Nails Of The Day - Orange Anyone?

Yes OK this colour is pretty similar to the one in my previous nails of the day post but I did enjoy wearing it so I thought I'd stick to the same colour palette.

This one Mavala Elle Orange came free with Elle magazine a few months ago, and the name describes it perfectly, you can't see it as well in the nail shots it's looking much redder than it is irl, the single bottle shot is probably the most accurate

As per usual this is two coats again though  if you applied it carefully you could probably get away with one. Obviously this particular colour will be pretty hard to track down now but there are lots of orange polishes out there. If you want this colour in particular though don't despair, my giveaway prize box contains a brand new bottle of Elle Orange, so don't forget to check it out here, before Sunday xx

Freebies Ahoy xx

Hey my loves I now you've probably already seen a zillion posts on this already, but the September issues of some of our favourite magazines are packed to the brim full of freebies. Me and Mummy Lou headed to the Asda superstore this morning where I managed to pick up 3 magazine (I only paid for one though tee hee thanks mum). I'd already tried my local Tesco but so many of the freebies were missing or had been stolen it was untrue. Anyways from just 3 magazines I got this little lot and a pile of sachets including perfume, shower gels and body lotions

Marie Claire this month features a free Ciate Paint Pot Nail Polish, I got the nude shade My Fair Lady, and it also came with a 50ml tube of Dove Intensive Repair Express Treatment Hair Conditioner, I first got a tube of this free with an ASOS order and I have to say it's really good and it smells gorgeous

The Semptember issue of Elle as you'll probably already know comes with a free exclusive Mavala nail polish in the choice of three colour red, grey and the orange that I got :)

Finally I got Red magazine - I like Red it has a more grown up feel and a wide variety of article - this month's has a free 125ml sized Balance Me Body Wash , there are two varieties to choose from and I went for was Rose Otto, which has a lovely natural rose scent

They were the ones that I got but there are plenty more magazine freebies to be had this month, Cosmopolitan has free false eyelashes and Tatler has free Rigby and Peller knickers!!! This seems to be the month for freebies next month doesn't seem to be half as exciting still Red does appear to have a free novel so I'll be picking up that to read on the beach.
As well as 2 magazine Mummy Lou also picked me up a few bits including the infamous Goody Spin Pins, and a George lipgloss, and she also ordered me some clothes from Boohoo  reviews and pics to of these to com x  and of course you can expect to see the nail polishes featuring in some nails of the day soon, Any questions please leave me a comment I love hearing from your guys xx

My First MAC Haul In Ages and A Magazine Freebie Round Up

Hi Guys - I promised you a little MAC haul and here it is! I have to say MAC hasn't exactly wowed me over the last few months, a combination of Project 10 Pan and a few blaah collections has meant that I haven't added to my MAC collection very much this year but the new releases this month were right up my street, but I was still a good girl and only get 3 things. I have to say that I changed my mind several times over what I actually wanted from Fashion Flower, in the end I decided to move away from the usual suspects and things that I probably had dupes of, i.e Light Sunshine and Mlle and go for something completely, first up a lipstick, can you guess which one

Yes it's Ever Hip, a bright creamy coral which is way out of my comfort zone but I have to say it's gorgeous and nowhere near as scary as I'd thought - love it :)

Next up beauty powder - I had initially intended to get Light Sunshine but the more I saw of it the more I realised I could dupe it with things I already had, after all it's only a highlight shade, so I went for Alpha Girl instead

I love the flower design and it's almost too pretty to use but I'm sure I will as it's such a gorgeous peachy pink with a bit of gold shimmer- you can't see it too well here because I've fake tanned :)

Finally my one purchase from Semi Precious - as much as I love mineralize eyeshadows I have more than enough so I passed on those, which pretty much only left the MSF's I could easily have bought 3 but I just got the one - Rose Quartz

