China Glaze – Little Drummer Boy.

Hi guys it feels like I have been on a nail painting frenzy these past few weeks. We have had Glastonbury, this and I have a new polish from China Glaze to show you as well. This may not sound a lot for those nail enthusiasts out there, but for me to paint my nails two week on the trot is generally unheard of.

So I have to admit this creation was a little off the cuff, it came about as I was taking the Glastonbury nail polish off and it was taking too long, so in my haste I may have left some on and just painted over it. Now I do not condone this action in any way and I blame a momentary lapse in “therapist” brain function but as this turned out quite nice I thought I would show it you ;0)

 

I started with A and E base coat by Nails Inc as my nails were a little battered from wrestling the glitter most of the way off. I then used two coats of China Glaze Little Drummer Boy which I bought last year in their Christmas collection. And for the top coat I used China Glaze Fast Forward, which is my go to quick dry top coat. 

 

Now I was just going to leave my nails like this but the more I looked at them the more I realised that the nail polish, although a gorgeous shade of blue, was a little too dark on its own for my Casper white hands. So instead of taking them off, and trying yet again to get the remnants of the glitter polish off I decided to jazz them up a little. As you can see I painted lines from one corner of the nail to the opposite corner using sliver and blue holographic nail art pens, and on each starting corner I added a clear nail art rhinestone. All in all I thought the outcome was very festive.

Just in case any one wants to buy anything that I have used, I get my Nails Inc from either; Debenhams, Selfridges, ASOS and sometimes if I'm lucky (or when my mum has searched) TKMaxx. I get all my China Glaze from the only place that I know of that sells it in my area which is Sally's/Salon Services. For those of you that don't know who Sally's are, they are a hair and beauty professional wholesalers but they do have some shops that sell to the public as well so check out there website here to see if there is a store near you. And for my nail art pens and rhinestones Ebay is the way forward, they have everything you can imagine for nail art design.

So I hope you have enjoyed this post and and get adding a little festivities to you nails.

Stacey x x

Merry Lush Christmas.

You know its getting to that time of year when Starbucks bring out their Red Cups and Lush are using their Christmas bags.

Now I am a true believer of when a product is working for your skin, stick with it and this was my main reason for my visit this time to Lush. I have been using Aqua Marina and Tea Tree toner water as my cleanser and toner for at least a year now and they really work to keep my skin clear and lovely.

What I really like about Lush is the descriptions of the products. They are masters at providing detailed factual advice and ingredients and making it fun! I really enjoy reading the descriptions and I thought you guys might like to as well. So here they are, the three products that I bought in Lush’s own words.

Aqua Marina:

“Our pink squishy cleanser that was inspired by mermaids. An ocean of ingredients to soothe and calm the skin.
We make a mixture of carrageen extract, vegetable glycerine, Irish moss gel and aloe vera gel. We mix in fine sea salt, sweet wild orange oil and patchouli oil. Then we bind these together with calamine powder and kaolin. Finally we roll the mix inside a large sheet of nori seaweed - to create a huge facial sushi.
Together they make a mineral rich cleanser that is packed full of emollient ingredients to soften the skin and clay powders to deep clean and absorb grease. The texture is amazing, the smell is rich and comforting – but most of all this leaves your skin calm, smooth and renewed. 
Takes the stingray out of skin that has been caught by the wind and sun.
When we first wrapped this product in seaweed, we stood back to admire it and only then realised that it looked like a mermaid's tail. We still giggle every time we think about it. So we named it after Marina from the 60s cult show Stingray”.

Tea Tree Toner Water:

“Tea tree is a wonder oil for anyone with oily or spot prone skin. It has antibacterial, antiseptic and antimicrobal properties.
Where the skin needs balancing, where there are spots, gentle tea tree is just the job.
Also contains grapefruit water and juniperberry water to refresh and tone the skin.
Our toner water range is an attempt to deliver good quality essential oils to your face in the correct concentration. They are not just toners, but are aromatherapy in dilution, ready to be used at a moment's notice.
They can be used for removing traces of cleansers and face products – but can also be used at any time of the day as a quick facial refresher or to cool the skin”.

Lil Lush Pud Bath Bomb:

“We all want some figgy pudding. But instead we have a Lush Pud, because it’s kinder on the hips and doesn’t leave you pinned to your chair with indigestion for hours.
Looking like a miniature traditional Christmas pudding, smelling of marzipan and full of lovely goodies like lemon peel powder, clove powder, aloe vera extract and rose absolute, this ballistic will leave you feeling peace and goodwill towards all men. And whilst you were blissed out in the smell, that aloe vera extract will have been soothing and bringing clam to your winter skin.
This ballistic is a Christmas institution with our staff and customers alike. We have been making it now for more than 10 years, with people coming back each December just to buy it.
It’s a little bit of tradition that we hope never goes out of fashion.
Shares the same fragrance as our Xmas number one – Snowcake soap”.

