Trimming My Stash - July 2018 Edition - Empties And Mini Reviews, And Life Lately

I'm late again with my monthly empties post but at the moment that just seems to be the way that my life is going. I makes plans and for whatever reason they just don't come off. Case in point after months of lacking in energy, and umph, over the last week or so I've actually started to feel a little bit more with it, so yesterday me and the mothership planned to make a little trip to Intu Metrocentre. The plan was simple, a short trip with a Primark visit, and a coffee stop, and a quick appointment with Benefit to get my brows waxed. Perfect! then on Thursday night I had a call from Benefit asking me if I could reschedule my brow appointment for next week! It wasn't a major inconvenience so we put the day out on hold until hopefully next Tuesday! They say that things happen for a reason well if that's the case I'd love to know the reasoning behind some of the things that go on in my life, wouldn't we all though! Maybe someone up there or out there knows the potential damage that I want to do in Primark, and they trying to save me some money lol who knows? maybe it's for the best that we don't know the grand plan, or the meaning of life though haha.

I don't if you're really that interested in my life but believe me this post needs a bit of padding out. Last months trimming my stash was to put it mildly a bit of a fail and I haven't really got that much to talk about!

Primark PS Oil Balancing Facial Cleansing Wipes For Oily & Blemish Prone Skin - 25 x Wipes
AVON Advance Technique Anti Hair Fall Shampoo - 250ml
Beautifully Scrumptious - Deep Moisturising Foot Pack - Honey & Almond - 1 x Pair Socks

Total - 3 Items

Yeah... I only managed to finish 3 items and two of those items were things that I've talked about at length in several previous post, what can I say apart from that 3 is better than none and from a budget friendly angle every item that I finished was less than £2! I promise I'll try harder in August but first of all lets take a closer look at the 3 products that I did manage to finish x 

1. Primark PS Oil Balancing Facial Cleansing Wipes For Oily & Blemish Prone Skin - 25 x Wipes

Yawn! I have no idea how many of these packets have ended up in my monthly empties posts over the years but they are a real constant in my beauty routine. I don't use them on my face that often (facial wipes are bad don't you know ;) but I do use them for all sorts of things including sticky hands, cleaning up swatches, and general freshening up. They are full of tea tree so they have a bit of an antibacterial effect so I often have a packet inside my handbag alongside my hand sanitiser. I always stock up when I go into Primark but since I haven't been in store since May, I've now ran out! I'm hoping I'll be able to stock up when (or if!) I go in next week but in the meantime I'm trying out some Tea Tree and Peppermint facial wipes that I picked up in another one of my favourite stores, B&M.

2. AVON Advance Technique Anti Hair Fall Shampoo - 250ml

I've talked about this product and the corresponding conditioner a few times already both on the blog and on my Instagram, and I have to say that I think this product is amazing. Not only is it really affordable at around £1.70 for a 250ml, but it's also really good and it smells lovely. Anti-Fall is a pretty big claim, and whilst I'm still losing probably more hair than the average person, my hair definitely looks fuller, and thicker, and it feels healthier, and in much better conditioner then it did before I started using this product. I'm using a couple of other shampoos now but I do like to switch it up a bit so I've already bought the 400ml Super size which appears every now and then in the brochures. I really like both the shampoo and the conditioner in this line and it's something that I'm going to continue to repurchase. 

3. Beautifully Scrumptious - Deep Moisturising Foot Pack - Honey & Almond - 1 x Pair Socks

Ah we've reached the final item already and it's probably the most interesting one because it's something that I haven't talked about before. Admittedly I've mentioned the tea tree and peppermint variant but until last month I'd never tried these honey and almond moisturising socks. I'm not sure whether or not that I've mentioned this before but I don't like honey! It's weird I love sweet things, I have a ridiculously sweet tooth, and I can eat things that most other people would find too sweet but honey nah not for me. I think it's more about that smell than the taste for me I just don't like how it smells, I know it's good for you and it's an excellent addition to your body and skincare routine but I just don't like it. Thankfully in the majority of beauty lines it seems to be masked by the addition of a few floral notes, but throw in the fact that I don't like the smell of bitter almond, and these Poundland moisture socks were a bit of a risky buy. Thankfully though they had a pleasant warm, sweet, slightly floral scent that reminded me a bit of whiskey! Odd I know but way better than out and out honey and marzipan! The idea is the same as the tea tree socks, a pair of plastic / paper / fabric socks that are infused with moisturising ingredients - pop them onto clean dry feet for 20 minutes or so and your feet look better and feel instantly smoother and more hydrated. I prefer the freshness of the tea tree and peppermint socks but these are a good alternative and for just £1 a pair they are perfect for dry foot emergencies. 

