Trimming My Stash - May 2016 Edition - Empties And Mini Reviews

Believe it or not it's that time again, it time again for my monthly empties post! Yet another month has flown by and tomorrow is the first of June. It's really hard to believe that we're nearly half way through the year already!

Although I'm not a one for making new years resolutions, every year I try and set myself a few goals and a few things that I want to achieve, and this year one of my major aims was to get myself organised and have a big clear out. I've done the odd thing but May was the month where I really got started and put my plans into practise. I've managed to fill a couple of charity bags with stuff, and I've made a start on sorting through my beauty products, binning things, and deciding in what order I need to use things up.

Primark PS Love Your Skin Oil Balancing Facial Cleansing Wipes - 25 Wipes
Primark PS Love Your Skin Oil Balancing Facial Cleansing Wipes - 25 Wipes
Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water - 125ml
Elemis Pro Radiance Hand And Nail Cream - 100ml
Bentley Organic Body Wash With Olive, Tea Tree And Eucalyptus - 250ml
Leighton Denny Slick Tips Nail And Cuticle Oil - 12ml
RESEED Wheatbran Ultra Volume Conditioner For Women - 250ml
Total - 7 Items

Although I didn't manage to finish as many items as I did in April I'm still pretty pleased with May's total of 7 items. I managed to finish a nice variety of things as well as a few half finished products and a few rediscovered items.

1. Primark PS Love Your Skin Oil Balancing Facial Cleansing Wipes - 25 Wipes
2. Primark PS Love Your Skin Oil Balancing Facial Cleansing Wipes - 25 Wipes

Yet again I managed to finish some of my favourite Primark Tea Tree face wipes. As I've said a few times before I don't use these that often on my face but I do tend to use them for cleaning up swatches, and cleaning up my make up palettes. I've got quite a few make up reviews coming soon so I've been using these to clean up in between photographs.I also used quite a few to clean some of my NARS shadows and blushers - After a while the rubberised covering can got a little bit sticky and horrible, all you need to do is take a couple of these wipes and give the packaging a good scrub - after a while the coating will break down leaving you with a clean, non tacky palette - result! For just a £1 for 2 packs of 25 these are a really versatile edition to anyone's beauty stash

3, Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water - 125ml

This is probably the best micellar water that I've tried to date - it removes literally everything, without stinging my eyes or drying out my skin. It's affordable and it does the job. This is just a small bottle but this is a product that I will continue to repurchase unless that it I find something I like better. I'm always willing to try new products and I have a couple of new ones to try already so we'll see.

4. Elemis Pro Radiance Hand And Nail Cream - 100ml

I don't know why or what I've been doing or using but my hands and nails are so dry at the moment. I use a lot of hand cream and this month I'm quite sad to have finished one of my favourites. This hand cream from one of my favourite brands Elemis is the perfect indulgence - with a thick and creamy textures, it has an amazing white flower scent, and absorbs quickly into the skin leaving your hands silky soft. My favourite treat with this one is to use it at night, I put on a thick layer and put on a pair of cotton gloves to help it sink in. I really love this hand cream and if you watched my March / April Favourites video, you can find out a little bit more about why I love it x It's something I would definitely consider repurchasing when I've used up my current hand cream collection but at £26 for a 100ml tube, it is quite price prohibitive.

5. Bentley Organic Body Wash With Olive, Tea Tree And Eucalyptus - 250ml

Over the last few months I've had a couple of nasty colds and chest infection, and when you feel a bit poorly and under the weather, nothing lifts your spirits like a nice bath or shower, and this shower gel with eucalyptus and tea tree definitely hit the spot. Don't think that your showering in Olbas Oil or Vicks vapour rub, instead this had a gentle scent, that made you feel super, duper clean and fresh, and that helps you breath just a little bit more easily. This was one of my monthly My Pure products so I was sent it for review and you can read a full review here.

6. Leighton Denny Slick Tips Nail And Cuticle Oil - 12ml

Like hand creams, I have cuticle oils all over the house and this month I found this half finished one in my office, I've been layering on this lemongrass scented oil and a few others two, or three times a day for the past few weeks, and at last the hangnails and peeling cuticles seem to be disappearing. This isn't my favourite cuticle oil by any means but it does the job.

