NOTD - Models Own HeadKandi Hedonist

Evening lovelies, long time no speak but I needed some time away from the blogosphere and everything beauty. However now I'm back after a well earnt rest and with 6weeks of summer holidays to fill I've got lots of blogging plans! 


First up is getting back to the task of trying out and wearing the polishes that I keep in my 'must try' box. I haven't been wearing much polish recently, letting my nails having a rest I think and grew out a touch of staining - more on that later through. 


With the sun shining, it is almost impossible not to imagine you're on the gorgeous island of Ibiza, sitting in the sun, enjoying the heat...well I'm not there but my little sister is and I know this is a polish she is rocking. 

When you think Ibiza, you have to think Head Kandi and Models Own were thinking the same thing and teamed up with Head Kandi to produce a set of 5 polishes especially for the Ibiza weather. 

 One polish from the collection is Headonist. Think highlighter pink crossed with a coral and your somewhere close to the neon gorgeousness that is Headonist. A bright colour that pops against a tanned skin tone as well as a paler skin tone.


The polish itself is slightly thicker formula that dries to somewhere between a matt and a gloss finish - it reminds me of melted wax, so if you prefer a glossy finish then layer over a topcoat. 

I've only been wearing this a couple of days but its holding up well as with most Models Own polishes. I love this one and Baleric Cool which I reviewed here and can't wait to try out the rest of the collection. Speaking of the collection, look out for a sneaky giveaway coming next week!!

You can pick this up from Models Own or Boots.com where you can pick up 2 for £8 on Models Own.


So what do you think - have you tried this? A bright colour for brighter weather! 


xx

Benefit Hello Flawless Foundation

Afternoon lovelies, hope this week is treating you really well. Also it's Hump day!!! Closer to the weekend then the start of then week now :)


So I wanted to show you my current foundation love, but I hate that I want to write about something and there are suddenly 10 other posts, so I've held off on this for a while now. I've never been one for really expensive foundations, when my skins good I don't mind using a 'drugstore' foundation as its just a base for the rest of my foundation. But recently my skin is having a mid-life crisis, it can't decide if it's dry or oily, if it's clear or spotty, if it's angry red or a muted normal colour. This has been really stressing me out so I did some research for a nice matte foundation that wouldn't clog up my skin, but would cover and leave me looking normal.

My lovely mum bought me this foundation on a recent trip to London and we were in Harrods, sheltering from the rain. We wandered through and the only concession I knew we could afford would be Benefit and I wanted to look at this foundation. The lovely girl in Harrods colour matched me really well, we were there ages talking all things blogging and make up but I'm so glad I got this foundation as its lovely.

Hello Flawless is an oil free foundation that provides build-able light to medium coverage, great for good and bad skin days. It contains Vitamins C & E to help prevent signs of ageing. It also contains SPF 25+++, so a fantastic sunscreen as well.

It applies really well with both fingers and a brush, I use the Real Techniques stippling brush to apply this and then buff it is with the Buffing Brush. I find with the Porefessional it evens out my skin tone,covering the redness that is constantly in my skin, this is because I was colour matched to the slightly yellower foundation - definitely go and get colour matched.


It doesn't keep my skin oil free,but I'm a lot less oily by lunch time which is nice so I do touch ups then.


It's quite expensive at £24.50, but it's a product that's well worth it, and if you want to stretch it a bit further then mix it with something like You Rebel light tinted moisturiser or a BB cream for the same effect with less product. You can get this from Benefit, as well as feelunique.com




Have you tried this foundation yet? Xx

Buyapowa Blue Sky Co-buys & me :)

Evening lovelies - a bit of an impromptu posts, but I wanted to let you know about the latest happenings over on BuyaPowa.


A while ago, buys-powa teamed up with some bloggers to offer their readers their favourite products. After the success of that, the team over at Buyapowa contacted loads of bloggers, asking them their suggestions for their summer essentials. So I filled in the form and forgot about it. Well they only went and picked one of my blooming ideas!!!


Starting today, BuyaPowa are offering huge discounts on my summer essentials - an ice cream maker :)


I love the idea of making my own ice cream, reminds me of holidays at my families in Northern Ireland, where my Aunt would make Pooh Bear ice cream - vanilla and honey comb - its lush!


The lowest price it can go is down to £19 - the RRP is £34.99 - that's a massive saving. I've already joined the co-buy as I want one for myself!


If you fancy joining in then near over on this link, get yourself on the co-buy and help me out :)



How ace is this?! What would your summer essential be? Xx

Dr Bronners Facial wash

Afternoon lovelies, hope you well.


This is a bit of an odd one for me as I don't often write about skin care, because up until the last six months my skin was normal/combination and my skin are system wasn't great. Then all of a sudden, my skin became very multiple personality, one day being dry, the next really oily, then a mix of both and this cycle continued, so I've tried all sorts of products, giving them a month or more to get to work.


Then I saw Emma's post over on Ems mixed bag and remembered I had a bottle of the cleansing oil from a beauty box, but had discarded it as why would I want an oil for my combination skin?!