Close up of the centre splodge

This is a gorgous peachy / pink with a mass of shimmer and glitter in the middle

I have to say this is really pretty and I'm happy to have it in my all be it small MSF collection.
So that was it my MAC duck officially broken for the year - I have to say looking forward at future collections for the rest of the year there is every possibility my MAC drought will continue, the only things that really excite me are new paintpots, and the re-release of Porcelain Pink, and Lightscapade MSF, yes you heard me Lightscapade, it's my go to winter highlight and I will definitely be picking another one up, but hopefully I can be good and only buy things that I really need.
Oh and while I'm on about hauling just a heads up on this months magazine freebies, InStyle comes with either two Body Shop eye pencils or a mascara, Cosmopolitan as you saw the other day comes with a free Missguided nail polish, and today my mum picked me up a copy of this months Marie Claire magazine and with it comes a free Ciate Lipgloss

She got me the colour Ibiza which is a super hot pink - I guess I'm thinking positive getting all these summery shades

If that one isn't to your taste you can also get a nude beige shade - not only that but next months Marie Claire comes with a free Ciate nail polish, next months Cosmo comes with free Eyelure false lashes, next months Elle comes with a choice of 3 exclusive Mavala nail polishes and Red comes with a free Balance Me body wash. I don't know what it is but magazines are really upping their game as far as free gifts are concerned. If you have any questions on anything at all please leave me a comment xx

A New Nail Care Regime - Leighton Denny

Up until very recently I've been happily going along using the Mavala Nail Care regime I reviewed for you a little while ago -my nails grow and looked pretty healthy, however over the last few weeks I've been experiencing cracking and splitting on my nails, and worse still peeling where layers of nail have literally peeled off each other. Since I've got back from my holidays it's gotten worse no matter what I've tried I haven't been able to improve the condition of my nails.

So when I saw Leighton Denny on QVC last week I decided to try something new - I really like the products that I've tried from the brand so far so I left a comment on the Leighton Denny Facebook page, describing my problem and the man himself was kind enough to respond!! He recommend that I try his Hydra Flex regime which I immediately ordered from QVC- basically this is for dry, brittle and peeling nails which sound exactly like mine. I won't go into too much detail here but it basically involves 3 products, a serum, a base coat/treatment and a polish remover. So I've started using it as soon as I got it on Wednesday and like my previous nail trials I'm going to see how I get on for 1 month and then I'll do a full review of the system for you. Just for the record here are some pics I took on Wednesday before I started the treatment - my nails don't actually look too bad, with a little bit of white tip on each, but I can assure you, they don't feel that great

I'll probably show you some more pics maybe after a fortnight to show you how I'm getting on x Any questions please ask x

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 Fragrance Direct Haul and A Review Of My Shopping Experience

I must admit I have fantasy shopped on Fragrance Direct like most shops many a time but I'd never placed an order before, well I broke my duck last week
IF you haven't already checked it out Fragrance Direct sells a lot of discount cosmetics, skin care, fragrance and of course some NYX
As you know I was recently sent the Mavala Nail Shield system, well my mum has recently started to use it too so we needed some more - I checked my prices and Fragrance Direct was the cheapest I could find. I placed my order last week and it came today which wasn't bad considering the bank holiday.I also bought a Nail Colour in Nicosia 34 - a gorgeous summery beige / shell shade

and this super Maybelline kit,

It's called the Maybelline Times Square Trendy Look kit. It comes in a super cute cosmetic bag with a Times Square and New York taxi cab design

It contains a Dream Mousse Eyecolor in 05 Angelic Pink, a gorgeous shimmery pink, which would also look good as a highlighter, a Define-A-Lash mascara in Black, a Shiny Licious Fruity Gloss in 850 Sugar Plum and 840 Chamallow Lolly Pink, and 2 Colorama nail colours in 16 Berry Sweet and 05 Cotton Candy

I'm really pleased with this kit and it was good value as was my whole order especially the postage which was just £1.95 for standard delivery. Any questions please let me know

Mavala Scientifique and Nail Shield - My Routine and Reviews

As I've just mentioned for the last four weeks I have been using products from the Mavala range for operation nail growth. Founded in Switzerland Mavala is probably most famous for its nail care products. It is a brand I dabbled with in my much younger days due to recommendations from my mum but it's one that had gradually fell by the wayside, until recently that is. The product I used in the distant past was Mavala's oldest (released to the market in 1959) and possibly best known product "Scientifique"