7. RESEED Wheatbran Ultra Volume Conditioner For Women - 250ml

It's always the way, you don't know what till you've got till its gone - I was sent nearly the full RESEED line quite a while ago now and over the 3 months or so that I use - my hair completely changed, it grew, the condition improved and I lost a lot less hair. I've now finished both the shampoo and conditioner from the range, and I'm just about out of the two serums, and already I can see my hair going back to the way it was. The range is pricey but in my experience it's worth every penny, and I'll definitely be repurchasing at least the shampoo and conditioner from the range. You can read my full review here x

So they were my May empties, next month I'm hoping that I can do a little bit better - I've got a few boxes and drawers left to sort, so hopefully I can find some more things to use up. If you have any comments on any of this months empties then please leave me a comment x Thanks for reading x

Trimming My Stash - January 2016 Edition - Empties And Mini Reviews

I seem to say this an awful lot but here we go again, goodbye January and good riddance. I always try to start the year in a positive frame of mind but within 2 weeks it had all gone belly up. I'm trying to keep personal stuff off the blog at the moment but please, please will something nice happen to me for once! I'm trying to keep myself focused on my goals though, and as I've said in my previous post, I'm been having a lot of pamper time, and pamper times involves using up a lot of beauty products, so I present to you my January empties :)

The Body Shop Vanilla Spice Body Butter - 200ml
Philip Kingsley Body Building Shampoo - 20ml
"OPI" Cuticle Revitalize Oil Pen - Rose
The Body Shop Frosted Cranberry Body Polish - 75ml
May Beauty The Incredible Face Mask - 10ml
L'Occitane Foot Cream - 10ml
Leighton Denny Slick Tips - 12ml
Total - 7 Items

Bar a couple of exceptions January's empties were all about moisture. Although it wasn't the coldest of months the damp and the wind have all played havoc with my skin. My hands and nails have been super dry and my feet haven't been much better. I've cleansed, exfoliated and I've slathered myself with moisturiser from head to foot and at last I'm starting to see some results, and in the process I managed to finish 7 items.

1. The Body Shop Vanilla Spice Body Butter - 200ml

The Body Shop Body Butters are one of my winter essentials, and although I often use them if I've been on a beach or hot holiday, for me they are one of my holy grail products for dry, and chapped winter skin. I usually have about 4 different fragrances on the go at once, and as much as I love the original Cocoa Butter variant I love their festive scents. Unfortunately this fragrance didn't reappear in 2015, but it's one of my all time favourites. Couple a creamy vanilla scent with nutmeg, clove and cinnamon notes, and you've got a beautifully sweet, cake smelling body butter. A little of these butters goes a long way, and whilst they take a little while to absorb they really are a dry skin saviour.

2. Philip Kingsley Body Building Shampoo - 20ml

I was sent a kit a little while ago from the lovely people at Philip Kingsley that contained 3 of the best selling hair care products. The kit contained this lovely shampoo, that smelled gorgeous and that I really enjoyed using. You can read my full review here x

3. "OPI" Cuticle Revitalize Oil Pen - Rose

This is the second one of these cheapo potentially fake OPI, ebay cuticle oil pens that I've used up, and whilst I don't think they're the most moisturising product out there, they're cheap, and they're great for emergencies, travel or when you're on the go. The only thing that annoys me is that you can't get all of the product out of the pen but for a pound or so you can't argue.

4. The Body Shop Frosted Cranberry Body Polish - 75ml

Another festive fragrance from The Body Shop, and it's another one of my favourites Frosted Cranberry. I love this mouthwatering juicy fruit fragrance but I have to admit that I'm not really a fan of this particular product. It has quite a sticky, jam like texture, and the cranberry seed exfoliating particles for me just don't do it. The smell is lovely but the texture for me doesn't quite work.

