Oh. My. GOSH!

Hi everyone, I have been very quiet lately so first of all I would like to apologise for that. I have been mega busy with stuff, my son and sister went for a photo shoot at Max Spielmann, we are really pleased with what we got for the money, I won a competition with Collection (2000) for me and my friend to go to their 25th Birthday and rebranding party in London, I won another competition with Fairy, I also did a few days of interviewing customers at a big technology store which was loads of fun and did wonders for my confidence, it was my lil sister's first birthday so we all went to the zoo, the Alton Towers tickets came with the dates that I wanted (during the October Scarefest when the park is open til 9pm and they have a few extra scary things going on), and then it was Easter. So, did you have a nice Easter weekend? Thomas got spoilt rotten, I think he will still have some eggs left by Christmas!

Moving on, today I went shopping just for nail polish. 

First of all I got these:

L to R: Beauty UK - Lilac Girl (35), Beauty UK - Slate (50), Max Factor - Fantasy Fire (45),  Revlon Cuticle Remover, Technic 21129 Mermaid (looks like it MAY be a dupe for the Milani Jewel FX in Teal off my wishlist, yay!), City Chick - Sparkly Nails Black.

I wasn't gonna buy Fantasy Fire really, because of the size and I have seen it talked about loads so its not really new anymore, until I went into Superdrug and saw it. It is simply stunning so I had that as my special treat for the day. I have noticed that Meganails and Lozza Nailed It! mentioned on their blogs that there was a clearance on some GOSH makeup in their local Superdrug so I looked around for it and didn't see any :-(

So I was quite happy to buy Fantasy Fire instead:

So off I went down the toiletries aisle to get to the tills. Then, I noticed loads of makeup in a big cardboard stand, some of it was broken, opened and in a bit of a sorry state to be totally honest, but I had a closer look anyway. Then I noticed that it was all GOSH products. There were loads of eyeliners and eye dusts but I didn't really see any that took my fancy so I had a good rummage and found some nail polish.

GOSH - Magic Star 562

This stood out to me because of how sparkly it was so I popped that straight in my basket.

GOSH -Yellow Bombay 552

I didn't own any yellow nail polish at that point and this has a nice shimmer to it so I decided to buy this aswell. I think it was at this point that I started to pay more attention to what I was looking at as this one is definitely discontinued. There seemed to be a couple more bottles of Magic Star but one looked a bit different as it seemed to shine more red so I picked it up to have a look..

I nearly dropped the bottle in shock! That was GOSH - Rainbow 546 I had in my hand! My beloved flakie that has sat on my wishlist for a long time. I had given up all hope of finding this one as I hadn't even seen a trace of it on eBay so I quite literally couldn't believe my luck. I then went through all of the other nail polishes until I came to the last one. It was quite a dull silver colour in comparison to the others I had chosen, but on checking the label at the top it said 549 Holographic. I checked twice as in the bottle it didn't look holographic at all!

It doesn't look that special does it? Maybe thats because I've hunted for this for so long that I expected to have more of a presence about it, or for music to play when I held it my hand.. At this point a practically ran to the tills with a crazed grin on my face. I was in such a rush that I didn't even take any notice of the price, it wasn't until I checked my receipt afterwards that I realised they were £2 each. I nearly fainted. Just the day before, I nearly put a bid on this on eBay for £20 and now I had it for a fraction of the price!! Result!

I don't want to seem like I am bragging too much because I know there are plenty of people out there that haven't been as lucky as  have and are still on the lookout for these. I can assure you though that these ones have gone to a very good home where they will be loved and cared for and given the attention that they deserve. I am a little bit scared to try them though as I have dreamed of this day many times over the last year and I'm worried I'm expecting too much of it. Anyway, if you are looking for these polishes, get your ass down to your local Superdrug ASAP! You never know, you might get lucky! If you manage to find any bargains there, let me know. 

Sorry for the long post but I think these nail polishes deserved it!

Claire's Surprise Bag

A pinch & a punch for the first of the month!

