I bought this nail polish years ago from Avon so it is discontinued now (but you can still buy it from ebay – the shade is Teal Waters). I remember being disappointed by the colour as it didn’t look the same as in the catalogue but it’s still a nice colour. My nails have been a bit stained from all the dark polishes I’ve been wearing lately so I decided to try and look after my nails a bit and go with a lighter colour. Do you like it?
So, I’ve finally got around to posting my first book list of the year! I read these all the way back in January…..
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
This book was brilliant. I like books which are kind of based on historical events by are actually fiction (does that make sense!) and I learned lots from this book. I also thought it was a good length as I hate it when you get a good book that is really short and you don’t want to read it because you don’t want it to end!
Mr Norris Changes Trains by Isherwood
From reading the back cover this doesn’t sound like it’s going to be great but it actually surprised me and I really got into it. I had a few books by Isherwood for Christmas so look out for them in future book lists!
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John le Carre
I really, really wanted to like this book but I just didn’t get it. There seemed to be too many characters and I didn’t really follow the plot. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure I know what happened in the end! Maybe I should watch the film instead?!
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
I loved The Time Travelers Wife and this book was just as good, if a bit odd! There are a few twists in this which I wasn’t expecting so I’d definitely recommend it.
Has anyone read any of these? What did you think of them?
A while ago now I won a Dr Hauschka Radiant You Starter Kit from a giveaway on BeautySwot. I only got around to using it after Christmas and have just got to the end of the tube of cleanser so I thought it was about time I wrote a review. 
The starter kit contains cleansing cream, facial toner, a mini lavender bath and a muslin cloth. I was also lucky enough to win a Melissa day cream so I had a whole new skincare regime. The starter kit comes with instructions (just as well as I had no clue what lavender bath was!) which include a description of the best way to apply your cleanser. I didn’t know there was any specific way to apply cleanser but it turns out you are supposed to press and roll your fingers.
The first step of cleansing is to put a few drops of the lavender bath into a basin of warm water, dip in the muslin and then hold over your face for a few seconds. I don’t think the lavender bath really does anything for your skin but it makes the water smell gorgeous and makes you feel like you are really pampering yourself. The lavender bath comes in a little glass vial and unfortunately, somebody knocked it off the sink and smashed it after I’d only used a few times. It was probably my fault for leaving it on the side!
Anyway, back to the point, once you have used the lavender bath, you cleanse using the special Dr Hauschka cleansing technique. The cleanser also gently exfoliates at the same time. To make sure you get all the cleanser off, you use the muslin dipped in the lavender bath again. Next you spray the toner over your face. The spray on the toner is really good at spreading it out evenly in a mist over your face (does that make sense?!). I’ve had toners before where the nozzle just sprays it out more like a jet than a mist. Finally you apply the day cream. I really like the smell of this but I do find that it can take a few minutes to sink in properly. The website says that it is suitable for oily skin but I find that if I use too much it leaves my skin quite greasy and I’ve got normal/dry skin. I would have thought that it might be too heavy for oily skin?
Since I’ve started using this range my skin has felt really clean and less dry than usual. I think using the muslin makes a big difference as it makes sure you get all the product off. The only thing I don’t like about the range is the packaging – I prefer pretty packaging! You can buy all of the products separately from the website or get the starter kit for £39.95 and the day cream for £23.95.
A couple of months ago I was sent a range of hair products called It’s a 10 which offer 10 haircare benefits (hence the name!) ….
I was sent the shampoo, hair mask and leave-in conditioner and I’m really impressed by how good they are. Even after I’ve used the shampoo, before I have used the hair mask, my hair feels softer and less tangled than usual which has never happened with any shampoo I’ve ever used – normally, if I don’t condition my hair, there is no way on earth I could get a comb through it!
My favourite product from the range is the hair mask. I’ve been using it every day in place of my normal conditioner and it has made a big difference to how healthy my hair looks and feels. The hair mask is very moisturising so I’m not sure everyone would need to use it daily, but even if you have normal, unfrizzy hair it would be a nice product to use maybe once or twice a week to give some extra hydration.
