Christmas Presents - Beauty and Candles

I am SO late putting this post up! Christmas seems so long ago now, I hope you all had a fabulous one.  I was happy to see the back of 2013, it was a stressful year and so far 2014 is shaping up to be a good year. This post was ready to go a couple of weeks ago but a BT engineer was working at my neighbours house and managed to cut off both our phone line and internet.  I was surprised at how often I use the internet, it was so frustrating not being able to just "Google" something!

Anyway, I loved reading posts showing what lovely goodies you all got for Christmas and I hope you enjoy reading mine.

Dollish Polish Welcome to Camp Crystal Lake

Polish Addict Unicorn Love

Liquid Sky Lacquer Fuchsia Illusion (Thermal Polish)

My hubby Jon got me these polishes from Rainbow Connection, a UK stockist of international indie brands.

My best friend, Vicki, got me these. 

China Glaze Cosmic Dust and Strap on Your Moonboots.

Jon got me these crystal Leighton Denny nail files, a large one to keep at home and a smaller one with a case to keep in my handbag.

Every year Jon gets me the Soap & Glory set when Boots have their weekly offer on.  Every time I smell Soap & Glory it reminds me of Christmas. So many fab goodies in this years gift set!

Hand Food Hand Cream

Sugar Crush Body Wash (the Sugar Crush Scrub gave me cravings for key lime pie when I was pregnant!)

Righteous Butter Body Butter

Peaches & Clean Deep Purifying Cleanser

Heel Genius Foot Cream

Butter Yourself Body Lotion

The Scrub of Your Life Body Buffer

Thick & Fast Super Volume Mascara

Sexy Mother Pucker Lip Plumper

Limited Edition Jonathan Saunders Bag

My Dad and Stepmum got me these Bayliss & Harding Hand Wash and Hand Lotion duo.  They come in a stand which is quite handy to put next to the sink in the bathroom.  They smell lovely!

I suffer with a lot of joint pain and muscle stiffness so Jon was very thoughtful and bought me this massager and oil (although I think he was just trying to get out of having to give massages!).  I have tried it on my back and it definitely helps get out any knots!

I am a big fan of Caudalie products and Jon got me this soap, it smells lovely and fresh.

Sandra from Beauty Balm got me this soap from Planet Soap, it smells absolutely amazing! When I put her present under the tree I kept getting a lovely scent coming from it everytime I walked past!

I was very spoilt by my hubby this year!

Nars At First Sight Palette

Dior Addict Lip Glow (I love this!)

Nars Guy Bourdin Fling

Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Dolce Vita

Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in Baroque

Lippy in Roman Holiday

Lippy in Damage

The lip case is fab! Its bigger than I thought it would be, I have put it on my bedside table to put my jewellery in at night.

Rosslyn Candle Company sadly announced on Facebook that they were closing down their shop.  I have one of their teacups with the bluebell wood candle in and Jon got me this lovely hamper which contains a selection of their best selling candles.  

Salted Caramel candle! Yes it does smell as delicious as it sounds!  

Sandra got me this handcream too, I have been very spoilt!

We had a Secret Santa swap on one of the beauty pages and Grace from All That Slap got me these gorgeous gifts.

I know its not technically a beauty item but Jon got me this notebook for me to write my blog post ideas etc in.

Leave me a link if you did a post like this, I love seeing what people got and it's inspiration for gifts throughout the year!

Leighton Denny Caught Red Handed and China Glaze Fairy Dust

Hi everyone! Can you believe we are at the end of June already, where is this year going??

China Glaze Fairy Dust

Leighton Denny Caught Red Handed

This is two coats of Caught Red Handed, I don't own many Leighton Denny polishes but this red is gorgeous!

This polish is from the Criminal Collection.  It is a shimmery bright red and was fully opaque in two coats.  It dries to a lovely glossy finish and this pic is without topcoat.

I absolutely love China Glaze Fairy Dust! 

This is two coats.  It just makes the world a more magical place!

Blurred on purpose (honestly!) to show you the gorgeous sparkles.  

I think these polishes look lovely together and I couldn't stop waving my hands around in the sunshine to make my nails sparkle!

Nails Inc Prince Albert Road Review and Swatches

Nails Inc Prince Albert Road* is part of the OMG! collection, you can buy the three polishes from Look Fantastic for £18.75 that is a saving of £14.25 on RRP.


This OMG! Collection from Nails Inc brings you a selection of three shimmering nail varnishes, each one boasting seductive glistening colour. This set compiles fabulous glittery shades complete in vibrant colours, an absolute must have to brighten up your nails this season. This incredible bargain collection is sure to help you tantalise your fingertips, and paint your nails in style.

This OMG! Collection includes:

Waterloo Place (10ml) - Pink

Prince Albert Road (10ml) - Blue

Regents Park Road (10ml) - Turquoise

This is one coat of Prince Albert Road

It is described as blue on the Look Fantastic website but I would definitely say it's purple!

One coat provided complete coverage.  Application is easy as the polish is the perfect consistency and has a very fast drying time.

