Nails Inc

Remember the orange & purple outfit Cheryl Cole stepped out in for the American X-Factor auditions?
Well I loved it, I thought she looked great and since then have been colour blocking with these colours.

Imagine my delight when I found this clutch back in Next :))
Nails are finished in Colville Mews (nude), Blandford Street (orange) & Sutherland Street (purple) all available from the fabulous Nails Inc

L'Occitane Verbena

An impromptu day off work yesterday led me the lovely sunny Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth where I stumbled into the L'Occitane outlet store. Like most others, I am really trying to tighten my belt & reign myself in with spending on products, however couldn't resist this Verbena liquid soap bargain, after all soap is a necessity isn't it.

A litre and a half (1 x pump dispenser & 2 x refills) of Verbena liquid soap for £24.10 I would have been a fool to resist :))
I love this and it can always be found in my bathroom. A  gorgeous delicate, fresh scent that reminds me of sherbert lemon sweets.... its any excuse to wash my hands!
A little goes a long way and I can honestly say with 2 of us using as a hand-wash only, 500mls lasts for more than a couple of months.

I have used this in the shower, and have to say it did feel a little drying on my skin, I probably wouldn't use in this way again, but as a hand-wash it always leaves my hands feeling soft and clean with a delicate refreshing fragrance.

For anyone visiting the south coast over the next few weeks, I would really recommend a trip to Gunwharf.
Outlet stores, bars and restaurants a plenty, if you get the right weather, it really does feel like you're on holiday Gunwharf Quays
Great for me as it's right on my doorstep :)) Give me a shout and we can share a pitcher of cocktails or 2!

Ultrasun

I could wax lyrical about the importance of sun protection all day long, and as the sun is now out (finally) I thought now would be a good time to do that.

I first heard about Ultrasun on QVC, and have to admit,  I thought it sounded too good to be true.

I didn't think a 'once a day application' would protect me against the sun in this country let alone the sun in a foreign climate.

Part of the sales patter was that this would be good for pigmentation marks and I do have a couple of small patches on my face (easily covered, no-one would ever know but they still make me paranoid...not so long ago they were cute freckles) so I placed an order.

Since then I haven't looked back.

I use the cream every morning whatever the weather in place of a moisturiser. It's a thicker formulation than a standard moisturiser, and I was slightly worried as my skin tends to be oily with a tendency to break out, but this dries matt and doubles as a perfect make up base/primer.

I have no more shine throughout the day than I would get if I didn't use Ultrasun, and I certainly haven't had any additional breakouts.

I apply to my face, neck and décolletage  after a shower and let it sink in for 20 minutes before applying make up. It takes no where near that long to sink in, but Ultrasun do recommend applying 15 - 20 minutes before applying anything else.

It's water resistant and suitable for sensitive skin, and to know I am protected against the harmful rays with one application is great - apart from that, this is an anti ageing formula so it's a win win situation all round. 

I can now go out in the sun and not fear the pigmentation worsening - it just doesn't.

Ultrasun SPF 30 for face has accompanied me through holidays in The Maldives where the sun is so strong.

I can NEVER be without this, it truly is my desert island product.

My one piece of advice to anyone would be to protect your skin from the sun - I only wish someone had told me this in my late teens when I was melting a jar of coconut oil to use in place of an SPF.

Body Shop Eyeliner

I don't usually use products from the Body Shop so was looking forward to Julys InStyle magazine which had 2 free eyeliner pencils. One in  black and one in  French Navy.

Definitely my colours and on first inspection the colour pigments were perfect.

I used this for a liner on both my top and bottom lash line.

Not bad on application, dragged a little, but I have used a lot worse. Once my eye make up was finished, I was really pleased with the look these pencils gave me. They defined really well, and once again, I loved the colour pigmentation of both.

After a couple of hours though, the product had flaked a fair bit from my bottom lash line, and I had watery red eyes. I was so disappointed as I really wanted to like these pencils. The colour had smudged so bad, and unfortunately I was at work, so found myself checking the mirror every 30 minutes or so to wipe away the excess.

Was perfect for my top lash line so I will keep and use them both, but they wont be going anywhere near my bottom lash line.

What are your suggestions for a fool proof, flake free eyeliner

Cadbury Nails

Not sure if I prefer the polish or the chocolate - Nails Inc Caversham Street.
Yummy

N-Spa Coconut Ice Cream

After reading a brilliant post by Catrine on N-Spa products Link I took myself off to Asda to see what I could find. I originally thought the N-Spa products were Asda's own brand, but actually they are not. You can find the full range of Nirvana Spa products here

I picked up a few skincare products (which I will post about at a later date), and the Coconut Ice Cream shower/bath gel and body cream.

At a glance, I was impressed by the packaging of the shower gel (think Philosophy), but to be honest, buying  2 for £4 I didn't hold out much hope. 

However......

The scent is lovely, very sweet, but different to a standard coconut synthetic fragrance. What has hooked me to this product though is the way it lathers in the shower. Just a small amount on one of those shower mop thingys (never know what to call them) is plenty and the lather really is the texture of double cream...masses of it. The first time I used it, I didn't follow with a body cream, and to be honest, I didn't need to. The gel in itself is extremely moisturising - I didn't feel at all dry or itchy, the way that some more expensive products make me feel

There is a note on the back of the bottle saying 'do not eat, this is not a food product' and I can assure you, it really does smell that good.

So, the body cream.....same gorgeous fragrance as the shower gel.

I generally like a body butter, and found the body cream to be fairly fluid. I used far too much on my first application and it took ages to sink in. The second time I used it, I used much less and it was a whole lot easier to use. Despite the consistency, this moisturises really well and does last throughout the day. 

So happy to have found these products, I certainly don't want to be without them. I will most certainly be trying other shower products from the N-Spa range and look forward to sharing these (and my skincare) findings with you guys.

Slendertone System-Abs

It seems to be a while since I have managed to drag myself to the gym, I'm talking like 2+ months (or if Mr Beauty Tails  is reading this, just a couple of weeks, and yes, of course darling it is worth continuing to pay for the monthly membership).

I know I should go, but when I come home from work, my friends Pinot & Grigio always seem to be waiting for me and by the time I've hung out with them for a while, I don't feel like going.

So in my effort to get this situation sorted once and for all, I have just purchased the Slendertone System Abs for 2 reasons.

The first reason is if combined with their 30 day toning plan and a normal, healthy diet, I can achieve a firmer flatter stomach and the second reason is if/when I start seeing results, it may make me actually want to go to the gym to firm up the rest of the wobbly bits.

So it's my promise to myself (and you guys) that I will start using this now and will write a full review in 30 days.

At least I can assure myself it wont end up discarded in my bedroom being used as a clothes horse like all the other bits of exercise equipment I have bought - its far too small.

Oh and by the way, those clothes I just referred to are all the new items, slightly too small that I haven't returned as 'I might get into them one day'

Right, lets get this bad boy on -  am already on a winner as the belt fits :-) xx