May Favourites 2018

Hi everyone!

This is my first skincare / product post that isn't nail varnish based for a long time and it feels good to be back. The reason I haven't posted any product reviews in such a long time is because I have really been battling with my skin recently so have been quite hesitant to try anything new on my skin until I found a routine that meant it wouldn't flare up.

I don't know whether it is just the winter months cold weather, but I had a similar situation last year where my skin just deteriorated over the Christmas months (probably due to bad diet and alcohol) and just carried on being grim until the Spring time. This year it has taken me a bit longer to pin point the cause and also a remedy. A few products along the way made it much much worse (ahem, Glossier Solution) and so this month I have put together the products that have made my skin feel normal again, and some other little luxuries that have made me feel grand!

First up is the product that I can pretty much hands down say transformed my skin from red spot remnants to *almost* clean and clear. Just a few short weeks ago, my skin was sprouting new spots each day, and leaving behind really red marks that were almost worse than the spots themselves. I read online that Vitamin C is a great ingredient to reduce redness so picked up the first thing I could lay my hands on in my vast "to try" pile of skincare, and I honestly woke up the next day with transformed skin.

This bliss Triple Oxygen Radiant Protection Energizing Serum, £52, lookfantastic.com cleared it up so well that even my boyfriend commented that my skin was "amazing". It is a pearlescent thin formula which absorbs really well and smells of zesty oranges. It is illuminating, and gives your skin a natural glow, and of course that added vitamin C evens out skin tones and dark spots.

It is also worth nothing that my skin dramatically changed after being outside. I know this sounds silly, but actually when I look back I was barely going out on my lunch breaks because it was cold and spent 95% of my time indoors. I went on holiday to the Lake District a few weeks ago, and spent all day outside in the fresh air, my skin felt clearer and cleaner and I do honestly think this combined with the serum helped so much.

As you can see by my virtually empty bottle, I have really loved using the Pixi Rose Tonic, £10, pixibeauty.co.uk which is a huge contrast to how much I used the cult favourite, Glow Tonic. Having had such a bad reaction to their number one selling product, I was a little apprehensive to try more skincare from Pixi, especially a Tonic. I am so glad I did though as I have found this so gentle on my skin and felt it really soothing my skin after cleansing. It reduces redness and adds hydration and calms the skin.

I went to a Pixi event at my local department store Fenwicks Tunbridge Wells a few months ago where their regional make up artist Amanda Bell was doing a demo and walk through of all their products. She clearly had so much passion for the brand and the fact that she is best mates with Caroline Hirons also made me want to drink in everything she was saying.

She also convinced me I had to buy the H20 Skin Tint, £24, pixibeauty.co.uk, which I am so glad I did as I hate using foundation in the warmer months and this gives me enough coverage and confidence to go without. I am the lightest shade 'Cream' but as it is just a tint, it wouldn't matter too much if you were to match yourself wrong online.

Whilst in the Lake District we also experienced some uncharacteristically sunny weather, so once again I went to my 'to try' pile and picked up this Skin Laundry Advanced Protection Daily Moisturiser SPF 35, £24, cultbeauty.co.uk. I am SO glad I did. This has become a staple in my skincare routine now as it is really creamy and luxurious, but the added protection of the SPF makes it great as a daily moisturiser for Summer. It is really light and absorbs really fast making it feel like a moisturiser and not a sun cream.

Skin Laundry is fairly still slightly unknown in the UK as it is a L.A brand, but if you want to find out how you can get a FREE light facial with them then read this post here

Whilst I have been using sun protection, I would be lying if I said I haven't been caught short a couple of times and been a bit burnt in the last few heat waves we have had. Whilst I use this Vitamin E Sleeping Mask, £11, thebodyshop.com a couple of times a week, this works absolute wonders if you have had a little too much sun. It is a really cooling gel consistency and locks in moisture so well. Vitamin E protects the skin and wheatgerm oil intensely hydrates. It smells like baby wipes which may be the one thing I would change about it, but otherwise it does it's job very very well!

Something that has been a little strange for me is my love for plain nails this month, especially sophisticated nude nails! I got these two colours in my Ciate Advent Calender.

