Lush Jacko Ballistic - Review

Hi lovelies,

Happy Halloween!!!! 

Another day and another product from the Lush Halloween collection - I am totally in love with the other items so this one I was really excited about picking up, how cute is it! Jacko was first released back in 2009 and is now available as a Limited Edition product which I fear means it will be changed for next year.

Jacko is a bath ballistic which is really spicy, which makes the bath really cosy and warming - perfect for these cold nights at the moment. 

The bath turns a lovely orange with this, however there weren't  many bubbles so I threw in a good chunk of Comforter bubble bar after to make lots of bubbles - the smell was amazing - like sitting in a room full of Lemsip. The cloves and cardamon oil make this really spicy, but the peppermint oil add a fresh twist to it, and the scent lingered on my skin which was nice.

You can pick these up for £3.95 and if like me are wanting to be a tad frugal then cut it in half and get two baths from it! 

Have you tried this lovely bath ballistic? Do you like bubbles or no bubbles? xx

Halloween Nails - Dripping Blood

Afternoon lovelies,

for someone who has a very large collection of nail polish, I'm not a big nail art fan, simply because I'm really naff at it. I follow so many different nail art blogs, but every time I try it just ends up a massive mess! So when I saw this design, I knew I could try it as it didn't matter that it was slightly messy!

You will need:
A white polish - I used OPI Alpine Snow
A red Polish - I used OPI Big Red Apple
Dotting Tool/Kirby Grip
Paper


Step One - Paint your nails with two coats of your white polish or as many as you need until its opaque.

Step two - Using your red, paint just the tips, it doesn't have to be neat or even so get it on there!

Step Three - Load up your paper with quite a few big blobs of the red polish. You need enough so that it forms drops on the end of your dotting tool to make it look like blood drops dripping.

I used a bent kirby grip as I don't have a dotting tool, but this worked really well.

Step four - Create random blobs on the nail and then drag it upwards to join the top nail polish. Its best if the dots are wider then the tail as that way it looks like the blob has dribbled down. You dont have to get this nice and even, as well as making random marks as though it has splattered.

Step five - Let it dry fully, and then seal it in with a clear top coat. I finished it off with a little bit of red glitter after I took this picture.

I got so many compliments from this nail polish, and it lasted really well so I think for an initial dabble in nail art, it was easy - now to think what else to do! 

Have you tried any Halloween nail designs? Is this really naff or not too bad? xx

Lush The Witches' Ball - Review

Afternoon lovelies,

Today is the first day of the half term, so I have 4 days on my own to do what I want so I plan on writing loads of posts to get myself a head for the next half term, and in the run up to Christmas.

However before we get to Christmas, we still have to get through Halloween. Its not my favourite holiday of the year, we don't do very much, not even watching a scary film as I hate them!

What I do love, is the Halloween collections that come out, especially from Lush. I've already posted about the Calacas shower jelly here, but I did pick up a few other bits as well as I couldn't resist.

The Witches' Ball is everything I love about Autumn all rolled up into one gorgeous bubble bar. It contains sage, myrrh, peppermint, cloves, rosemary and parsley which makes the bath really spicy and fills the whole flat with an almost mulled wine scent.

I love the way the star anise is scattered around it, and some of them look like little faeries have been pressed into it especially when they are floating in the bath.

I've had two decent baths out of this, with loads of bubbles, and that night I've slept better than a baby. It is a tad frustrating cleaning out the bath after, but its worth it just for the smell.

These retail for £3.95 and I think I need to stock up on some of these before they stop doing them, but I love the Witches' Ball.

Have you tried this one? What's your favourite Autumnal scent?

A Boot-iful Giveaway with Terri Lowe and Barratts

Evening lovelies,

So the lovely Terri over at http://helloterrilowe.blogspot.co.uk is holding a great give away in connection with Barratts to give us the chance to win  £100 of shoe prizes - £70 from a post and £30 over on Terri's blog.

Being a little bit of a shoe addict, the idea of virtual shopping good quality shoes meant one thing and one thing only - what shoes do I wear for the Christmas season? Now the season is spent between mine and the boys families, so my shoe choices needs to be practical yet stylish. I've picked my 3 favourite items for under £70!

First up - Christmas!! I love christmas day, in my house it means a day with the family, eating our way through tins of chocolate. However this year, I'm with the boys family, and that means travelling to see lots of family, eat lots, play with the kids and fall asleep at the end, so my shoes need to be practical for all of this! So I've picked these gorgeous Glitter Ankle Boots from Blink. These should be £55, but are down to £40. These can spruce up any outfit, so I would team them with jeans and then my ususal Xmas jumper. These are practical for playing with my niece and nephew as well as sharing a glass of wine with the parents-in-law and I just love the glitter!

New Years Eve - So back at my parents for this celebration, and we usually get all dressed up and go out. I've had my eye on this dress for a while, and really it needs a simple set of accessories, and these Glitterati Contrasting Platform Courts would be something I would team with the dress with black tights to complete the outfit. I love the fact these have a hidden platform as that heel is super high, however I'm sure I could cope with a few hours dancing in them! For £23.80, these shoes are a total bargain and well worth the pain!  

