Trimming my Stash - March 2018 Edition - Empties And Mini Reviews

"March Comes In Like A Lion, And Goes Out Like A Lamb"

Well the last 7 days officially prove at least to me, that those old sayings like this are utter tosh. The month ended pretty much as it started with yet more snow, but in my case in particular it didn't got out like a lamb, more like a whirling dervish!

If you follow me on any of my other social media channels you'll know that March ended, and April started in the worst possible way, with an emergency ambulance, an A&E trip, and a short hospital stay for Mummy Lou. Certainly not the Easter that I had planned but thankfully she's home and whilst she has a few more hurdles to overcome she's feeling much better and I'm gradually coming down from a stressed and anxiety ridden high.

March sucked big style for a number of reasons, and to be honest April hasn't started off much better but as I keep saying, and I have to keep believing things can only get better, and they will get better! You have to keep believing - positivity, positivity, rah, rah, rah!

So over the last few weeks I've been sleeping, I've been eating lots of chocolate, indulging in lots of self care, and general life sorting, and even though I've been a little bit quiet online I've still been doing lots of blog and You Tube prep so as long as the creeks don't rise I should be a little bit more productive online in the weeks and months to come.

The Body Shop Vanilla Spice Shower Gel - 250ml
Beautifully Scrumptious Deep Moisturising Foot Pack - Tea Tree And Peppermint - 1 x Pair Socks
Baija Paris Gommage Festin Royal Body Scrub - Caramelised Honey - 50g
Soap & Glory Heel Genius Amazing Foot Cream - 125ml
AVON Advance Techniques Anti Hair Fall Shampoo -250ml
Scrub Love Hydrating Coconut Oil Body Scrub - Coconut Mango - 50g

Total - 6 Items 

So starting in a productive and positive vein I thought I get my first post up of the month and share with you my March beauty empties. Considering it was such a topsy turvy month I think I did pretty well to finish another 6 items. I'm there or thereabouts on a few make up items, but I didn't manage to push any over the line in March. Alas no skincare either but lots of body and hair care and I managed to finish a couple of interesting items so I'm still pretty pleased with March's total.

1. The Body Shop Vanilla Spice Shower Gel - 250ml

Now normally by the time it hits February or March I relegate my festive toiletries to the back of the cupboard and keep them safe until the festive season comes around again. this year though I've decided to do things a little bit differently. One of my worst beauty failings is filling up the cupboards, drawers and shelves with half finished bottles and jars, so instead of switching my beauty products up to suit the change of seasons, this year I'm planning on using up everything that's currently in my shower, including a ton of festive scented products before I move on to something new.

This lovely shower gel is one of The Body Shop's festive limited editions from quite a few years ago now. Although it was marketed as a festive fragrance I think this warming and comforting scent is definitely something that you could use all year round especially if sweet scents are your thing. It has a sweet but not overtly sickly, vanilla based scent intermingled with various warming spices including cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon. It's not too strong and it's not too sickly it's just comforting, it you liked the smell of Starbucks Vanilla Spice / Winter White Hot Chocolate for a year or so ago then you'll like this. Alas like so many of my favourite festive scents from The Body Shop this one hasn't been seen for some time but fingers crossed they bring something similar back soon, in the meantime, I still have a few of their Vanilla Brulee products left in my stash, which is different but just as yummy x 

2. Beautifully Scrumptious Deep Moisturising Foot Pack - Tea Tree And Peppermint - 1 x Pair Socks

There seems to be two schools of thought when it comes to feet, you either think that they are the greatest thing on this planet, or they gross you out. I definitely fall into the latter category I can deal with my own but touching other peoples quite frankly makes me feel a little unwell - in fact touching other peoples skin generally makes me feel a little queasy but hey hopefully you get what I'm trying to say.

Feet are not the most pleasant of things but we really do need to take care of them - they work incredibly hard and lets be honest we don't always treat them that well. So if you have feet do yourself, and the world a favour and take care of them! Keep them clean, keep them fresh and keep them moisturised. Thanks to medication and a thyroid condition my feet get very dry and as a result I'm always looking for ways to keep the dry skin at bay, and to keep them soft and hydrated.