I bought this at the same time as my Urban Decay Alice palette but I didn't start using it till the beginning of April. Scientifique is in its simplest form a nail hardener - it hardens the nail "joining the nail layers together to enable them to grow normally"

The product comes in a tiny 5ml bottle - it's a penetrating hardener like the pro strong one I used earlier in this experiment, so it absorbs into the nail. You apply a tiny bit of the turquoise coloured liquid to the tips of your nails then tip your hands downwards to allow the product to drip down your whole nail. I did this on average twice a week :)

As you can see it absorbs quickly into the nails and the small sized bottle is justified because you honestly don't need much. It has quite a strange smell quite herbal - not surprising really as some of the ingredients are garlic, lemon, eucalyptus, and chamomile! My one complaint with this product though is the large amount of formaldehyde it contains - this is an incredibly drying ingredient and Mavala recommend you protect your cuticles whilst your using it - whatever you do don't get this on your skin if you can help it, it is super dooper drying and it stings like hell if you get it in to cuts etc - having said that though it certainly seems to make your nails stronger all most instantly:)
I was more than happy to try the Scientifique on it's own but I was contacted by a PR company who kindly offered me the chance to try another product in Mavala's nail treatment line. I eagerly took them upon their offer and was sent their two phase Nail Shield System

Designed to "reinforce and protect nails" this is a two bottle two phase system to help nails "resist breakage" and protect them whilst they grow long. Bring it on it what I say ;) After I had applied my Scientifique and waited for it to absorb I applied Phase 1 to my nails

Nail Shield Phase 1 on first glance is an opaque white liquid but as it dries you can actually see that your nails are covered in tiny nylon fibres that provide support and strength to you nails, a bit like a trellis does for plants - if you look carefully you can see the fibres on my nails.

Obviously the presence of the fibres leaves a rough surface to the nails so then you apply Phase 2 - a pinkish / nude filler/sealer coat which evens out the surface of your nails ready for your polish

I usually found I need two coats to create a completely smooth surface - I think the idea is you could just leave your nails like this but I personally wasn't too keen on the colour and it felt a little yellow toned to me, so I tended to use it pretty successfully as a base coat, applying it about twice a week - hence all the nailsof the day posts lately :)

I didn't have too many issues with the Nail Shield system - the treatments dried pretty quickly, and applied pretty evenly but my one gripe was with the smell - they were really strong smelling - if your adverse to strong nail polish smells this system isn't for you. Having said that as I said previously I have been pretty happy with how both of these treatments have performed - they have their drawbacks but my nails certainly feel a lot stronger and more resilient than what they did before using them and I will definitely consider using Mavala products again in the future.
Mavala Scientifique retails for around £11.50 for 5ml bottle and the Nail Shield Duo retails for around £8.50 for the 2 x 5ml bottles. For more information and stockists please check out the Mavala website for more details and stockist information x

(I purchased the Mavala Scientifique myself from Debenhams, the Nail Shield System was kindly provided by a PR Company for review purposes. This has in no way influenced my review - all results and opinions are mine and mine alone)

Operation Nail Growth - One Month Results - Mavala

Well it's that time again -time to show you the results of another months worth of nail products. As you know this month I have been using two Mavala treatments, Scientifique and Nail Shield. I am going to do a separate post describing my routine and reviewing the products but I thought I'd show you my results first :) Well I have to say I'm impressed my nails have definitely grown (when compared to 2 weeks ago, and compared to last month) and they certainly feel stronger



I have had a little bit of snapping on my little finger and my ring finger but at least there were nails to snap lol.
I haven't showed you any pics of my right hand before now but I thought it was important to show you how good the growth has been without any snapping

Overall I have been impressed with the regime but as you'll see in my review later I have found it to be a little drying so I have been supplementing these products with some cuticle and hand care items from Jessica - full reviews to come soon. Of all the items I've used so far I've probably seen the best results with these ones. I will definitely continue using them until the bottom of the bottles at least and of course I'll be giving you regular updates via my NOTD posts x