I use the leave in conditioner after I’ve applied a bit or serum and my hair is dry to just get rid of any last bits of frizz. It’s a handy product to have because I find that I can miss bits of my hair with the serum so it’s there as a back up! It’s also good to have when your hair needs a bit of a touch up during the day.
Using all three products leaves my hair really moisturised but even just using the mask on its own makes a massive difference to my hair. Below are some photos taken when I’d been using the range for a week or so. Most of the products I’ve used in the past haven’t been able to make my hair look that smooth and soft!
You can buy this range from Sally Express but I’ve also been offered 5 of the hair masks to giveaway to my readers. If you’d like one, just leave a comment telling me which of the ten haircare benefits would help your hair the most.
You must be a follower of my blog to enter – you can either follow with Bloglovin or Feedburner (link on the sidebar) or on my new Google page.
You can also get some extra entries if you ….
I will randomly choose 5 winners on Monday 21st May.
When I painted my nails last week I was just experimenting really but I quite liked the end result so decided to keep it for a few days. I used four colours; a yellow from 17, Stand Back from the Stay Perfect No7 range and Purple Dream and Dark Purple Glitter from elf.
Which is your favourite design?
On Tuesday, I handed in my final year project report and today, the poster and website to go with it! After months of work it feels weird that it’s all done (and scary, it’s worth quite a lot of my degree!). You’d think I’d be out celebrating but no, I’ve got more coursework due in tomorrow! I’ve literally had no time recently to buy/use/review anything exciting but a few weeks ago I was sent a load of products from Rachel’s to try out, so even if I didn’t have time to shop, I did have time to eat!
There was way too much for me to eat on my own so the girls I live with helped me out and we’re all in agreement, we love Rachel’s! I’m not going to review each product separately as there’s only so much you can say about yogurt but we were really surprised by lots of the flavours. I wasn’t at all sure about the coconut yogurts but they actually have a perfect balance of coconut and fruit so are really tasty. The breakfast yogurts are good for mornings when you are in a rush and they are also quite filling because of the granola.
The big tubs are a good size for sharing but seeing as we had so much, and I had a cake craving, I decided to attempt to make yogurt cupcakes. They turned out quite well but I haven’t got any photos because I didn’t ice them (no time!) so they didn’t look like anything special. I used the Apple and Elderflower yogurt which gave the cakes a sweet, delicate flavour. I reckon they are also much better for you than normal cake as there is hardly any butter and the yogurt is low fat. You could use any of the yogurt flavours (I might try some blackcurrant ones with the leftover blackcurrant yogurt next, I love the colour!) and some of them are fat free so would be even healthier! Here’s the recipe in case you want to try them….
Ingredients
Method
Out of all the products I was sent, my favourite would have to be the rice puddings. They are the nicest, creamiest, non homemade rice puddings I’ve ever had in the world!
Rachel’s products are all made using locally sourced organic ingredients and are available in supermarkets throughout the country.
I’ve been a busy bee this week – my dissertation is due on Tuesday! Of course, I still made time to do my nails….. Nail Inc Victoria and Albert topped with gold glitter. Do you like it?
Sorry for my lack of posts over the last few weeks. My dissertation is due in in just over a week so I’ve been working non stop on that! Here’s how I wore my nails last week - Ink A Dink A Pink from Nicole by OPI topped with the Nubar Polka Dot top coat. I rarely wear bright pink nail varnish but I really like how bright and summery this looked. What do you think?
Living Nature is a brand I’ve bought a few things from over the past couple of years. Their products are all completely natural and so far everything I’ve tried has worked really well, although some of their range has a slightly odd smell! This lip balm is absolutely brilliant. It is really moisturising and has a slight sheen to it which makes it nice to wear. The smell is nothing to write home about so at the moment I’ve got to admit that I keep reaching for the Palmer’s Dark Chocolate and Peppermint lip butter (which I reviewed here) over the Living Nature balm. However, I’ve still been using this Living Nature lip balm a couple of times a day as I think it is better at hydrating my lips, even if it doesn’t smell anywhere near as good!
Just thought I’d show you my Easter themed nails….. The yellow blobs are supposed to be chicks but everyone seems to think that they are lions?!?!
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