Trimming My Stash And A Life Update - August 2016 Edition - Empties And Mini Reviews

Well the summer holidays are just about over, and Pumpkin Spice Lattes (or Frappuccinos in this case) are now back on the Starbucks menu, what does that mean? well it's September of course, and whilst I'm still praying for a lottery win or an Indian summer to get my sunshine fix, there is no doubt that despite the warm start to the week, autumn is on its way

Whilst I'm sorry to see the end of summer. I have to be honest and say I'm not particularly sorry to see the back of August. It was a pretty rubbish month in a lot of ways for me, culminating in a broken laptop, and a couple of screen free weeks, that I could seriously have done without. I'm now way behind schedule when it comes to blogging and You Tube and I have to admit that it's stressing me out a little bit! For once though I'm going to try and take my own advice and try to keep calm, and enjoy the creative process.

I've got lots and lots of posts and videos planned for the next few weeks, to try and bring myself back up to date, including some hopefully interesting reviews, and some hauls. If you like hauls, you need to make sure that your following my blog, and that your subscribed to my You Tube channel. I have a home haul, an ebay haul, specific shop hauls, and countless beauty hauls to come, including some items that I bought way back in May!

Since I have so many beauty items still to show you, I'm putting my Project 10 Pan plans on hold. My decision has nothing to do with the launch of Kat Von D into Debenhams later this month, and if you believe that you'll believe anything! ;). Seriously though I want a clean break and I can only do that when all of my beauty haul posts and videos are out of the way. I am definitely going to do it though and I'll let you know with a post and a video when I take the plunge and start my make up no buy. In the meantime though I've still be trying to use up as many beauty products as I can and here are the items that I finished in August.

Butter London Hand & Nail Creme - Mango Peach - 50ml
Sanctuary Spa Body Scrub - 50ml
The Body Shop Earth Lovers 100% Biodegradable Shower Gel - Apricot And Basil - 250ml
Benecos Natural Nail Polish Remover - 100ml
Primark PS Love Your Skin Nail Polish Twist Pot - 70ml
Rituals Fortune Scrub Sweet Orange And Cedar Shower Cream Scrub - 150ml
No7 Radiance Boosting Hot Cloth Cleanser - 200ml
Next Passion Fruit Coulis Shower Gel - 50ml
Total - 8 Items

July and August ended up being twins - I managed to finish 8 products in July and I managed to finish another 8 items in August. It wasn't a vintage performance by any means but I managed to finish a nice assortment of older body care items and one longstanding skin items so I'm still pretty pleased, and I'm already looking forward to improving my total next month.

1. Butter London Hand & Nail Creme - Mango Peach - 50ml

The first item that I finished was a product that I had pretty much forgotten about. I normally have about half a dozen hand creams on the go at once and this one was one that I'd pretty much forgotten about. I originally bought this from a site called Powder Rooms that I loved but it now appears to be offline. They sold all sorts of quirky brands and products and this hand cream from popular nail brand Butter London was just one thing that I bought from the site. It had quite a runny texture, but it was easily absorbed and it left the skin feeling silky soft. The biggest selling point for me though was the smell - the Mango Peach scent was literally mouthwatering. Unfortunately Butter London don't seem to sell their hand creams anymore but you can still buy their nail polishes and lip products from various retailers including Feel Unique and HQ Hair, and with their new UK website set to launch soon here's hoping that they bring this gorgeous smelling lotion back

2. Sanctuary Spa Body Scrub - 50ml

This is the first of several mini products in this post and it's another rediscovery. Like socks and selection packs, a Sanctuary Spa gift set from Boots used to be almost a mainstay under my Christmas tree. My tastes have changed slightly over the years but I can still appreciate this exotic scent and the familiar bright orange packaging. This body scrub is still one of core products in the Sanctuary line, and although the name has changed slightly, this micro bead free scrub, contains gentle, pumice stone particles, suspended in a patchouli and orange scented, essential oil filled foaming gel. I like this scrub and I'll happily use up the couple that I've found in my stash but that said I probably wouldn't repurchase. There are now lots of different scrubs in the Sanctuary line, and you should know by now that I love salt and sugar scrubs, so my favourite scrub from Sanctuary is actually their Hot Sugar Scrub which normally retails at around £12. Pricey but worth it for the circulation boost that the warming effect gives you. This one though under it's new name the Sanctuary Gentle Polish Body Scrub retails at a much more affordable £5.50 for a 200ml tube and this 50ml size retails at the perfect try me price of just £2.50.