'Maybe Baby' is a lovely coffee colour and 'The Naked Truth' a pretty peachy pink which looks great with a tan!

Speaking of tans, I have loved using these products by Tan-Luxe to prepare me for showing a little more skin this summer. This brand suddenly blew up on Instagram a few months ago and I saw a few of my favourite smaller bloggers talking about it and I knew I had to get involved. The Sleep Oil, £34 , Tan-Luxe.com is such a fab product. Like a facial oil, you apply this before bed and wake up with a natural, gorgeous glowy tan that hydrates your skin. It does smell a little buscuit-y, but the results are too good I can't complain. You must make sure wash your hands afterwards or you'll wake up with brown palms!

The other product I bought form them was The Water, £33, Tan-Luxe.com purely because I hadn't of this kind of tanner before. I LOVE using this water though as it is so quick and easy. You spray onto the skin and then use a mitt to diffuse and the end result is a ridiculously natural looking tan which absorbs really fast and with no streaks. I got shade light to medium and find it makes my skin the exact colour it would if I had been out in the sun.

Lastly is hair care, and I have been trying a few new styles and styling methods on my hair recently. I have completely given up my hair straighteners as I want bouncy beach waves that don't go flat. I am also trying to keep my colour healthier as my blonde hair can go quite dull really fast.

I first heard of Josh Wood when I interned at their PR agency, but since those days the brand has had a dramatic rebrand which focusses heavily on hair colour and care and I think it looks so amazing, chic and fresh. I love the way these products look in my bathroom.

Before buying any Josh Wood products, I would HIGHLY recommend going to the website and doing their online hair consultation. I answered a few simple questions and ended up buying the Uplifting Shampoo and Conditioner, £10 each, joshwoodcolour.com as they are for my type of blonde hair and also targeted to hair prone to frizz which is definitely mine. 

The products contain no nasty ingredients, and work better with more water meaning you save money on product. They have UV filters to help fading colour . I love how light they make my feel after washing like it hasn't been overloaded with product. The smell is really subtle and fresh and I also bought the Everything Mask, £15, joshwoodcolour.com to use once a week and really nourish.

So those are my favourite products for May, I hope you enjoyed reading about them, and if you have any suggestions of products you think I'll love in June then do let me know!

Ciate Mini Mani Month 2017

As we are know fully in March 2018, it feels a little ridiculous posting a blog post with '2017' in the title, but I promised I would review my Ciate Mini Month advent calendar and as it has been a solid two months since Christmas, I feel that if it gets to three months everyone will well and truly think I'm mad.

Although this was a Christmas Advent Calender, I believe most of the nail varnishes are available all year round so I wanted to show them to you as they are so pretty and can be worn in all seasons!
As you can imagine, it takes a while going through 24 products, and I have actually worn these shades out and about, not just painting, swatching and on to the next one so that is why it has taken so long!







The calendar has 20 mini nail colours, one full size polish, one mini nail file, a mini nail treatment and a mini gel top coat. Each treat came out of a door with a famous quote from a famous lady. People such as Anna Wintour, Marilyn Monroe and Beyonce graced to calendar which made every day of December and empowered one.



So here are the 21 swatches!

'After Party' is GREAT polish very similar to the 'Rainbow Wishes' in the Nails Inc Unicorn duo but it is a super metallic colour you can't go wrong with.

'Beach Party' as the name suggests, is a lovely bright Summer time coral. Bit odd being in an advent calendar, but I love this for the warmer months

'Big Top' is a loose glitter which is much better for Christmas time! This featured in my Valentines nails ideas this year, as it is a really beautiful fine glitter you can pat into damp polish to create this gorgeous glitter nail.

'Caberet' is a beautiful berry colour which looks great all year round. It is really wearable and looks really sophisticated.

'Champagne Kisses' looks a lot pinker in the bottle but this is a really cute bubblegum pink chunky glitter. It is a bugger to take off but it is totally worth it for the final look!

Another absolute chore to take off is 'Locket' which is a mixture of metallic silver polish and silver glitter. It is a real half and half of each so if you shy away from glitter this is a great stepping stone!