I recently went to my local Claire's the other day and picked up a lucky bag. You get 10 random items from sale stock for £5, so that's a fairly reasonable 50p per item. They used to be just £3 but it was obviously only a matter of time before the price went up. These mystery bags seem to get quite a frosty reception (as does the store itself!) from some people and they won't be to everyone's taste. If you would rather have a choice over your items it would be better to purchase them when they are on the sale. For me though, I like the surprise, the chance to have products I probably wouldn't buy otherwise and if I don't like something for myself, I give them as presents. Sometimes things need minor repairs, usually just a blob of glue to stick something back down. Here is what I got:

White Hat - £10+
Knitted Headwrap - £5
Flower Headband - £4.50
Black Alice Band - £3.50
6 Bow Clips - £4.50
Stud Earrings - £4.50
Hoop Earrings - £5
Trainer Necklace - £5.50
Long Necklace - £5.50
Peppa Pig Bracelets and Ring - £4

Obviously these prices are the original prices and not the sale prices, also the hat did not have a price tag but hats are usually around £14 - £18, but the total comes to £52+ so not bad for a fiver!

Those are my personal faves. I have had these many times before and I have had better but I've had much worse too. You win some, you lose some.

DISCLAIMER: I bought this myself with my own cash. I have not been paid or otherwise rewarded for this post. Opinions are my own :-) 

The Body Shop Review (x2!)

Hi, hope you are all well! Today I have for you a review of 2 products from The Body Shop:
1. Sweet Lemon Body Scrub
2. Spiced Vanilla Body Butter

Please Note: I bought these myself with my partner's  own money & am not being paid in any way for this review.

There are nearly always special offers at The Body Shop online so it is best to wait until there's one that suits  you best and then stock up in my opinion. (e.g at the time of writing this, body butters & body scrubs are 2 for £15, delivery is free if you spend over £20 and if you spend over £25, you get a Strawberry Body Butter free AND on top of all of that, spend £50 get £25 off! Thats over 50% discount if you make use of all of those offers at once!!  )

Sweet Lemon Body Scrub 200ml (220g) - RRP £12.50

Here is the product info according to The Body Shop's website:

This exfoliating body scrub contains real lemon seed oil and peel. It lifts away dead skin cells and has a zesty citrus scent.

• Removes dead skin cells
• Leaves skin feeling soft and smooth
• Stimulates skin microcirculation
• Zesty citrus scent

Key Ingredients:

• Lemon seed oil
• Lemon peel
• Community Fair Trade soya oil
• Community Fair Trade organic cane sugar

Full Ingredients:
Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Sucrose, Sodium Chloride, Helianthus Annuus Hybrid Oil, Silica, Citrus Medica Limonum Seed Oil, Glycine Soja Oil, Limonene, Bertholletia Excelsa Seed Oil, Parfum, Citrus Medica Limonum Peel, Juglans Regia Shell Powder, Citral, CI 19140. 

The best thing about this product is the smell. It is lovely and refreshing yet sweet, just like fresh lemons and not synthetic smelling at all. This was actually my first time using a body scrub like this and it was a big change for me. The hardest thing to get used to was the lack of bubbles and the texture, which is very thick and looks like slush due to the sugar (sucrose) and salt (sodium chloride) granules it contains! It also has little bits of lemon peel in there too. It is a natural exfoliant yet gentle on the skin and it is suggested that you should only use it 2 - 3 times per week as it can cause skin to dry out if used more often. Although a little product does go a long way, I have noticed that this pot is emptying way faster than my body butter so I perhaps should of ordered more body scrubs. Oh well, I will know for next time!

Here are the photos I took:

Lemon is known to help combat the dreaded cellulite as is rubbing the skin in circular motions and is also good for your circulation too.

I would definitely purchase this again although and overall it scores 4/5 for me. I am not I would pay £12.50 for it though so check those special offers before you buy! You can get this from your local body shop store or online here


Spiced Vanilla Body Butter 200ml (192g) - RRP £12.50  - discontinued :-(

This body butter was a part of the winter/ christmas 2011 collection so is sadly not available to buy from The Body Shop right now, although you may still be able to find it on websites such as eBay.

Product info:

Our famous Body Butter scented with vanilla and a hint of spice. It is quickly absorbed and leaves skin feeling softer and smoother.

