgot until the night before and the twins had stained their pretty red gingham summer dresses with Spaghetti at dinner time :(. Again my fault, so instead of their uniform they went in lovely little blue and white tea dresses, with collars and puffy skirts. 

Oh god, that sounds awful and garish. They're beautiful I swear, and sure to embarrass them when they're 15! When they get delivered I'll upload a photo of them so everyone else can revel in my beautiful babyladies! 

I hope everyones really well, and not having to endure this sad sad spring like we in the Midlands are! I'll be back ASAP with that haul, until next time lovely blogger people! 
'The Average Mum' x

A late little Easter blog!

Hello lovies! 

I'm sorry my Easter blog is nearly a week late! Easter Sunday in our house was a little bit hectic! How was it for all of you? 

I started planning Easter a while back, and began to buy little bits and bobs from shops and amazon. I built up quite a little bundle of Eggs, and chocolate moulded animals for the twins. Including an Easter Egg Hunt, which we shall get to later! And so far as I am typing this four days after Easter, they have still not even eaten a whole Egg out of the 14 we have to get through. I didn't think about the copious amounts of chocolate they would get from adoring relatives, or the amount they would collect on the Egg Hunt.. *Yes Toni, an Egg Hunt would imply EASTER EGGS!!!* 

I even got talked into buying them a Mr Tumble egg from tescos by Emilie. These children of mine have me wrapped round their fingers! So let's start the agonizingly long twenty-four hours that would become Easter Sunday, 2014....

The clock had literally just turned to Midnight and Emilie woke up, and she'd been sick bless her heart. So we got her out of bed, changed the sheets and cleaned her up. She asked to come and sleep with Mummy and Daddy and although normally I disagree with children being in their parents beds, when mine are ill I just want them close. At first she settled really well, and then she cried out 'Mummy' in the most feeble little ill voice ever and threw up all over mine and Matt's bed. So we did the whole get up change the sheets, wash the baby down thing and finally I think I managed about 3hours sleep before getting up with Emilie at 7.45 because she woke up and was sick again! Bless her cotton socks. It really does upset me seeing them ill, I think all mothers are like it. It's just horrible :(. 

We woke Lucie up, and she gave Emilie a cuddle and a kiss. It's so endearing how loving they can be towards one another. I love to see the love they have for each other as twinsisters I feel it's a bond that only twins will know. She perked up a little bit, and I made some breaky for us all. As the family were eating, I went and laid the Easter Eggs out in the garden and showed the girls the little green tin buckets with birdies on for the eggs. It was lovely and sunny, for all of ten minutes.

Me and Matt had to run out to the garden and find all the eggs before they got ruined! But he wasn't there to see me hiding them, so at 23years old he had his own mini Egg Hunt! Once we got inside and were drenched ourselves, I then dried off 20 Easter Eggs with a tea towel, and shooed Matthew and the twins upstairs to play for 5minutes whilst I re-hid them. In the end we did have a lovely little egg hunt in the house. But wait for an hour later it was Sunny again! Pffft.

 In the afternoon we went out for a meal for Matt's grandmas 80th Birthday. It was lovely and all of our family were there, and everything went rather well. Emilie was getting better, but the only time I left her she threw up all in her dinner and I felt so guilty. So we left Lucie with her Nana and Grandad and brought Emi home to get changed. 

Later that night we'd had no sick incidents since the one at lunch time. Until we put Lucie to bed and she threw up! This was a shock, as Lucie hasn't thrown up since she was a baby. She's like her Mummy and nothing makes her throw up. But she took it so well, and came out of her room took herself in the bathroom and asked me to clean her up and change her sheets! Sometimes it shocks me how grown-up they are. She's only three! It made my heart go 'ping!' a little bit. I adore their cuteness. 

She went back to her bed on request, but she was sick again. So after another clean up, she came into bed with me and was sick within half an hour! So we were up again, and she was getting really sad.  I gave her some big Mummy snuggles and tried to make her feel better.How do you explain to a toddler why people get sick? 
Luckily neither of them were sick again after that (We think it was a 24hour thing), but my washing machine felt a little overworked from so much sheet washing! 

Did you have big plans for your Easter that didn't go as you'd hoped? How do you spend Easter? :) 

Thankyou everyone, for reading and I'm sorry this is so long and rambly but I did warn you it was a looong day! Please feel free to +1, comment and share!
Until next time lovely blogger folk,
'The Average Mum'.x 

- REVIEW - Maybe it's Maybelline - Super Stay Better Skin Foundation and Concealer. - REVIEW -

Hello lovelies, 

I realised I've been slacking a little bit recently on my blog. So I thought I would write a beauty product review, on TWO new Make-up products. 

As usual they were really cheap, and I got both for £14. Both costing £7 each that is.
Both are by 'Maybelline New York' at the minute I seem to have a little bit of an obsession. My mascara, gel eyeliner, concealer and foundation are all Maybelline. But you get a fair amount of high quality product, at a small price. So there really is no complaining.

*Firstly I'd just like to do a small disclaimer - none of my products are sponsors, and I am not a make-up artist. Also just because it works well on my skin not everybody is going to have the same result, depending on Skin Type and so on.* 

Both of these products are from the 'Super Stay Better Skin' range that Maybelline have just released. One is a foundation and one is a concealer. The foundation claims to 'Even skin tone instantly, and better looking skin in 3 weeks'. Their grammar mishap not mine! Well Maybelline we shall see! I've only been using the foundation for nearly two weeks, and although I've noticed a little bit of difference, I'm not sure if that is because I started using a different base or not.

 But it does give you a lovely medium coverage, that's not too matte and not to dewy. Also the name claims that it is 'Super Stay' and I would say I can get a good 8hours wear out of this before I start too look like BeetleJuice! But it doesn't make me feel like I'm wearing a mask either like 'MAC Studio Fix' would. I like to be able to feel natural even if I'm not! It's also SPF20 and each bottle contains 30ml of product. I got mine in the shade 'Nude' as I'm a pale kid.. but they do a variety of light-dark shades. Can be purchased in most chemists, supermarkets and Boots. Target and Walmart sell this in America. 

I thought I would leave the best til last, and the best is definitely definitely the concealer! This shit is like cement... but in a good way.  When I first swatched this in my local Boots I was like ooer thats thick. But I loved the foundation so I wanted it's sister-concealer! But once it had warmed on the back of my hand and I blended it out I notice how flawless it looked afterward. I have tiny freckle on the back of my hand, and if a product conceals that,I will buy it. Finding a little freckle like this will help you from buying something that's too light or too heavy for your skin.

 I got my concealer in the lightest shade they did as I find it gives a more highlighted look under the eyes, and that shade is 'LIGHT/CLAIR'. As a concealer this really does hold well, but for a little extra, I set it with a translucent powder on a Powder Brush to hold it into place.
TIP; Warm product on the back of your hand first, use your ring finger to apply the product and then use a small buffing brush to buff it out. Apply under your eyes, around your nose and on your chin. For a lovely illuminated look! 

I hope you all enjoyed this blog, and if you've purchased this do tell me what you think! If you're looking for a new foundation or concealer but the staggering amount of products on sale in shops these days overwhelms you! I do very much recommend this. 
Maybe it's maybelline.. bahbahbah. Any old person will remember that from the Advert. 

Thankyou for reading, please comment, subscribe and +1! 
Until next time lovely blogger folk, 
'The Average Mum' x