'Desert Lights' is a really unusual colour I've never come across before. It is a silvery, purple glitter speckled polish. As the name suggests, it is quite a mystical colour and is like a star studded night sky.

Ok this colour here, THIS COLOUR HERE is the winner in my eyes. Oh my gosh 'House of Mirrors' is a holographic polish. No need for holo dust or anything like that, just pure, multi-tonal smooth holo. It is 100% my favourite polish in the whole calender.

'Maybe Baby' is a classic cool girl nude with coffee toned browns. It's a very chic and sophisticated colour.

'Midnight In Paris' is another starlight scene with silver glitter embedded into a deep navy blue colour. The glitter is very fine in this so adds a touch of mystery when it catches the light.

'Moon Dust' is a cosmic goldy purple colour with a glitter metallic finish. It is quite a fun unicorn like colour if you're into that sort of thing!

Another duo tone glitter is 'Moonlit Whispers' which is a light blue and purple shimmer. It is a really pretty mix of the two and looks like different colours in different lighting.

'Mostly a Mum' is a classic deep red colour. This will suit all skin tones and look a million dollars. It is also a great base colour for glitter powders like 'Big Top'

'Palm Springs' is another summer time sounding name, with its jewel toned blue reminiscent of the ocean. This royal blue colour also looks lovely in the cooler months too though.

Another aqua inspired colour is 'Part Time Mermaid' which is a green metallic colour. This is a little harder for some to pull off, but as the Mermaid trend is in, why not give it a splash.

'Cosmic Love' is a holographic chunky glitter which is in a clear polish. This works well over a colour to add sparkle or can also be buildable to create more coverage.

'Reign Supreme' is another deep dark colour. A great alternative to black, this deep purple wine colour is very sophisticated.

'Roll Up Roll Up' is the epitome of Christmas tree green. I love this teal colour for all year round though, it is very wearable for all skin tones and is a really interesting.

Another nude which is slightly cooler toned is 'The Naked Truth' which I thought would be a little meh but actually I love this colour on my skin tone. It is really flattering and makes you look perfectly polished.

'What The Shell' is a really bold bright bluey/purple which makes a statment and makes people look twice. This is another great all year round colour, perfect for the Spring months with blooming Bluebells!

Lastly is the full size colour in the calendar, and that comes in the form of 'Show Time' which is a chunky gold glitter with fleks of rose pink glitter in the mix. Perfect for when you want to make a bang with you nails!

December 2017 Favourites

First off, welcome to my first post of 2018! We are nearly half way through January 2018 and that is just mad to me!

Whilst I have lots of fun new and exciting posts coming up and things I want to try, I can't neglect the wonderful little happenings that were my December favourites.
 I will probably do a little post on some of the bits I got for Christmas too, so if you thought the festivities were over in January hop over here to relive the Christmas time.

Probably my most favourite item of December was my Ciate Advent Calender, £50, ciatelondon.com which my generous mum got for me! My youngest sister, Tanya Burr superfan Sophia got Tanya's 12 Sweet Days Beauty Calendar, £20, Boots and my vegan sister Charlotte was treated to the Lush 12 Days of Christmas, £67.50, Lush calendar. Although these differ in price, can I just say that these calendars suited each of us down to a tee so the fact she spent more on one of us than the other doesn't mean anything as we were all so chuffed, although as the clear middle favourite I'm just happy not to be last. I'M JOKING.

My 24 day calendar included 21 STUNNING nail colours, a nail treatment, gel top coat and a sparkly nail file. I will do a full post on this advent calendar complete with swatches of each colour because I can only do it it's full justice in one dedicated post which I will link back in this post so keep an eye out for that!

My next favourite item was the Beauty Pie Pro-Glow Superstrobing Drops, £4.18 (members price), beautypie.com. These drops give the perfect dewy highlight that made me feel like a Christmas angel.

These drops are 100% my favourite highlighting product I have ever used. They completely transform my complexion and make my skin look flawless. If I could hazard a guess, I'd say they were created in the same factory as the famous Custom Cover Drops by Cover FX which come in at £34.00. If you don't know about Beauty Pie or why I have written that previous sentence or why I have written "membership price", then go to this post where I explain how Beauty Pie works and why it is so amazing!