5. May Beauty The Incredible Face Mask - 10ml

With changes in the weather, over indulgence, stress and being ill, over the last four weeks my skin has paid the price. I've dealt with pretty much everything from dry, red patches, to a horrid hormonal breakout. The breakout was the reason that I used this mask and it definitely seemed to have knocked it on the head. I'm really pleased that I bought myself some more of these for those spells when my skin just won't behave. You can read a full review of these masks here x

6. L'Occitane Foot Cream - 10ml

Apologies for the lack of picture but Mummy Lou threw the tube out before I'd had the chance to photograph it! This is a mini of one of my favourite foot creams of all time. I love the texture but what I love most about this is the smell. I'm not a huge fan of minty smelling foot products, so this lavender scented one fits the bill perfectly, and it makes it a perfect bedtime treat.This shea butter based cream also contains a little bit of mint that you can't really smell and arnica to make it a cooling and soothing essential for hot, dry and tired feet. I have quite a few foot products to use up but I will definitely consider purchasing the full 150ml size despite the £19 price tag.

7. Leighton Denny Slick Tips - 12ml

Apologies for the rubbish photograph, but the fact that I finished 2 cuticle products in January probably shows you just how dry my hands and cuticles have been. Created by celebrity manicurist Leighton Denny, you would expect this be a decent product and it is. It really helps moisturise and soothe dry, sore cuticles but the smell unfortunately doesn't rock my world, to me it smells like a combination of mint and lemongrass. I like it but there are products that I prefer so whilst I'll use up the other one that I have, I wouldn't go out of my way to repurchase.

On the whole I think this is a pretty decent start to the year x This month my aim is to use up a few skincare products and I'm also hoping to start working my way through a few make up items. Project 10 Pan is definitely still a possibility though so I might hold off on those till I make my mind up for definite ;) I'm also planning on having a little bit of a sort out of my bath and body products so hopefully I'll find a few more bits to use up. I know a lot of people start doing something similar in the new year so if you're trying to use up products or if you do a regular empties post or video then please leave me your links x

Marks And Spencer - The Ultimate Beauty Advent Calendar - Days 1-12

For me it wouldn't be Christmas without an advent calendar. I don't think it matters how old you are, opening those little doors and counting down the days to the 25th December never loses it magic. I always remember having an advent calendar when I was a child, there was no chocolate or treats behind each door, just a little festive picture, with a sprinkling of glitter if you were lucky, that made you even more excited for the big day.

Although you can still get plain paper and card advent calendars, nowadays we're more accustomed to finding a little piece of chocolate or a sweetie behind each door. I can't remember when the chocolate advent calendar trend started but I know I never needed an excuse to eat chocolate before breakfast!

I suppose it was a natural progression to start putting other things behind the doors and this year alone I've seen advent calendars filled with LEGO, candles, treats for your pets and of course beauty products. I've had a few beauty calendars over the years and as a total beauty junkie I love the excitement of finding and trying new products. As a household we have four advent calendars this year, a chocolate filled one each for me and Mummy Lou, a one filled with cat treats for my furry friends and I was also lucky enough to get my hands on The Ultimate Beauty Advent Calendar from Marks And Spencer.

Value wise this one was probably one of the best when it came to beauty calendars. With a contents value of around £200, this calendar was just £25, when you spent £25 on beauty at M&S. Marks and Spencer have really upped their beauty game lately selling brands such as L'Occitane, Pixi,and Leighton Denny so believe me it wasn't hard to spend £25.

When you think about advent calendars you normally think of trying to pry open that perforated door to see what's inside, this one is a bit different though; Instead of opening doors, you get a beautiful clear topped cardboard box which contains 24 mini numbered boxes. Although opening doors is more traditional I love this idea and if your really sneaky, you could potentially use it again next year and fill the boxes yourself.

The calendar contains a variety of both full size and sample size beauty treats from both Marks And Spencer's own label brands, and some of the brands that they now stock in their new look beauty departments.

