❤ ❤ Peace, Love & Lush Products! ❤ ❤

You may of noticed a new picture on my sidebar today which means that this blog is taking part in the "peace, love & lush products" campaign, which was started by Beabarella after she got some unnecessary comments on her Youtube video.

This has been a tough week in the beauty blogging world and the nail polish scene too, so this couldn't come at a better time. The behaviour that I have seen goes against everything that blogging is about.
Cyber bullying (even though it takes place behind a keyboard and computer screen, it IS a form of bullying) is a very real issue and it has been given a lot of media attention too. If you have ever had a nasty comment directed at you either online or in person, you will understand how low they can make you feel.

Don't get me wrong, I don't expect everyone to agree 100% of the time but there is a way of explaining your opinion or being constructively critical without being rude. Sometimes its just that the people behind the comments haven't thought about what they are writing so if you are commenting on someone's video, blog, tweet, status, forum post or whatever just read back through it after you've typed it as context really doesn't come over through a keyboard. Us women always read what's said and then what's between the lines too so if you wouldn't like to receive your own comment, don't send it.

There are also people out there called internet trolls too who make a habit of commenting on things just to get a reaction. They are the type of people behind those shocking Facebook groups that pop up on your newsfeed to report them every so often. In this case they are best ignored/deleted/blocked.

I personally haven't had anything said to me but my partner is VERY unsupportive of my blog, which hurts just as much.

It is important not to let these comments bring us down, but to move on, find something positive from it and bring the blogging community back together as a group to support each other. That's where the peace, love & lush products campaign comes in.

Want to get involved? Add the picture to your sidebar and spread the love in a blog post!

You can read Beabarella's original post here, and I joined the campaign from Carlotta's Beauty Spot.

Adele Inspired Nails!

Well hello there! A couple of days ago I did a post on Adele's Grammy Awards style and those awesome nails she had. Well... now I have created my own version of them! I noticed a lot of people commenting on Adele's manicure elsewhere on the net, and they were saying how it must be so difficult to get the brush behind the nail to paint it.

The answer is simple. You don't have to! Well if you have short natural nails anyway that is. If you use fake nails, you can paint the back of the nail before you glue it on.
I used short, European, full coverage nails in a natural finish. Here is the finished look:

Please excuse the ill-fitting nails, and the fact that you can see my natural nails at the back. I glued them on with PVA glue just to take the photo then peeled them straight off. If I was actually going to wear these nails for longer than 5 mins, I would trim my natural nails back, file the false nails to a better shape and use proper nail glue!

This was quite simple to make.

1.  I used Catherine Arley Holographic Nail Polish in shade 667, I used 2 coats.
2. Then, I painted the back of the nail from the tip to just under halfway down in MUA shade 15 (the one from my secret valentine) I would advise using some of those white guide stickers if you have some. I couldn't find mine as you can see by the messy painting but you get the idea.  
3. Then, I added some holographic glitter from my nail art pen haul  to the front of the nail where the pink was showing through. 
4. Finally, I added some MUA clear polish (shade 17) on top of the glitter to make it extra sparkly. I didn't apply this to the whole nail as holographic polish is best left as it is. 

In this case, I wanted the pink to show through slightly at the front but if you didn't want this to happen, you would either use a completely opaque colour or paint the front of the nail white as a base. If you do acrylic or gel nails, you could just use coloured tips and then completely paint the front of the nail for the same effect.

. It is very difficult to photograph holo polishes / glitters so in real life this looks absolutely stunning and so sparkly, much better than in the photos. I hope you enjoyed this post, here is another photo to finish off with that really shows off the holographic polish as much as I could get it to:

When I come to actually wear these, I will probably do a follow-up.

DISCLAIMER: All products used here were bought by me :-) 

My Secret Valentine!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Today I can finally share my Secret Valentine parcel with you. I have been dying to open it for a few weeks now but I decided to be a good girl and wait until Feb 14th. ❤

Here's what I got:

I can't believe someone went out of their way to put this together for me, isn't it lovely? I can't wait to try these out. I have already started on the chocs and they are yummy.

1. MUA Limited Edition Nail Polish Set - shade 12 & 15
2. Heart-shaped Bath Gel x2
3. Superdrug Seduction Body Spray
4. Hand Therapy 2 in 1 Hand & Nail Cream
5. MUA Lip Gloss - shade 5
6. Make-up shaped Choccies!
I got this because I took part in the Secret Valentine swap over at Beauty Box Swaps on Facebook. We had a £5 budget and each got given a different person to send a gift parcel to. I sent one out too but I can't say who to incase she sees this blog post - it would kinda defy the whole point of it. There will be more swaps going on throughout the year (there is already an Easter one lined up) so although you might of missed the Valentine's one, you can easily get involved with the next. The actual purpose of the group is to swap unused or swatched beauty products , especially the ones you get in monthly beauty boxes. The 2 girls that run the group are lovely so you should definitely pop over there and say hi!