Another Beauty Pie product I have been loving in December is the Great Skin Foundation, £6.02 (membership price), beautypie.com which I didn't get on too well with at first. I don't know whether my skin was just not its best when I first tried this but recently I have been using this as my everyday foundation and I have really loved the final look! The coverage isn't full, but it covers just about every blemish I need too with feeling heavy and evens my skin tone.

In my previous post I talked about how much I love a lip kit that comes with the matching liner and this MAC Duo, £29.50, maccosmetics.co.uk was the perfect kit for the December time.

With the matte colour 'Diva' and liner 'Burgandy', this was a winning berry lip colour for me throughout December. I was recommended this colour when I had my makeup done at MAC Fenwick Tunbridge Wells ahead of the Royal Variety show, and I am so glad I purchased this as it has been so perfect for the Christmas time of year.

At the end of the day when removing all my makeup, my favourite cleanser has been the Sumptuous Camomile Cleansing Butter, £10, The Body Shop. This balm cleanser is so gentle on skin, and really soothed my eyelids when they flared up in December. They were really dry and itchy but the calming chamomile in this cleanser put them back to normal within a few day.s, and it removes every scrap of makeup.

For a pamper session, I loved this Snowfairy Jelly Bomb, £4.95, Lush which I believe they are not stocking anymore as it is a Christmas exclusive, but I was given this at a bloggers event and waited for the perfect evening to indulge, and it was a much better experience than the one I had with the dark arts jelly bomb which you can read about here. The jello bombs leave a thick jelly like layer on the top of the bath moisturising the skin, and generally giving you a fun old bath time. Snow Fairy is a very sweet, very girly collection and it left my bath bright pink.

I also really loved the Naked Lip Scrub, £5.95, Lush as my lips get very dry in the winter and lipstick doesn't go on very well to dry chapped lips, especially matte formulas such as the Diva lipstick mentioned above. I much prefer the new Lush lip scrub formula of it being in a solid balm as I found the sugar in the pots went everywhere and tended to waste a lot of product. These balms allow you to apply directly onto the lip so moisturises as it goes without being too abbrasive and it also saves on packaging which is good for the environment. Yey!

Thanks for reading my December favourites, and as always if there are any products you loved this past month that you think I should try please do suggest them! Be sure to come back and read my new exciting posts coming soon!

Ciate

I first published this post in 2013 and since then, Ciate have really made their mark on not only the nail industry but also makeup. Unfortunately, I believe their 'wow kits' are now discontinued, however I think you can still find them in the depths of the internet!

As this is now discontinued, it feels a little silly bringing back this post, however I have fallen back in love with this nail kit so thought I'd show it off and hope they bring it back!

 The kit comes with a base colour, three sheets each of four different colour foil, glue, and a manicure wheel for you to practice on. I thought that was really good value for money, at £18.

I started with the base coat 'pepperminty', which in itself, is a really nice fresh colour.

After a couple of layers, I was ready for foiling! I practiced on the wheel first to get the right technique. You randomly dab the glue and wait a couple of minutes for it to go tacky, and then place the foil shiny side up, rub and whip of really quickly. I used the 'waxing strip' technique. After that, I kept on layering...

After gold I used blue

then red

and finally silver. I also did another layer of blue as I thought it was the most striking of the colours.

And Voila!

At the beginning, I was being quite careful, but after half an hour I was being quite rough with it and found that worked better! Altogether it took me about 1 hour to do all fingers in four foils. Personally, I thought it looked better with fewer colours, and I will probably use the 'less is more' approach in future. Its a really effortless look that looks really interesting. It also lasts really well! I've had my foil manicure on for a week now and haven't had any trouble. When using some heavy duty cleaning products some of the foil wiped of but otherwise its all in tact. When using the foils, I went right up to the edges of the sheets so still have loads of foil left over. A very good investment and interesting kit from Ciate. 

I have also done this with a darker colour underneath and got a lovely finish better for Autumn/ Winter