3. The Body Shop Earth Lovers 100% Biodegradable Shower Gel - Apricot And Basil - 250ml

This is another rediscovered product and unfortunately it's another product that's been discontinued. The Body Shop Earth Lovers range was a range of 100% biodegradable shower gels. The packaging was biodegradable as was the shower gel itself, and it was also sulfate, paraben, colour and soap free. This one sounds a little odd fragrance wise but it just worked, the sweetness and fruitiness of the apricot, went perfectly with the peppery herbal hit of the basil. I personally found the formulation a bit watery but I did enjoy this fragrance.

4. Benecos Natural Nail Polish Remover - 100ml

This was a product that I was sent to review from My Pure, and whilst I quite like it, I've got to say that in my opinion you can't beat a normal chemical filled (but acetone free) nail polish remover. This did what it was supposed to but it really struggled on anything with texture or glitter, and it was also better suited at removing one or two coats rather than a full manicure. You can read a full review here.

5. Primark PS Love Your Skin Nail Polish Twist Pot - 70ml

When these little pots first came on the market I had to admit that I wasn't a fan. I tried a few at several different price points and I was left feeling a bit mehh but now I get it I really do. This particular pot is just £1 and for me it's been a beauty life saver. I don't use them often to remove a full manicure but if you mess a nail up mid paint, then these pots are a quick and easy way to take your polish off without ruining the rest of your manicure. They also last for ages, and even when their effectiveness is starting to fade, just tip the polish remover out of the pot, and replace it with fresh remover, and you can get a bit more use out of it. Eventually though the sponge starts to disintegrate and you need to move onto a new pot. I already have a new pot and I will definitely be picking up another one.

6. Rituals Fortune Scrub Sweet Orange And Cedar Shower Cream Scrub - 150ml

Another one of these and I think that this particular full sized one came in a beauty box. I love the texture and that fact that you can use it wet or dry but it definitely isn't my favourite Rituals scent. I think it has a fairly unisex scent, with the tart, citrus of the orange, and the warm woodiness of the cedar. Nice product but I prefer some of the other Rituals scents. You can also read my thoughts on this product here x

7. No7 Radiance Boosting Hot Cloth Cleanser - 200ml

Although I don't use or buy this particular product regularly, it's one of those things that I seemed to have a few of. The reason being, that this was the product that I always bought when I they had the free No7 voucher offer on in Boots. It's a good quality, gently fragranced hot cloth cleanser, that takes your make up off quickly and easily, and it feels nice on the skin. Every time I use this I always ask myself why I don't buy it and use it more often, for me it easily rivals some of the more expensive and famous hot cloth cleansers out there, so if you're on a budget or if it's on offer, it's well worth a try or at least it used to be. Like a lot of things Boots seem to have to changed the name, it seems to be the same product but it is now called The No7 Beautiful Skin Hot Cloth Cleanser which retails at £9.95 for a 200ml tube. I really hope it is the same product and I will definitely be picking one up to try next time that I need a new cleanser.