So short and sweet, but I still managed to ramble for a few minutes longer than this post should have taken, never mind hah ha! Let me know if you have any questions on any of the 3 items that I've talked about in the post or even if you have any random life questions and I'll do my best to respond x Thanks for reading x 

Nails Of The Day - Milani 3D Holographic Nail Lacquer - 509 HD - Reshot And Rewritten

I've got an admission to make guys, I'm a hypocrite! I'm always going on about how much I love the sun and the warm weather but I'm going to have to be honest, hold my hands up and say that I've just about had my fill of summer 2018. We just aren't used to the heat in the UK! Okay we haven't had some of the scary temperatures that they've had in mainland Europe but when it's constant like it has been lately, it's not normal for us and we just can't deal with it. My energy levels are at rock bottom and all I want to do is nap, admittedly I'm in a lot less pain than usual but even the tiniest little thing is stealing ever single spoon from my virtual drawer! Thankfully a month or so ago I had enough cutlery to be able to paint my nails, and shoot a few pictures for the blog; Since then though my hands and nails have gone steadily down hill but at least I have these pictures to remind me of just how nice my nails and hands can look, when they are a little less heat ravaged and dehydrated.

If you're a long time reader then you may have originally spotted a version of this post way back in 2010. Thanks to the Photobucket fiasco the original photos disappeared, and since I loved this polish so much I decided to dig it out again and re shoot it for you. The polish in question is one of the beautiful and unfortunately now discontinued Milani 3D Holographic Nail Lacquers in the shade 509 HD, which is a gorgeous, full on, holographic silver.

Packaged in a slightly retro looking bottle, these Milani polishes have quite a thin brush but they are really easy to paint with especially if you have smaller or thinner nails. I'm not going to lie to you this one needs a bit of effort but it's well worth it. The first coat gives a pretty, insipid, sheer wash of colour, but it dries quickly, and you just need to keep at it, the formula is a bit thin but it's buildable, and with just the 3 coats that you can see here, you can achieve a fabulous smooth, and glossy full coverage finish.

At first glance this polish maybe isn't quite as vibrant as some of the other holographic formulations on the market, but believe me it all depends on the light. The two pictures that you can see above are taken in natural light on a slightly dull day, and the result is a slightly subdued silver glitter, pretty but nothing special, play around with the lighting though and this polish literally explodes into life! Move you hands about and add a little bit of extra light with either bright sunlight, artificial lighting or even with a camera flash like I have here and then the magic really happens!

Get your movement and your lighting right, and you have hands that you can't stop staring at. Every movement or flash of the light results in the most amazing 3 dimensional colour explosion. The effect is amazing and although it takes a little bit longer to achieve than with some holographic polishes, it's well worth the effort. The wear time is also pretty decent which is not only unusual for a polish in the holo formulation but it's also pretty amazing when you consider that this particular bottle of nail polish is now over 8 years old, and it's as good now as it ever was!

As I say I originally bought this polish way back in 2010, and unfortunately like so many things in the Milani range that I've loved over the years, it appears to have been discontinued so it's now pretty unlikely that you'll be able to get your hands on a bottle of Milani HD :( Holographic nail polishes thankfully now though are a lot easier to get your hands on than they used to be. I'm a huge, huge fan of holographic nail polishes, and I'm always on the look for new ones. I've picked up a few recently from the Mark brand at AVON, and I've also got a few new shades from Born Pretty to try and a lovely blue shade from Maggie Anne to try (Check out my Instagram to see some sneaky peeks). There are now loads of brands out there that offer holographic finishes and formulations, and whilst they can sometimes take a little bit of tracking down, if you want eye catching and show stopping nails then they really are a must have! It's going to be a little while before I can try out any of my new colours, but in the meantime if you have any holographic nail polish recommendations I'd love to hear them, my nails may be non existent but I'm always up for buying new polishes so let me know your faves x