I have a bit of a thing about foot creams and pedicure products, and over the last few years I've developed a major love in with pedi peel type socks, you know the ones, pop them on and wait for your feet to shed like a snake. As gross and as fascinating as they are in equal measure they are amazing for getting rid of that dry skin with very little effort. Whilst these socks look similar though they actually have a completely different function

Unlike those plastic and infused paper type socks that make your feet peel, these ones from the fabulously named Beautifully Scrumptious are all about the moisture. These disposable socks are infused with a fresh smelling moisture cream containing tea tree, lavender, and peppermint. Pop them onto clean, dry feet and relax for around 15 minutes, slip them off, rub the excess lotion into your feet, and you're left with feet that feel cool, refreshed and silky soft. I was really surprised at just how much better my feet both looked and felt after just 15 minutes, my feet felt a lot smoother, and the increase in hydration was really evident in the appearance of my feel and in particular in my horrible, dry and cracked heels.

These socks are designed for just a single use but after one 15 minute treatment they still felt pretty wet, so I actually managed to get another treatment out of them the next day. I'm so, so impressed with the effectiveness of these socks especially since they were only £1 in Poundland. So if you want both better looking, and feeling feet in a matter of minutes then these socks are definitely worth picking up, and I'll definitely be adding a couple of more pairs to my basket next time I'm in store.

3. Baija Paris Gommage Festin Royal Body Scrub - Caramelised Honey - 50g

Although one of my things are pedicure type products one of my real obsessions is body scrub, something so simple, yet so often brands get it so wrong. Well not in this case, so stand up Baija Paris, and accept the praise that is heading your way.

This was a product that I received in my December Birchbox (watch my unboxing video here) and  believe me it was a winner. Packaged in a gorgeous but slightly dangerous when you've get wet hands, glass jar, this was a lovely, very gritty and grainy sugar based body scrub. It had a good oil content so as well as being very exfoliating it was also very moisturising. I'm not a fan of honey scents so I was a bit sceptical about this one at first but it actually had an incredible, if slightly sickly sweet toffee, fudge inspired scent.

This brand isn't that widely available in the UK unfortunately but I really enjoyed using this scrub on all levels and if I could get my hands on it, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it again

4. Soap & Glory Heel Genius Amazing Foot Cream - 125ml

Ah more feet and as were hopefully heading towards better weather and sandal season, it's more important than ever to get those feet in tip top condition. This is without a doubt one of my favourite ever foot creams! Containing fruit acids, to tackle that dead skin, and lots of moisturising ingredients, the texture is just right, it isn't too thick and it's nice and easy to rub in. I'm also a huge fan of the scent: whilst minty, tea tree and lavender scents definitely have their place (especially if your feet or a bit whiffy!) I love the fresh, fruity, floral, okay the impossible to describe scent of this one. I usually slather it all over my feel after a shower, pop on a pair of socks and let it do it's thing. My feet are pretty dry and whilst this Soap & Glory cream isn't a miracle cure, like most foot creams it definitely makes a difference when you use it consistently.

5. AVON Advance Techniques Anti Hair Fall Shampoo -250ml

If you follow me on Instagram then you'll already have heard me raving about this shampoo and the matching conditioner. First up it's super affordable, the RRP for this particular shampoo in the 250ml size is £3, but as you know AVON have regular offers on all of their products so shop carefully and you could probably pick up both a shampoo and conditioner for less than a fiver (my last bottle was only £1.50!). Secondly and perhaps more importantly this is a decent shampoo! It contains ingredients that you would expect in higher end shampoos including wheat proteins, keratin, aginine, amino acids, and bamboo extracts. Designed to help strengthen the hair from root to tip, it has a lovely fresh, floral scent, it foams nicely (it does contain SLS though) and it feels nice on the hair, and leaves it feeling really clean and conditioned. Although it's marketed as an anti-hair fall shampoo, you have to be realistic about your expectations and yes I probably am still losing more hairs than the average person but thanks to the combination of this shampoo and the corresponding conditioner (and a few other products from other brands), my hair is in pretty good condition at the moment, so for the price I'm stick with it. I've already repurchased both the shampoo and conditioner and I can see myself buying it again and again.

6. Scrub Love Hydrating Coconut Oil Body Scrub - Coconut Mango - 50g

Now this is the second product that I've tried from Scrub Love and I have to say I liked this one way more than I liked the last one (read my thoughts here). Although that one also contained coconut it also contained coffee which really added to the mess and my somewhat negative review.

This Coconut Mango scrub which came in the June 2017 Birchbox (see my unboxing here), contained lots and lots of coconut from the shell, to the oil, and the milk, and it also contained a load of moisturising and good for you ingredients including kaolin, sugar, glycerine, grapeseed oil, and mango seed butter, and whilst it was still a tad bitty and messy thanks to all of the oils and butters it was much easier to clump together and massage into the skin.