I'm a couple of days late with this one but I thought you might like to see the goodies that I've found in my calendar so far,,

Days 1 - 3

  Day 1 - Philip Kingsley Elasticizer - Geranium & Neroli - 40ml

     Day 2 - Burts Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream - 15g - Full Size

Day 3 - Cowshed Grumpy Cow Uplifting Body Lotion - 100ml

Days 4 - 6

Day 4 - Pur Volume Vixen 4 In 1 Mascara - 4.8ml

Day 5 - Leighton Denny Renovate Nail Repair Cream - 10ml - Full Size

Day 6 - Rosie For Autograph Nuit Parfum EDP - 15ml

Days 7 - 9

Day 7 - Rituals Zensation Organic Rice Milk And Cherry Blossom Foaming Gel Sensation - 50ml

Day 8 - Pure Super Grape Day Cream - 30ml

Day 9 - Laboratoires Filorga Time Filler Absolute Wrinkle Correction Cream - 15ml

Days 10 - 12

Day 10 - Neals Yard Remedies Frankincense Nourishing Cream - 25g

Day 11 - Josh Wood Colour Full Bodied Shampoo - 50ml

Day 12 - Diego Dalla Palma Il RossettoThe Lipstick No.46 - 4.7g - Full Size

I'm really pleased with the contents so far, there are a couple of things that I might not use but they can easily be passed on, or gifted. My highlights of the first 12 days are definitely the Diego Dalla Palma Lipstick which is a beauitful pink / mauve shade, and the Philip Kingsley Elasticizer which smells amazing, but I'm looking forward to trying some new things and revisiting a couple of things that I've used in the past. I'm definitely going to be reviewing the lipstick and the Elasticizer but if you would like to see  reviews of anything else please let me know. I will be posting Days 13 -24 on Christmas Eve but if you want to know what goodies were behind the doors before then, then make sure your following me on Instagram x If you have any questions please leave me a comment and I'll see you soon xx

A Little Nail Haul Featuring Models Own, Miss Beauty And Leighton Denny

Have you ever had one of those days where you just want to pull the duvet over your head and hide? Well, I'm having one of those weeks! Mummy Lou hasn't been well, one of the cats hasn't been well and I'm not feeling particularly great myself! It never rains but it pours at times but you just need to plod on through it. Needless to say this weeks blog planning has gone out of the window but I thought it was best to get a post up rather than leave you with nothing, so apologies for the lack of variety but it's another haul post x

Although I haven't posted a nails of the day post for a while, nail polish is one of my real loves . I don't always have the best of nails but just seeing that flash of colour can make me happy. As well as being one of my loves, I guess you could say that nail polish is a bit of an addiction for me. I have an IKEA Helmer full to the brim and I still can't resist buying more.

I never need an excuse to buy nail polish but give me a special offer and I'm there! On a recent trip to the Metro Centre, I just so happened to walk past the Models Own Bottle Shop - Models Own are noted for their special offers and the offer of the day was any 5 items for £20, well it would have been wrong not to indulge, so I made a little purchase.

After a lot of deliberation I ended up going for four colours. The first two polishes came from the Sweet Shop range. These are scented polished that are themed around traditional sweets. On the left you can see NP215 - Fizzy Cola, an almost brown, taupe which is shot through with sparkle, and on the right is NP213 - Rhubarb and Custard - a gorgeous, deep, raspberry red, again shot through with gold sparkle. Both of these polishes supposedly smell like the sweeties that they represent when they're dry, I haven't tried them yet but I'll let you know what I think when I do.

The next colours that I bought come from the Models Own Hyper Gel line. These slightly thicker polishes supposedly have that gel manicure finish and wear time without the use of a UV or an LED light. In these colours  I went for two very contrasting shades - one bright and one neutral. On the left you can see SG031 - Tropical Green, which is a really vibrant lime green and on the right is SG027- Paradise Pink, which is a white based, pale pink with a hint of lilac.

To complete the offer I also got something from their make up line which I'll show you in a future post, but when I got to the till, the assistant started telling me about the Hyper Gel Gel Effect Top Coat. This wasn't included in the offer but she said it made the Hyper Gel colours last even longer and it turned any other shade into a Gel Effect Polish. I'm lazy when it comes to top coat but I decided to give this one a go anyway.

I also got a little free gift with purchase at the till, which was a mini nail buffer. I have so many of these but I can never find one when I need one, so this one was gratefully received.

Next up a couple of budget purchases from the new Miss Beauty London range at Poundworld. I've only seen a couple of videos on this range and to be honest its launch largely passed me be but on a recent visit to Poundworld I decided to have a little look. I'm going to be honest and say I was pretty underwhelmed when it came to the make up, nothing really grabbed me so I decided to try a couple of their nail colours instead.