• Buttery texture
• No parabens

Key Ingredient(s)

• Vanilla extract
• Community Fair Trade cocoa butter

Full Ingredients
Aqua (Solvent/Diluent), Butyrospermum Parkii (Skin-Conditioning Agent/Emollient), Glycerin (Humectant), Glycine Soja Oil (Emollient/Skin Conditioner), Cetearyl Alcohol (Emulsifier), Cyclopentasiloxane (Skin-Conditioning Agent/Emollient), Glyceryl Stearate (Emulsifier), PEG-100 Stearate (Surfactant), Theobroma Cacao Seed Butter (Emollient), Cyclohexasiloxane (Conditioning Agent), Bertholletia Excelsa Seed Oil (Emollient), Lanolin Alcohol (Stabiliser/Emollient), Sesamum Indicum Seed Oil (Skin-Conditioning Agent), Orbignya Oleifera Seed Oil (Emollient), Parfum (Fragrance), Phenethyl Alcohol (Fragrance Ingredient), Caprylyl Glycol (Skin Conditioning Agent), Xanthan Gum (Viscosity Modifier), Disodium EDTA (Chelating Agent), Tocopherol (Antioxidant), Linalool (Fragrance Ingredient), Limonene (Fragrance Ingredient), Benzyl Salicylate (Fragrance Ingredient), Coumarin (Fragrance Ingredient), Sodium Hydroxide (pH Adjuster), Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone (Fragrance Ingredient), Hexyl Cinnamal (Fragrance Ingredient), Citronellol (Fragrance Ingredient), Vanilla Planifolia Fruit Extract (Natural Additive), Citric Acid (pH Adjuster), Caramel (Colour), CI 15510 (Colour). 

This smells absolutely lovely, good enough to eat! It is mostly vanilla with a mild hint of spice (not sure  exactly what spices they are though!) It reminds me of the vanilla Yankee Candle actually. (My boyfriend doesn't like the smell of it though. Boo!) This pot will last ages, it leaves my skin feeling super soft and moisturised without feeling too oily and the scent lingers on my skin for a good while afterwards. I actually can't really find anything bad to say about it. We have had cold weather lately and I did notice that the butter became harder to rub into the skin. This is because some of the oils in it are solid at room temperature and get harder the colder it gets, sort of like the butter you use on your sandwiches! I just store it in a warmer room now and I don't have this problem anymore. Hopefully this will be available to buy again later on in the year as I will definitely buy this again.

Here are my photos:

This one actually scores a big 5/5 from me! Some "body butters" I have used in the past had exactly the same consistency as normal

I hope you enjoyed reading and please feel free to comment with your thoughts / experiences and I will try to reply back to you. Have a great weekend!

DISCLAIMER: These were bought by myself but this does not affect my opinion of them in any way.

Goodies I bought today!

Today I went shopping (with a budget of £20) and this is what I came back with:

15 piece silicone baking set

I actually bought 2 of these! One for cooking with (I think a butterfly cake will look awesome) and one for crafting. I'm either gonna try it with resin casting or soap making so I'll give an update sometime in the near future so you can see what I end up making!

Thomas Fleece Blanket

I couldn't go shopping without getting something for my little one so I got him a new blanket. His name also happens to be Thomas so it literally has his name all over it.

50 Bobbles

I was desperately in need of some new bobbles so I picked up these funky looking ones. I love the rainbow colours!

3 x Nail Art Laquers 

I did get some of these a while back in pink shades and so I went back and got these. I love how the brushes allow you to do nail art designs or a full plain colour without needing to swap brushes. They are good but you need to use a good top coat with them. These ones are by Angel Cosmetics so they are nothing too fancy but they do the job!

Centipede Sparkly Bag Charm

This caught my eye because of how sparkly it is and I'd never seen a centipede bag charm before. Its nice to have something a bit "different" for a change.

Long Ribbon Bag Charm

Next up was this bag charm. It's my favourite purchase of the day. Its really long too and it spruces up my boring plain looking bag rather nicely.

Last but not least, I bought a long black open cardigan. I didn't get a photo of this as you all know what they look like I buy these quite often in lots of different styles and colours and I wear them nearly every day.

So thats it, and it cost me £19 in all!

My First Post!

Well here it is! My first blog post! This is gonna be a quick one just to get things started. It is way too hot today, we need a good old storm to clear the air a bit I think!   My day was pretty boring today although the postman did bring me a few goodies! My Tesco delivery came today which was £112 worth of baby clothes for just £56. Bargain! I also had some Genome Fridge Magnets from Open University and a washing powder scoop. Ooh, and I did win a Cushelle Koala on Facebook yesterday. I wonder how long it will take to arrive though....  anyway I'm off to go on Ebay and do some surveys so thats all for now!