Finally - New Years Day. The day where the Christmas hangover really kicks in, and this year thankfully we get longer before we head back to school. I like to spend my day in bed, with my pjs on and my slipper boots to give my poor, tired feet a well deserved rest! These slipper boots are so cute, with the sequin detail as well as faux fur. There a total bargain at £5.00, and something that I would enjoy wearing all Christmas, giving my feet some much needed love.

So there you have it, my picks from Barratts, all three pairs for under £70! If you fancy having a go, or simply just winning £30 then head over to Terri's blog and enter! To have a look at the shoes over at Barratts then head over and pick your favourite - don't forget to let me know!

xx

OPI Pink of Hearts 2012 - Review

Afternoon lovelies,

Every year 47,700 women and 300 men are diagnosed with breast cancer  in the UK. Scarily the number of women under the age of 30 being diagnosed with it is on the increase. 

So every year, beauty companies across the world join together to help raise awareness for Breast Cancer awareness during October. This year OPI have joined with www.coppafeel.org to produce a limited edition set to help raise money.

For 2012 OPI brought out a set called Pink of Hearts, containing two suitably pink nail polishes.

Adorned with a pink ribbon printed top, You Glitter be Good to Me and I think in Pink are the perfect combination for a duo set.

I Think in Pink - This is a real baby pink polish, which gives a sheer was of colour with one coat. As im not a fan of sheer, I built this up, and I was pleased that it took 3 coats to achieve nearly full opacity. It dried to a glossy, jelly like finish that lasted well over 4 days before tip wear became too much.

You Glitter be Good to Me - Made up of tiny silvery/pink glitter pieces, and magenta hexagonal glitter, this is a gorgeously girly polish that drew so many compliments. One coat added an even spread of glitter, there was no dabbing to get the bits to stick and 2 coats was fully opaque over a coat of I think in Pink.

You can still pick this up from Lena White for £22.00 with £2 going to Coppafeel. I would have liked more to go to charity but maybe another year.

Have you picked up any thing to help raise money? What do you think of these pink polishes?

Tresemme Keratin Smooth Deep Treatment Masque - Review

Evening lovelies,


A while a go, I mentioned that I was planning to get an ombre effect on my hair - well this happened about 6 weeks ago now, and I'm now on a mission to heal and prevent any further damage, with lots of hair masks. So when I heard about the new Keratin range, I knew I would have to investigate if it would work on my curly, damaged hair.

Keratin is a protein substance that is the key building block in our hair and nails. It helps create strength in hair, and strong hair is shiny and healthy. My hair is naturally curly, if a tad frizzy, especially in the current rain, so I was dubious if it would help restore any smoothness to my hair.

The product is quite a thin mixture, that means it makes a right mess getting it out of the pot. It spreads quite well through wet hair, I tend to use it through the mid-lengths of my hair and the ends to really treat them.

Did it make a difference? Well it does make my hair easier to style after I use it - the ends are smoother and stay smooth for the day. However I do find it can leave a very tricky residue which builds up and leaves it greasy after a day, I can't work out if I need to rinse it for longer, or comb it through better!

The next day, I do need to wash my hair again after using this which is frustrating but the overall condition of my hair has improved really. You do get a massive 300ml pot for £5.50, but I don't think I will buy this again, just because its not really that special.

How have your experiences been with this? Are there any other masques I should try?

#WAMKpledge 10 Week Challenge

Afternoon lovelies,

It's that time of year again, where the countdown to the festive season starts and everyone begins thinking about what they will wear to the Xmas party, or what the New Years outfit will be!

With that in mind, the lovely people over at Where Are My Knees have set up a 10 week challenge to help focus on the build up to Christmas. So I've decided to get involved with this, and have made my own pledge for the next 10 weeks.

I pledge to lose 7lbs to get me down to under 13st as I've been stuck for the best part of 6months now.

I will also make sure I use my Kettlebell twice a week and not use it as a door stop, building up to 4 times a week ( do you want to see my routine?) in addition to this, I will get back into my gym routine of two sessions of spinning, 2 of Bodyjam and one core session a week - increasing this with extra sessions after the class!!

Just to get in the mood for this, a friend sent me this picture to help inspire me - so I'm sharing it with you!

If you want to see more posts as I go through this then let me know, have you set yourself a 10 week challenge?

Review - Lush Calacas Shower Jelly

Afternoon lovelies,



Quick question for you, is anyone else sick of walking into a Lush store and being stalked by the overly helpful staff? I know it's not just me, but I wanted to pick up some Halloween and Xmas bits so decided to place my first order online, and with in 3 days my box of goodies arrived (this is great as one of those days was a Sunday!

This year, Lush have based some of their Halloween items on the Mexican festival Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. I love everything about this festival, especially the sugar skulls so I had to pick up their Calacas shower jelly!!