They seemed to have two main polish ranges, a gel line, and  normal polish line, so I decided to try one of each. On the left you can see the Miss Beauty London Gel colour in 10 Lavender Dream, which is a gorgeous creamy, vibrant lilac, and on the right you can see the Miss Beauty London Nail Colour in 374 Tiffany, which as the name suggests is that perfect mint green, turquoise blue.

Again I haven't tried these but I'll let you know what I think of them when I do, for just £1 each they were worth trying.

The final nail item I want to show you is a magazine freebie from this month's Bazaar magazine. They regularly do tie up's with Leighton Denny. and in this months issue you can claim a free full sized Leighton Denny Nail Lacquer.

There are several to choose from ranging from deep reds, to lilac but the colour I went for was another one of those Tiffany blue shades, Morning Dew. It's a lot warmer and lot more bluey than the Miss Beauty one so I think I can justify the £4 or so that the magazine costs. Bazaar is probably one of the priciest monthly magazines out there but since the polishes are usually £11 each, it isn't a bad price to pay to try a designer nail brand.

I'm currently waiting for my little stubby nails to grow up a bit and then regular nails of the day posts will resume. As well as featuring all of the polishes in this post, and some other polishes in my collection, I'm also going to be showing you the prettiest OPI kit, and a couple of colours, which I also have to give away, so if you like nails then stick around for more nails of the days and some reviews x

Large Collective Nail, Manicure And Pedicure Haul

Hey Guys x I hope you've all had a good day but if you haven't hopefully today's epic haul will cheer you up a bit. Shopping or even window shopping always lifts my spirits when I'm feeling down so hopefully my manicure and pedicure haul will do the same for you.

I'm going to start off with some nail art pieces that I picked up from Poundland. Every time I go into Poundland now I always have a little look through their nail bits and this I got some of their Disney Minnie Mouse Nail Stickers.

The packet contain around 120 little stickers ideal for creating an accent nail. As well as Minnie and Mickey heads, the packet also contains bows, flowers and little birds. I think these are great for both big kids like me and little people x

As well as the stickers I also had another look at Poundland's selection of Allura nail art wheels and I was pleased to find one that I didn't have.

This one contains a variety of silver and gold tone metal shapes and studs including teardrops, triangles, stars and hearts.

The kit also comes with a wooden hoof stick and a small nail file. I think these kits are great value for money and I really hope that they introduce a few more varieties.

Although my nails are pretty short at the moment I'm determined to get some length back in them so I can start to experiment with nail are again. I currently addicted to looking a nail art tutorials and something that you see popping up in a lot of videos and posts is peel off liquid tape or palisade. All you do is paint the liquid tape around your cuticles and your nails and when you paint your nails the excess polish sticks to the tape rather than your skin. You can do it with PVA glue but I thought I'd try the proper stuff first and so I got a bottle from ebay.

I paid £2.19 for this bottle from this seller and having received it I definitely think it is just PVA glue but I do love a bit of glue peeling and anything that can make my manicures a bit neater is worth trying.

Something else that I got from ebay is a nail and cuticle oil pen. I mentioned one of these in a recent empties post and I think for the price and the convenience they are well worth the money. Cuticle oil is my new best friend at the moment and I always like to have one in my handbag. I have a couple which I'm using at night but these pen applicators are great for travel and for during the day.

As I've said previously I don't think these are genuine OPI products but the product feels nice on your skin and it seems to be helping. This time I went for the lavender fragrance but to me it smells more like my Melissa shoes with a sort of floral, bubblegum scent. This was just 99p including postage from this seller.

Thanks to illness and medication my nails are notoriously rubbish so I really do need to take care of them, as well as using hand creams, cuticle products and strengtheners, I also need to be careful how I file my nails.

If I use anything that is too rough or aggressive my nails just split and peel but thankfully I have found a products I can use.

The Leighton Denny Expert Nails Crystal Nail File is one of my holy grail and go to products. I've written a full review here but it's a product that I now feel that I can't live without. The only trouble is they are a bit fragile so here's a tip- don't sit on it! I did and I ended up with a file of two halves, so I decided to treat myself to another one .