I have no idea who sent me my gift but I wanna say a massive thank you, whoever you are. I love it!
It was especially thoughtful how she added a little handwritten note for me ❤❤

If you took part in this or something like it, I would love to see what you got so feel free to send me a link and I'll check it out!  

Adele at the Grammy Awards!

I am just here for a flying visit today but as soon as I saw the pictures I knew I had to post about her.

What an inspiration this lady is! She totally stole the show in more ways than one. She did her first performance since she had throat surgery, she won a whopping SIX awards, she looked absolutely stunning in a sparky Giorgio Armani dress and in great shape and then there were her double sided nails (which also matched her Christian Louboutin Fifi shoes:

Mmm shoe porn! 

See? Silvery and glittery on top and red underneath. I want NEED these in my life! With a price tag of $ 3,395 , which at the time of writing is £2,160.54, I can only dream. Looks like I will have to settle for the manicure instead!

The top side is a silvery and glittery polish, not just any glitter either, it full of holographic goodness. And the underside is bright red polish. Both polishes are from Ciate and the look was created by Mike Pocock.

Left: Ciate - Jewel  / Right: Ciate - Mistress

Jewel is painted on top of the nail and Mistress is painted on the back. Each polish retails for £9 on the Ciate website. 


I hope you enjoyed this post and if you would like to stay up to date with my blog, please click the follow button.

Top 10 EXTREME nails!

Hiya everyone! Today I have gone for a bit of a different type of post: my top 10 favourite extreme nails. I find nail art very addictive and once you have done one design its all about going bigger and better. Since my Nail Art Pen Haul, I was scouring the internet for inspiration. I decided to include 10 of my favourites in a post for all to see. So without further ado, at No. 10...

Monopoly Nails! I love these! They are definitely different.

No. 9

No nail art list would be complete with some Hello Kitty!

No. 8

This googly bug design is from Katrina's Nail Blog. She has loads more on her blog too so you should take a look. I would actually wear this myself.

No. 7

Yes, they are REAL sprinkles!! They are actually Katy Perry's nails. She wore them for one of her shows and had to have the gel done extra thick to prevent chipping it while she played guitar. She posted this photo on her Twitter account.

No. 6

Now I'm not sure I could pull this off, I like kawaii and I like decoden but this is a little too extreme for me.

No. 5

Stilletto Nails! These ones look like painted icicles to me haha but I like them.

No. 4

These really are mini works of art. Amazing!

No.3

Some more amazing brush skills here with these yummy Cadbury's nails.

No. 2

Woah. I don't even know what these are supposed to be but you have to admire the talent and creativity that has gone into making them. I don't think they would be very practical to have for everyday use! This was a competition entry  for the Fantasy category at London's Nailympics. (Yes, you read that right, Nailympics!)
This was by Italy's Lorena Amici and she won 1st place in her division.


And the winner in first place is....

Au Naturel!  This is Christine Walton, Guinness World Record holder for having the longest nails. She has 10ft 2in (309.8cm) of nail-age on her left hand and 9ft 7in (292.1cm) on her right hand. My first thoughts when I saw the photo was that I am pretty sure I have seen a lady with longer nails than this. So after a bit of googling I found Lee Redmond:

The thing with this type of record is that you have to actually still have the long nails to keep the title, so when Lee Redmond tragically lost her nails after a car accident in 2009, she also lost her record holder status.  She does still hold a Guiness World Record for longest fingernails (female) ever though. I really don't understand how you can do anything when your nails are that long, imagine how long it would take to paint them!?

So that completes today's post, it was a lot of fun to write and I hope it was also fun to read, please let me know what you think.

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.

Big Skincare Mystery??

Hiya, I've got a bit of a strange post for you today, and some of you have probably heard of this already as it is a big (and very clever) marketing campaign for an unknown product by an unknown skincare company!

All will be revealed 01/03/12!!

The product can be used as a face wash or face mask and that's all the info they will give us!

They are giving everyone a chance to send off for a free sample on their Facebook Page (link here)  All you have to do is 'like' the page then click the sample & review tab and enter your details.  They should be shipped out next week so the idea is you get to try it before you even know what it is or how much it costs.

Personally I think this is so clever!! It will be interesting to find out what its like and it will be refreshing to know that I am judging a product by its performance and not for what its brand name. Some lucky people have already tried this mystery product and there are lots of theories over who is behind this. I really hope the product is amazing and turns out to be a big surprise rather than one of the more obvious suspects. (Kinda like the SuBo of the skincare industry!)

So what are you waiting for? Go and order your free sample and join in with the Big Skincare Mystery!!