Calacas means skull, and this little pot of lime goodness is shaped exactly like a skull. I couldn't get any pictures out of the pot as it broke up as I was taking it out!!

The scent is described as lime and jelly bean, however the lime is more noticeable so it is really refreshing on the skin. The scent doesn't linger too long but I found that I felt very clean, occasionally catching a zing.

I love that you only need to break off a little bit as it lathers up quite well really, although some is lost to the plug when I drop it, but never mind. I'm about half way through now and love it! Well worth the £3.95 for the 100g pot! Lush advise keeping it in the fridge for extra zing, but I think that can be a bit of a clat really, if anyone has tried this then let me know!

Have you picked up anything from the Halloween range? Have you kept it in the fridge before? Xx

Sunday Night Blogloving #3

Evening lovelies,

So another week, and I'm still a bit all over the place, life as a teacher is hard! Normal posting is starting to resume so wantted to share with you some of the lovely blogs I've been sent this week in the #bbloggers chat :)

Kates Wardrobe

Fashiony Nails

Lil Miss Chickas

Cider with Rosiebee

My list of blogs grow week after week and I'm starting to run out of time to read all the blogs, let alone blog myself, but I love having such a wide range of blogs to read.

Have you found any great blogs this evening?

NOTD - Ciaté Paint Pot Bon Bon

Afternoon lovelies,

Autumn is in full swing here in the UK, so the brights have been packed away, and in their place are lots of exciting shades.

One shade that I've been saving is Ciaté's Bon Bon. I picked this up a couple of months ago with Marie Claire magazine, I love when the freebies are nail polishes as I don't often buy higher end polishes anymore.

BonBon is a lilac toned grey, or a grey toned lilac, I'm not quite sure, but either way is gorgeous. It's not too pale that I end up with funny mannequin hands, but still different from the greys spring and summer.

The formula isn't super glossy, but it covered well with two even coats over a base coat. It lasted fairly well, tip wear showed after 4 days, but this week has been a rough week for my hands at work!

I love the shape of these bottles, their so easy to hold, and the brush is a dense, mid length brush which is easy to control, meaning I was able to do this really quickly, and not make a massive mess of my fingers - essential these days!

I've had so many ideas for nail arts with this, I'm thinking silver metallic tips, or a contrasting half moon, or gradient purple dots on the nail - is that something you would like to see?

You can pick Ciaté up from Beautybay, but I've not been able to find this shade anywhere except EBay!!

Have you tried this shade? Any other that I need to try out? Xx

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

NOTD - Models Own Zest a Peel

Afternoon lovelies,
Another polish from the Models Own Beetle Juice collection, this really is the stand out collection for me at the moment (can't wait to try out the Mirror Ball Collection)

Zest a Peel caught my eye as its super bright, and not a colour I would normally pick up but I love it!

It's a bright, satsuma orange with very finely milled flecks of gold glitter in it. This really zings in the sunlight, which at the moment is becoming less often, but it looks nice against a black outfit.

Unlike the duo chromes in the collection, this stays one orange shade, but one of kids in my class asked if I had dipped my fingers in orange sherbet at it looked 'fizzy' (gold star to that child!)

(sorry for the out of focus nails - can't seem to find the right pictures!)

Application was good, one coat was opaque but two really finished it off - plus it lasted a good week before real tip wear showed, but no chipping. It removed really well, and there was no staining which was great as brights can do that!

I love that Models Own keep bringing out winning collections and polishes - I can't wait for the Mirrorball and Wonderland collections - for £5 you really can't go wrong!!

Have you tried this? Would you wear brights in the winter? Xx

Duo Blogger Competition - Autumn Work Wear

Afternoon lovelies - I've seen this floating about on a few blogs and thought - 'why not get involved?!'

Tartan Jacket - River Island
Shirt Dress - River Island
Silver Stud Tights - Topshop
Red Satchel Bag - River Island
Inverted Cross Necklace - Rock and Rose
Carmen Shoes - Duo

I love dressing for Autumn/Winter, with lots of layering and different textures. As I spend most of my time at work, I thought I would do an outfit I would wear to school :)

So I started with the shoes, these are from Duo and are called Carmen, I think their really smart, but the low cut on the ankle means that they will stop at the narrowest part of my legs, helping to add shape and definition - showing off the detail on the tights - which are silver stud embellished!

Layered over the top would be this smart shirt dress from River Island. I love the contrasting sleeves and collar to the main dress, as well as the black skinny belt, however I might change it up for a red skinny belt.

On the top would be this super cute tartan blazer. The boyfriend cut of this blazer is really flattering, and adds a bit of fun to the outfit. I've not worn tartan since I was about 6 but why not give it another go!

To top it off, I've picked a red satchel bag to pick out the red on the jacket, and the inverted cross necklace from Rock and Rose - I can't wait for this to come back in stock!

So there's my outfit for school - I think I might pick up the shirt dress and tights for parents evening :)

If you want to join in then head over to Duo for more information :)

xx