Again this is one coat with no topcoat.

The polish contains tiny silver flecks which give it it a lovely shimmer, almost foil like finish.

I topped my ring finger with China Glaze Glitter All the Way!

I forget how much I like Nails Inc polishes, they always apply so nicely and dry quickly!  This is a stunning colour and I'm tempted to pick up the whole set!

I have a giveaway on at the moment as it's my blogs first birthday this month, you can enter here.

Review Sally Hansen Cuticle Remover and Essie Nail Masks

My poor nails have been feeling rather neglected recently, I normally paint them 2-3 times a week but this week I haven't painted them at all and I was walking around with chipped varnish - oh, the shame!

I spotted this in TK Maxx today at the till when I was buying yet more nail varnish and as my cuticles are in dire need of some TLC I bought it.

The tip is perfect for applying the gel around the cuticle.

Oh just realised the tip can be used to push back the cuticles!! I searched everywhere for my cuticle tool thing!

The application is not too messy as the gel is quite thick.

After I washed the gel off I got out my Essie nail masks to give my nails some hydration.

I picked these up in TK Maxx a few weeks ago, the pack contains three lots of 10 masks.

The masks contain VitaminE for nourishment, a built in hydrating serum and a natural 10 oil blend to condition the nail.

The masks are a thick gel like substance. You peel them off the backing strip, press them onto your nail and leave for 5 minutes. The masks do not leave any residue behind. 

They are scientifically proven to improve the condition of the nail and increase hydration by 33% in the five minutes that the masks are applied.

Before - my poor nails!

After - looking much better!

Thats better, a bit of sparkle!

China Glaze Riveting from The Hunger Games collection.

I love the Essie masks but I can't find them online to repurchase :( I'll have to keep an eye out in TK Maxx incase they have any more in and if they do I'll be buying up all their stock! I can see a real difference in my nails when I use the masks. My nails feel smoother and definitely more hydrated.

I was pleased with the Sally Hansen cuticle remover, my cuticles are not perfect but much better than they were this morning.

I can't stop looking at my nails, this colour is amazing it looks like fire on my fingertips!

China Glaze Haul

Hi everyone, hope you are having a good weekend. 


Took my son to a party today so while he was being entertained I got to have a good look around TK Maxx, it was disappointing today must be waiting for a delivery! Luckily there is a Sallys on the way home so I popped in as I wanted a bottle of fairy dust.

I ended up getting a few bargains!

Westside Warrior reduced £3.86

City Siren reduced £3.86

Loft-Y Ambitions reduced £3.86

Fairy Dust full price £6.59

Cuticle Oil £2.39

I really like the China Glaze polishes.  I'm starting to build up a little collection now.

Think I may be topping all my polishes with fairy dust from now on though!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway

Joliebox in Bloom.... May Review

This months box is Joliebox in Bloom...

Giving us the opportunity to mix a little flower power and plant-based products - their words not mine!

Arrived as usual in the black Joliebox box with the little bag inside.

Only four products this month BUT one of them is a full size bottle of China Glaze so all is forgiven!

Essential Care Organic Rose Moisturiser, 15ml sample which can be purchased for £7.50 on their website

I quite like rose scented products at the moment and find that they don't irritate my skin so I'm looking forward to trying it out.

I could have either got the eye therapy patch or the lipocils expert and I was lucky to get the lipocils in my box - its an eyelash growth product with extracts of nettle (!) to stimulate the growth of short and frail lashes.  The sample size is 2ml, full size 10ml retails at £27 on their website making the 2ml sample worth £5.40

I have tried this product before, I got a full size tube duty free on the way home from my holidays last year. I never managed to use the whole tube so the 2ml should last for a while. You have to make sure you get right to the base of your lashes with the product, it was a little stingy to the eyes to begin with but I soon get used to it and it stops after a few days use.  I did see quite a different in the length of my lashes, I had to stop using it on my lower lashes as they got really long! I could see the most difference on the little short lashes and the ones that don't seem to grow as much as the others.  Definitely looking forward to using this again.

RMK Make up base 15ml sample. Its £28 for 30ml, I could find it for sale in the UK here. Making the sample worth £14.

I really like this product, it's light and easily absorbed. It contains shea butter to add moisture and my make up looks lovely over the top of it.  I have tried so many primers and I think this is one of my favourites!

Full size China Glaze in Pink Chiffon, retails for £5.95 on amazon. I love pink nail varnish so this is the perfect colour for me. 

I own over 100 nail varnises (shhhh don't tell hubby!) and this is actually my first China Glaze.  I love it!! Its fast drying, non streaky, really glossy and has a great depth of colour.  I will definitely be purchasing more from this brand.

I love this months Joliebox.

Joliebox are now my favourite beauty box, they don't feature duplicate products like the other boxes (please don't let me down on this one JB!). I always use all the products that they send me, sometimes the box is a "grower" and takes a few days for me to like but then I always love everything.

I'm really looking forward to next months birthday box, think they may show Glossybox how its done!