Nails Inc Unicorn Duo

How this Nails Inc launch slipped under my radar for so long I will not know.

With unicorns, mermaids and all things mythical being the top summer trend, Nail Inc were well and truly onto a winner when they launched this Unicorn duo a little while back.

I first saw these colours on a couple of girls I worked with at the department store. I stood there awe struck and went over to the Nail Inc counter and bought them straight away. The duo costs an amazing £15, which is such a bargain when you can usually expect to pay the same price for one gel polish from Nails Inc.

So here are some swatches of these beautiful polishes.

Dream Dust

The first polish is called 'Dream Dust' and it is a really fine glitter with a rose gold look. This is the sort of glitter that comes off easily which is a plus as I can't bare taking off glitter polish.

This is really long lasting and looks amazing on. In some lights it does have an iridescent purple/blue shimmer. It is perfect for summer.

Rainbow Wishes

Next is 'Rainbow Wishes' which is a pearlescent blue/ purple shimmer.

This again, looks amazing when it catches the light, and I think I will use this polish in a few nail art ideas I have coming up. This is the perfect Mermaid polish.

And the look of the polishes when paired together? I used 'Rainbow Wishes' on top of the glitter as it is slightly thinner consistency, and this was the finished result.

I think we can all agree that these are super dreamy?!

St Tropez Tanning Sheet Mask

If like me, you have been stuck in an office all week while the sun blazes outside in Britain, you may want to cheat a bit of summer glow, as we head into the bank holiday weekend. I thought it would be a great time to share my experience with the New St Tropez Tanning Sheet Masks.

This was a product that I saw advertised, and just knew I had to try straight away. I am someone who would not consider themselves a tan addict, and especially someone who doesn't use tan on their face, but something about the idea of using a sheet mask and tan really appealed to me.

I ordered them offline straight away, and got 2 packs because I wasn't sure if they would be tricky to master, so a back up pack was necessary. One pack retails at £15 and contains 2 masks. 

This is a little steep when you could use a regular tan on the face, however this mask is specially designed to hug each contour on the face and promises to give naturally bronzed and hydrated glowy skin.

Remove all makeup and cleanse your skin before applying the mask, and do not use an oil cleanser as the tan will not sink into the skin properly. Once you've opened the pack, unfold and peel back the plastic from the mask and line it up with your face.
It is a very big mask, so I would suggest working your way from the forehead down, and tucking any excess under the chin. It is infused with a tanning serum so it is quite slippery and hard to manouvere, but once it's on, it wont slip about.
It does say to smooth the mask as much as possible without creases, but with it being quite a large mask, it is nearly impossible too get a completely smooth finish.
The real knack of a even tan with this mask is rubbing in the serum afterwards, so I wouldn't worry too much about small creases.

Whilst on, I sat and relaxed as the pack recommends, however my only discomfort with the mask was that it overlapped my lip line slightly, and it was really quite uncomfortable and stingy! Try to avoid the lip area at all costs, it won't tan them but it doesn't feel or taste that great!

After a while, I was really quite nervous and started to wonder why this technique of tanning hadn't been done before. St Tropez are the first brand to try encorporate sheet masks with tanning, and with fair eyebrows, and a white blonde hairline, I had visions of an orange ring around the sides of my face, and began to panic a little.
The mask recommends 5 minutes for a light tan, through to 15 minutes for an intense bronze. As I was starting to worry, I went for a solid 10 minutes and peeled it off to check my hair was still blonde.

Thankfully, all was good, and I rubbed in the serum efficiently as suggested. Also make sure you do go into the hair line and around the ears, and also all around the neck, to avoid white bits and lines and do not forget wto wash your hands or they will get the full force of tan!
The tan takes 8 hours to develop like any other fake tan, so I would recommend doing it just before bed.

The result? A very natural looking tan that didn't stain my hair at all. My skin did feel really soft which is due to the infusion of hydrating hyaluronic acid in the mask. I also found it didn't have an orange tinge like some tan. Even as a very fair person, it gave me a caramel tan which is the colour I go when I see some sun anyway.

I will certainly be using these masks again, as after just 5 minutes, you are on your way to natural glowy skin!

Summer Fragrances

If you live in the UK, then you will be able to join me when rejoicing that our Summer finally looks like it is on it's way! The sunshine we have had the last few days, mixed with my holiday hen do to Marbella last week, has well and truly got me in the spirit of summer.

Something I have become particulalry obsessed with recently is fragrance, especially as the weather hots up. You don't want to smell like a sweaty mess, and I find warm skin brings out the best in a perfume so I have chosen my top 3 summer fragrances that I love to wear in this beautiful season.

I also posted my Marbs fragrance over on my instagram so go and see what that one was, and whilst you're there, check out my holiday snaps and give me a follow!

Neroli Portofino, Tom Ford, EDP 100ml £193.50

First up, is the beautiful Neroli Portofino by Tom Ford. Tom Ford fragrances are known for being quite heady and aromatic, however this portofino range is so fresh and floral. I absoutly love the smell of Neroli (which is Orange Blossom flower, not to be confused with orange), and would go as far to say it is my favourite ingredient for fragrance.

They say that smell can transport you back to any memory, and whilst I've never actually been to Portofino (It's on the bucket list), you really get the esscene of being in a glamourous Italian sea side town, sipping wine whilst looking over the sea.

Whilst the top notes are predominantly fresh and citrussy, with ingredients such as bergamot, lemon and lavender, this is a Tom Ford fragrance, so it was never going to be purely fresh.

The middle notes are African orange flower, jasmine, and of course the neroli. The base has a slightly musky undertone, but this is a beautiful fragrance for both men and women who aspire to be a chic Italian.

Ciao Bella!

 Aventus for Her, Creed, 75ml, £225

Next is the hugely anticipated Aventus for Her, which hit shelves this time last year. With Aventus being the most popular men's fragrance for Creed, they finally brought out the female counterpart which is equally amazing.

On first smell, the fragrance is quite sweet. With notes of apple, bergamot, pink pepper and violet, you'd be led to believe that this was going to be the total opposite of the original men's Aventus.

As citrussy ingredients tend to evaporate faster, very quickly you begin to get a sense of the depth in this fragrance, with sandalwood and styrax on the dry down, however more floral notes of rose also start to come through.

After a couple of hours or so, you are left with a fabulous, sophisticated smell on the skin, made up of peach, blackcurrant, ylang ylang and amber. It lasts on the skin all day and is a perfect day to night fragrance for someone who wants to make more of an impact with their fragrance.

 Fico di Amalfi, Aqua Di Parma, 150ml, £93

Finally, we are heading back over to Italy for the Aqua di Parma, Fico di Amalfi.

Simiarly to Tom Ford, the 'Blu Mediterraneo' range breaks the mold from the typical yellow boxes of the recognisable brand. Each fragrance could transport you all along the coasts of Italy, with these beautiful bursts of Summer.

Described as being "the Italian breeze from the Mediterranean" Fico di Amalfi contains orange, lemon, grapefruit and mandarin, which make for a very fruity initial scent. The middle notes give the fragrance more depth with pink pepper, jasmine, and of course, the fig.

Fig, again, is one of those ingredients that I absoluelty love. However, I find fig can either be really green smelling, or really fresh. I prefer the latter!

Thankfully, this fig is beautiful, and my favourite fig frangrance of all time. It almost has a coconutty esscense to it, which makes it even more summery.

What gives it that creamy smell, is the fig milk in the base notes, mixed with musk and ceder to give it the perfect edge and sophistication.

So there you have my favourite Summer fragrances!

Now I'm off to go and look at trips to Italy...