This is a limited edition version to celebrate Leighton's 10th anniversary on QVC and as well as coming in a protective case, it also comes with the number 10 on the end of the file, picked out in clear crystals. I know a lot of people don't like the idea of a crystal file but believe me once you've tried one you will never go back.

Despite the fact that we've had a nice day today, it definitely seems as though summer is on it's way out but I'm ever hopeful that we'll have a few nice days before the seasons change so I picked something up a few weeks ago to get my tootsies sandal ready just in case.

Source

Excuse the stock picture but this little pot just didn't want to be photographed! I used to buy these Pedi Peel Pads a long time ago but like so many thing from Avon they disappeared without a trace. A month or so ago though they reappeared and I decided to stock up whilst I had the chance. All you do is rub a couple of pads over clean dry feet and the glycolic acid helps to exfoliate the skin and leave you with softer, smoother feet. Thanks to a thyroid problem my feet get very so I'm hoping that these will do the business again in between proper pedicures. Avon Footworks Beautiful Pedi Peel Pads normally retail at £6 for 55 pads but it's worth waiting for an offer before you buy x The current offer I believe is two Footworks products including this one for £4 so it's well worth picking these up whilst you can.

I love a good Avon bargain, and in a recent sale brochure I picked up another one of the Stardust Nail Enamels, this time in Teal Glitter.Based on today's shopping trip there seems to be a lot teal around for Autumn so this polish will be right on trend.

I love sparkle and whilst having a little look at Littlewoods online recently I couldn't resist picking up a new Nails Inc Polish. I love their new bottle design and I love their new brushes so I ended up getting Nails Inc Special Effect in Exhibition Road.

Crammed full of sparkle this colour will make an ideal top coat for any colour. In a clear base it contains circular glitter particles in lilac and gold. Okay it wasn't something that I desperately needed but the offer that Littlewoods had on at the time was just too good to turn down.

All you had to do was buy any selected Nails Inc polish and you got a Nails Inc 4 Piece Mini Collection absolutely free. The collection includes 4 x 4ml polishes in some of Nails Inc's most popular and classic shades, Victoria, Basil Street, St James's and Uptown. I love mini polishes and this was a great way of adding some more little ones to my collection.

Next up a bit of an apology x This final 3 polishes that I'm going to show you, we're all magazine freebies. Unfortunately none of the magazines are on sale any more but I still thought I'd show you them anyway as they might pop up in some future nails of the days x First up this ultra, summer shade from Nails Inc.

The recent collaboration with InStyle lead to a a small range of cover mounted polishes all with names themed around 80's songs. This coral, orange,red is Love Will Tear Us Apart. I love a bit of Joy Division and this limited edition colour is perfect for those summer toes. Although this one will be very hard to get your hands on now Nails Inc do have a few similar colours in their line and similar shades are available in most other ranges.

Another polish that came free with a magazine is Jessica Custom Nail Colour in 787 Floating Beauty which came with a recent issue of Red.

I don't have any Jessica polishes in my collection so I thought that this was an ideal way to try a new brand. Floating Beauty is another shade that's perfect for summer it's one of those hot, hot fuchsia pinks that again looks amazing on tanned hands and feet. This polish is still in the Jessica main line and retails at £10.50 for 14.8ml, which made this a pretty decent freebie.

The final product that I'm going to show you was another magazine cover mount and this time it was from Marie Claire. Like a lot of bloggers I have a love / hate relationship with Ciate but they do seem to get an awful lot of magazine coverage, and recently Marie Claire came with both a mini 5ml Ciate polish and a mini 5ml speed dry top coat. I already have quite a few Ciate polishes in my collection so I just picked up a random copy with came with Strawberry Milkshake.

This pale pink shade will either be fabulous or awful. With pale cream polishes like this there is no in between so we'll see. I can't find this particular colour in Ciate's main line but it's an easily duped shade so you should be able to pick something similar up.