It had a nice and scrubby texture, and the scent was amazing, subtle coconut and lots of fruity, and juicy mango - a lovely scent that transported you to the tropics even in snowy Co Durham. It was nice and scrubby and I loved the scent but I still prefer out and out sugar or salt scrubs so I probably wouldn't repurchase this one but I would happily use it up if I acquired another one in the future.

So they were my March beauty empties x As per usual I'll be trying to do better this month, and I'm really going to try and finish at least one make up item if I can x If you have any questions on any of the products that I've mentioned then please leave me a comment and let me know 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

Hungry Fish At Appy Feet

Last week I was fortunate enough to be invited down for a fish pedicure treatment at the new Appy Feet branch in the Metro Centre.

I'd always been intrigued by the whole concept and couldn't wait to try it. Appy Feet were the first company to bring the fish foot spa treatment to consumers in the UK. The treatment itself sounds unusual but it has millions of devotees across Turkey and the Far East. Ideal for those suffering from skin conditions such as dermatitis or Psoriasis, the small, toothless Garra Rufa fish gently nibble away the dry, dead skin from you hands or your feet, revealing fresh and glowing skin :)

The first thing I noticed about the Appy Feet salon was the bright colours, oranges, blues and whites, unlike some of the fish foot spa venues Appy Feet have made their salons / stores bright and airy, as well as super friendly staff - everyone was so pleasant and helpful.

The treatment starts by a foot wash - what struck me at this point was the care and consideration towards the hygiene and welfare not only for the customer but also for the fish. The foot wash at Appy Feet purely involves washing your feet in some very warm water. I know some other fish spas uses antibacterial wipes and washes so I asked the member of staff who was assigned to me why they just used water. The answer was simple it's better for the fish, be using just hot water they won't be ingesting any chemicals from any washes or wipes.

After my foot wash I was invited to put on a pair of Crocs - this will be the only time I will ever wear these lunch boxes on my feet but again they are used for hygiene purposes, often used in hospitals they are easy to clean and are ideal for getting you from the foot wash to your pod. This branch of Appy Feet contains 12 pods arranged in groups of 4 to make it more of a social experience. Each pod contains between 100-150 Garra Rufa fish again in warm water, there is a constant flow of water into the pod, and it's sterilised at last 5 times an hour making it as hygienic as possible.

I am led to believe it can take some people a few minutes to put their feet into the tank but I put mine straight in, almost as soon as your feet touch the water, you are pounced on by some hungry fish :)

I have to say it's the strangest feeling I don't have particularly tickly feet thankfully but it's a slightly tickly feeling which is actually quite pleasant, remember the fish don't have teeth so they aren't biting your feet more sucking them :). I have to say it feels super odd tho when they go between your toes lol. In fact my fishies even started to go up my calves bye bye peeling tan :)

What got my was the social interaction whilst you were having your treatment, there were 3 women in the same area as me and we all got talking about the treatment, it would be great if you had the treatment say with a group of friends :) Whilst I was having the treatment the staff kept coming to check that we were OK and ask what we thought of the treatment so far, which I thought was a nice touch all the staff were very knowledgeable and helpful. One of the founders of Appy Feet even came over to chat to us which was really useful, she told us more about the actual fish and their welfare. Imported from Singapore and costing at least £4 each it isn't surprising that they take good care of the fish after all they are their business, they also feed them on a Salmon based food to keep them healthy and happy after the salon has closed

When my 15 minutes was up you gently lift your feet from the pod, I was a bit apprehensive because the fish were still attached to my feet but when you take your feet out of the water the fish just fall back into the water. You are then given your own personal towel to dry off your feet and your given some foot cream to rub in. I have to say my feet felt so relaxed when I came out of the pod, tingly and alive, there was still a bit of dry skin on my feet but they were certainly a lot softer. I have to say this is something that I would highly recommend, my feet felt revived and because they work on a walk in, no appointment basis this would be an ideal treat after a few hours Christmas shopping. Another thing I liked is the affordability, a 15 minute treatment for the feet costs just £10, about the same as a large Starbucks and a Muffin or two x Here is a little video I made to show you my experience as well as the little haul I made too x


I really enjoyed the treatment and I will most definitely go back in fact I've even bought MummyLouLou a voucher for Christmas so we can go together for a really pampering, bonding treatment x

This quote from one of the lovely employees that I was lucky enough to speak to, Vanessa, pretty much sums the whole fish foot spa experience up :)

For more information including pricing, locations, and gift packages please check out the Appy Feet website x I'd like to think everyone at Appy Feet Metro Centre and MK Things Happen for the opportunity to try out the treatment. Any questions please ask.

(The 15 minute treatment retailing at £10 was provided for review purposes this hasn't affected my review in anyway)