7. Next Passion Fruit Coulis Shower Gel - 50ml

My shower product sorting continued last month and this was another rediscovery. This mini came from a limited edition Next Christmas gift set, that was themed around food fragrance beauty products. It had a thick texture and a pretty disappointing fruity scent. The name promised so much but for me it didn't deliver and even it could repurchase it, I wouldn't  :(

A bit of a mixed bag from me today I know, with a mini life update and an empties post, but it's good to share, and if you have any questions either on any of the products that I finished last month, or on anything else to do with me, my blog or my You Tube channel then please leave me a comment x Don't forget to follow me on all of my other social media channels via the links in the sidebar and I'll see you soon with a haul post x

I've Got The Royal Wedding Nailed

After my little look at some of the more bizarre Royal Wedding Merchandise it's not surprise that the beauty industry has got involved, with special kits and products from brands such as Neals Yard, Batiste, Elemis, Nails Rocks, Essie and Leighton Denny I didn't take much persuasion to get out my purse but what did I buy?
Well in two words nail varnish - OPI's Britannia Collection to be honest was just a bit of a re-release of older shades some of which I already own including Dating A Royal.

So I skipped it, and I also skipped the Leighton Denny and Essie Royal themed kits, but I did buy a Butter London polish. Butter London has a few London and Monarchy named polishes including HRH, Tea With The Queen and All Hail The Queen, but the star for me is No More Waity, Katie

Made to the usual Butter London formula which is free from formaldehyde, toluene and DBP, No More Waity, Katie is a limited edition nail polish designed by Butter London and inspired by Kate Middleton to celebrate the biggest wedding of the year. Described as a greige with a lilac glitter, in reality is a kind of dirty lilac with a purple sparkle

The first coat was a streaky mess a very, very sheer lilac with the odd splodge of glitter, coat 2 was better but these pics are taken with 3 coats - I love the colour but the application was a nightmare, it was streaky and super splodgy - not good lovely colour but an awful formulation, such a shame. Butter London No More Waity, Katie is a limited edition polish with retails at around £15.00 from Butter London stockists including Power Rooms and Debenhams.

Next up the biggie -  British company Nails Inc seem to have gone Royal Wedding daft with limited edition crystal cap polishes and a gift set of 4 limited edition polishes. I couldn't resist the gift set and purchased it with one of my Diet Coke vouchers so I got it for £20 as opposed to £25 but the full set should retail for £44 if you could buy them separately (as Louise tries to justify her purchase as a bargain ;)

Packaged in a gorgeous cream and gold box with a gold ribbon, all of the polishes in the Royal Polish Collection, are limited edition and feature gold lids instead of the usual silver. The blue, red and gold polishes are all named after famous Royal locations including castles and religious establishments.

First up Sandringham, named after the Queens Norfolk residence - a gorgeous metallic shimmery red -exactly the same colour as my mums new car :)

It's a little darker than it showing here the bottle shot is probably the most accurate but it's a proper rich regal red ;). With just one coat I got perfect coverage with this one - if your after a good rich red this is definitely the one x

The second polish in the collection is named after the wedding venue Westminster Abbey

OMG this is easily my favourite colour of the 4! Described as a liquid gold shimmer, it is basically a liquid gold, with tiny sparkles in it. For being a sparkle / glitter it applied really easily this is two coats here but you probably could have got away with just one the coverage was so good

It's is much, much nicer than it looks here you really can't see the true sparkle and liquid gold appearance.

My one issue was that like a lot of glitters and sparkles it was soooo hard to remove, but that doesn't bother me in the slightest, this is a gorgeous colour that I really didn't want to remove :)

Next up Balmoral, named after the Queen's Scottish residence :)

This is perhaps the strangest colour in the collection, all the others are metallics, and sparkles, but this is just a true mannequin hands nude beige colour.

The first coat applied a little bit streaky as creams often do but the second seemed to even it out. Not the most eye catching colour but probably the most wearable of the four.