After she raved about it, I tried it out. It's an oil cleanser that you add water to and it foams up like a normal facial wash, but you need half the product. As soon as its on my skin, I can almost feel it soothing and stripping away the dirt, without stripping away too much of the natural oils. My skin is actually squeaky clean!

It also makes me skin less oily throughout the day, meaning I don't have to keep chopping and changing my moisturiser, plus the one I'm currently using soaks in much better, leaving me with clean, soft skin that looks so much healthier!


I love that it is multi-purpose - I've tried this on my brushes, washed my face cloths with it, the list of uses is really endless!


You can pick this up from feelunique.com for £5.49 which is a great price, plus there are loads of different scents - and you really only need a few drops each time!


Have you tried this? Would you give it a try?


xx

Nail Rock Nail Wraps

Afternoon lovelies, hope your well, I'm counting down the days really until the summer holidays.


I think as a nail addict, you fall into two categories - nail polish or nail art/wraps. For most of my life, I've been all about the polish, the rows of glittering bottles that entice and encourage me to buy them and love them. I never really thought about nail wraps, a waste of money I thought, until I was given a set by a friend who didn't want one.


Nail wraps have come over all festival fabulous for the summer this year, with Ibiza Rocks, Tribal prints and these colour blocked palm trees. They're designed to last for up to 10 days, perfect for a holiday or a festival, and they look better then tired, chipped nails in a festival field.

Very straight forward to apply, simply match the wrap to your cuticle size, carefully smooth on and then file off any excess. I was quite surprised at how easy they were, I only messed up one or two which is great as they are on my left hand - being a lefty, it has taken years of practice to paint with my right hand so this might improve with practice!


I painted mine with a coat of clear topcoat just to seal it in, as I want to protect them as much as possible. I'm very conscious when washing up and washing my hands or in the shower as I'm aware that they are still in essence stickers and so won't last forever!

I've had lots of compliments from people, some asking if they are my real nails, and others wanting to know more. The best response I've had to them was when my 2yr old niece pointed to them and said 'beach' before trying to pull them off (so cute)!!!


The only downside I've found is that there are a few wraps left over that you simply won't use, I'd love to get a double set so I could redo them if needed.


I wore them for a week before they really started to do my head in - it wasn't that bad really. Removal was quick and easy, I just heated them a little using the hair-dryer and then peeled them off. I was left with some grey, gunky glue however this wiped off easily with a bit of nail varnish remover. I had no damage, and was able to repaint them straight away!


You can pick up a range of styles of Nail Rock Nail Wraps from Topshop, River Island, Boots as well as at ASOS and http://www.nailrock.com/ - they vary between £6.50 and £7.50 which is a bit steep for one set, but the range of styles more then makes up for it.


Have you tried these nail wraps? Are there any other styles from Nail Rocks that I should try?


Xx
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

This Weeks Ups & Downs #22

Afternoon lovelies - hope your well and either watching the tennis or doing something else equally exciting! 


It's been a quiet week from me on the blog, and on Twitter really, things at work are really shitty, when we should be enjoying our time with the children, we're actually having to do more and more work :(


Ups:


- Only 9 more school days left until the summer holidays! Bring it on, then 6 weeks to recover, re-organise my life and get caught back up with blogging and stuffs.


- Finally a weekend off. July and August are Birthday season in my family, with everyone having their birthday. It's nice to see the family but I need a weekend to myself at the moment or else I risk serious burn out.


- lost 4.5lbs this week - it feels good to be back on the exercise and diet big time!


- the boy bought me a gorgeous Olympus Trip 35 camera this week as a surprise. Since starting the blog, I'm really enjoying photography, I want to learn how to get better and have been looking at some vintage film cameras for a while. It arrived a long with a black and white film so I can't wait to take it out to play!


Down:


- When will the weather actually pick up? Where's summer?!


- Had my hair cut yesterday, I didn't want a lot done but really I'm not that impressed. Being 25mins late and then only spent 30mins with me and not even finishing it properly really bugs me, have rebooked but might cancel it and go elsewhere!


- Although I love my new little Trip, I can't use it at the moment as it stinks of smoke. I hate to imagine the damage that has been done to the inside because of the smoke - it is a nasty habit.


- Feeling quite lonely here in Watford at the moment - hate not knowing many people, wish I knew more :(


So there you go, a little moan and a few positives - hope next week is a better week!

When will the weather return to this?!

xx

This Weeks Ups & Downs #21

Evening lovelies, hope your well - its been a real hit and miss week but finally found time to post for you all.


Ups:


- 2 weeks, 3.5 days left until the summer holidays! I cannot wait to get this year all over and start afresh in September. 


- Reports all written and submitted for checking - its nice to be able to get back into just teaching and spending my time with the children.


- It's been sunny here in old Watford, which is nice to spend some time outside, even if the humidity is driving me mad.


- This weekend we spent time with our niece and nephew. Its wonderful watching them grow and change each time we see them, especially now they are 4 and 2.


- Finally payday!!!


Downs:


- The weather is turning again :(


- Never enough money to buy the things I want!!!




How was your week?