I'm on a bit of a video making roll at the moment so I've filmed a very long, and rambling video to accompany this post x So by all means make yourself a cuppa, settle down and have a watch x



If you're a fan of all things nails then make sure that you're subscribed and following my blog, I have quite a few nail related posts to come over the next few weeks including some reviews, some nails of the day posts and a giveaway or two x Thanks for reading and if you have any questions please leave me a comment x

Combining Two Of My Favourite Things Nails And Reading - A Review Of How I Nailed It By Leighton Denny*

When I'm not blogging, cooking or pampering myself, more often than not you'll find me curled up with a book or my Kindle. I've loved reading ever since since I can remember and devouring a new book has to be one of my greatest pleasures. To be honest I'll pretty much read whatever is in front of me from chick lit, to Shakespeare and the classics but my real love has to be non-fiction. I love reading about different people, different times and real life events. Thanks to the eternal student in me I'm a bit obsessed with true crime books, and history books, and maybe I'm just nosey but I'm also a huge lover of autobiographies.

Recently I was given the opportunity to combine two of my greatest loves reading and nail polish, and review the Kindle version of nail technician to the stars, Leighton Denny's autobiography, How I Nailed It.

As you probably know I'm a bit of a QVC fan and that's how I first became aware of Leighton Denny, and his products. I have to say I'm a fan as I'm sure some of these photographs show. 

His products aren't the cheapest by any means but by and large they do exactly what they promise. As a brand you don't always get the new cult texture or finish when it comes to nail polish but what you do get is a range of classic and fashion colours,and products that have that real professional touch. 

I'd be hard pressed to pick a favourite colour from my collection - maybe Inkjet that you can see here but I love so many of my Leighton Denny shades it's hard to choose. My favourite product from the range isn't a polish at all though, it's Leighton's cult crystal nail file. You can read my full review here but believe me there is a reason why one of these is sold every 15 seconds around the world!

So yeah, I'm a fan, I'm ashamed to say though despite knowing a little of his background, and life in Bradford through QVC, I thought this book like so many autobiographies might be a little bit frothy and self indulgent but I was very, very wrong. After reading this book there is no way you could describe it as self indulgent, it's a thoroughly honest memoir illustrating a fascinating life so far with lots of ups and downs and twists and turns. 

I'm not going to go into too much detail as I would definitely recommend you read it yourself but this book proves, that if you work hard enough you will achieve what you want. Throughout his life he's overcame an awful lot of obstacles that would have made a lesser person give in, including dyslexia, family problems, violence and issues with acceptance but he's came out of the other side a stronger person.

Above all this book highlights his tremendous work ethic, something which he obviously inherited from his dad. Showing his first indication of his entrepreneurial spirit at the age of just 14 with his own fancy dress hire business, Leighton has never been frightened of hard work or taking risks, from working in his own salon, to working for other people and being a mobile technician, he's always worked hard to get what he wants. 

Not resting on his laurels as well as the nail line, he's now also branched out into lip colours, self tans and now fragrance. He's definitely not afraid of taking on new challenges, and despite the fear of spreading himself too thinly and becoming a jack of all trades and a master of none, he's determined to be as successful as he can in any venture that he takes on.

Yes the book does have a bit of froth, where he talks about some of the celebrities that he works with such as Joan Collins, Jade Jagger, Dita Von Teese and Geri Halliwell but you never feel as though he's bragging. If anything he still seems slightly overawed by the opportunities that have came his way, and often by the people that he now considers his friends.

I have to say I'm even more of a Leighton Denny fan after reading this book. His journey so far has been a hard and fascinating one that just proves his own strength and determination to be somebody. To quote his dad "you fake it until you make it", meaning you should always chase your dreams to be who you want to be -  good advice for all of us I think. Recently he was awarded an MBE for services to the beauty industry, proving that hard work really does pay off, and that it really does pay you to shoot for the moon.

Leighton Denny - How I Nailed, previously a number one best selling autobiography, is available from Amazon in both Kindle and paperback versions. The current Kindle price is £6.07 and the paperback price is £9.70.

(*Sample)

Nails Of The Day- Golden Girl

After the return to the darkside in my last nails of the day post I decided to return the bling today. I believe this colour was designed by manicurist to the stars Leighton Denny for Jade Jagger, the colour in question? Golden Girl

This is two coats of a beautiful bronze toned old gold with just a hint of sparkle in it, nice isn't it, I'm starting to feel festive already :) What do you think ?