 

The final colour in the set is probably the one that first drew me in - Windsor - described by Nails as a deep metallic navy - a true regal colour if ever there was one

The bottle pictures indeed do make it look a deep shimery navy blue, but in some lights it can also look more like an indigo shade with a touch of purple to it

In real life it probably looks darker than it does here, but again to be honest one coat would have done I only did two because of my poor painting skills -these pictures are taken without the flash

This picture is taken with the flash you can see much more of the flashes that appear in real life

This I have to say is a gorgeous colour, giving my love for blue nail polishes it was a welcome addition to this kit, do I already own something similar to this, yeah probably but that has never stopped me before:)

All in all I think this was a pretty decent set all the colours are wearable and the quality seems to be there too. I know this is a limited edition kit but a few places still seem to have it including, ASOS, Debenhams, QVC and of course Nails Inc themselves and I think it's pretty good value for £25 espeically since I got it for £20:)

I hope you have all enjoyed Royal Wedding Day - I have to say I've only watched a little bit to see the frocks and hats mainly and boy haven't there been some shockers - Fergie's girls and Miriam Clegg mainly! Although I wish them well as I would any couple on their wedding day I still find it hard to feel any sort of emotion towards a couple who I don't know so my glances at the screen have been fleeting I must say, but the TV networks loss has been you gain as well as blog post drafting I have a few You Tube vids ready to go up too - I hope you all enjoy the rest of the day and the saying what goes around comes around is a true one - this ring was my grans alas not real sapphires and diamonds but not too different in style to Catherine's I think?

I hope you've found this post useful/interesting I have a renewed respect for nail bloggers after all the painting and removing :) Any questions give me a yell xxx

Viva La Nails Stickers Demonstration and Review (Pic Heavy)

About a month ago I was sent a batch of nail art goodies from the lovely people at Viva La Nails. As I said at the time I am going to review each type of decoration individually so I am going to start with in my opinion the easiest embellishment - stickers :) I was kindly sent one packet of nail stickers in a cute, slightly 3D flower / daisy design

As I say I think stickers are one of the easiest places to start when it comes to nail art as you can see here

* First of all carefully peel the sticker from the sheet - I am using tweezers here but you could use an orange stick or cuticle tool

* Carefully place the sticker onto a dry nail - they are pretty sticky so make sure you get your positioning right

* Repeat process till you have finished all your nails or your design

* Paint a top coat over the design and your whole nail - to seal the sticker and to create a smoother surface (I used Jessica Brilliance -review to come)

* Voila my finished design on top of Milani 3D Holographic Nail Lacquer in Cyberspace

I have to say I really liked these the really give a bit of interest to just a normal manicure - You do have to be a bit careful when your peeling them off the sheet and when your placing them, and you have to keep applying top coat every couple of days but other than that they are really easy to use and I have had loads of nice comments whilst wearing them.
I had a little play trying them on different designs, placements and colours and as you can see you can create quite a subtle effect or something which will standout a bit more
Sorry toe shot and the bad paint job ;) this gives a tip effect to my tootsies on top of Nails Inc Instyle Beach


As an accent on my little fingers using Mavala Nicosia



Over Butter London Jelly in Twee as a thumb nail accent

and finally over a french shade Eyeko Petite Polish on all my nails


I've been pretty basic here but I hope you get the idea - I think these are a great idea for holidays, especially on the toes and for days when your polish just looks a bit boring. I will definitely be picking up some more of these - they come in loads of different designs including coloured stickers. Christmas, metallics and more. They are available from Viva La Nails for around £1.95 -My next Viva La Nails review will be water decals so keep checking back for that xx

(I was kindly sent this product for review purposes but that hasn't affected my review in anyway)

A Video Of My Powder Rooms Haul and You Tube Link

Just a little video to show you some goodies that I recently bought from Powder Rooms - I've always had such great service from the company I made a bit of a haul and rave video - the lovely owner hasn't asked me to do this I just wanted too. My haul includes loads of the new Eyeko polishes (she was kind enough to included a free one I bought so many ;), some Butter London polish remover and hand cream, and some Havianas - some of the comfiest flip flops in the world - any questions please give me a shout xx



Oh another thing a few people have asked for a link to my You Tube channel - I haven't publicised it too much but there is a video bar at the bottom of the screen and here's a link it you want to check my ramblings out :)