As you can imagine no trip to Lush would be complete with out the purchase of a little goodie. This came in the form of Lil Lush Pud. Self explanatory now you have seen it. It is in fact a bath bomb in the theme of a Christmas pudding, so cute! And smells devine. I did however have a small issue with this product. It turns the bath water in to a murky brown colour which kind of looked like a baby sans nappy had been in there before me……if you know what I mean. This is just my girly side coming out however because I did manage to soak in the bath for approximately 30mins so the colour didn't actually affect the relaxation at all.

 


Aqua Marina: £5.95
Tea Tree:£3.75 100g or £7.00 250g
Lil Lush Pud Bath Bomb: £1.95



I may have also had a quick peek at the Christmas gifts on my visit, purely for research purposes of course and I can tell you Lush does not disappoint. If you are looking for a bath type Christmas gift for any price range, check them out here. The presentation of the pre-packed gifts are amazing and just think saves you time wrapping.

I hope you have enjoyed this post. Keep a look out for some more gift ideas coming your way soon.

Stacey x x  

Nails Inc Glastonbury polish.

Hi guys this is just a quick review to show you Nails Inc Glastonbury polish. Now its no secret that I LOVE glitter. I'm like a Magpie, I can spot glittery, shimmery things from a mile away and then I need to have them. That's why for the most important day of my life (my wedding) I chose this nail polish. 

 

This polish is incredible, truly the best polish that I own. It is a mixture of gold, green and purple glitter, and goes on pretty opaque from the first coat. It glitters beautifully in the light and I get a tonne of complements every time I wear this. 

 

Glastonbury retails at £11 and is part of the Special Effects range at Nails Inc. When I bought this polish there was 2 glitters in this range, this and Reading which is a gold and red glitter. Nails Inc have since brought out some 3D glitters that look amazing, Bloomsbury Square (purple/cerise), Sloane Square (grey/silver), Connaught Square (blue/purple). With these, their Gossip Girl collections (The Blair Collection is my personal fave) and the Electric Lane Holographic Top Coat, my Christmas list is getting longer by the second. 

Stacey x x  

Inspiration for Christmas Photo Shoot.

Within the next few weeks I am going to be doing a Christmas themed photo shoot and I wanted to give you guys an insight into how my ideas for this shoot have been organised and expanded on to create the finished looks.

I am really excited about Christmas and it’s always been a very special time of year for me. I am very much about Christmas being a time for family (related or non related), celebration and excitement. So when Hubby suggested a Christmas photo shoot I was like “I’m quite busy at the moment, I’m not sure I can make the time” lol. Really I jumped at the chance. 

 

Now working with the Hubster as a photographer and close friends as models means that I can get involved in pretty much all aspects of the shoot, so I have kind of taken this to the latter and it has morphed in to my baby!!

So here is my first bit of inspiration. I wanted to start by thinking about what is synonymous with Christmas, when people think about Christmas what are the things that spring to mind?

 

As you can see these have been written down the left hand side of the page and they are things like: Nativity, presents, glitter, wrapping up warm etc. Moving on from this I also wanted to think about the colours, textures and make-up that are apparent at this festive time of year. These have been written down the right hand side of the page and include: red glitter lips, silver, rosy cheeks etc. 

So armed with my plethora of ideas it was time to think about bringing them together to make a look. Well three looks in fact.

So here is the first one and it’s a Red Glitter Lip. I want to create a modern take on a classic 50s look. A red lip to me is classic and timeless and very festive. I’m thinking that for this look I want it to be all about the lip so I’m looking to keep the rest of the make up quite natural but still glam. I’m thinking the mandatory black liner to give it that 50s feel and some winged lashes. Although I have called this look Red Glitter Lip I am torn between a glitter look and a high gloss look. I like the idea of both so this will be decided on the day.

 

The idea for the second look is Red/Green/Gold, which I believe to be the ultimate Christmas colours. I want this look to be fun and colourful so I’m thinking graduated red, green and gold eyes, either glitter or foil and natural, healthy, glowing skin. 

 

The third look is inspired by the cold of winter, icicles, snow and frost. I love silver eyes any time of the year but even more at Christmas, I think they look funky and cool. I’m thinking highlighter, nude lips and maybe some crystal encrusted eyelashes, which I would be making and not buying. 

 

As you can see underneath all the looks I have noted a few ideas at the bottom of the page. These are my ideas about the look of the photo shoot and these will be pitched to Hubble along with the make-up ideas to see what he thinks.

I feel that it is really important for me to get all my ideas formulated and written down for photo shoots, especially when there is a theme involved. Although all these ideas are subject to change depending on model and vetoing photographer ;0) I feel more inspired when my ideas are on paper.

So guys I hope you have enjoyed this delve in to my crazy mind and watch out for the photo shoots in all their glory, coming very soon.

Stacey x x

Rainbow cake and other necessities.

Hay guys today I want to show you some really cool things that I ordered from Face Paint UK. First of all I have to say that this company has THE fastest shipping time of any company I have ordered with. I literally ordered at about 12pm one day and it arrived the very next day via Royal Mail. I was amazed! Not only the fact that it actually arrived at my house lol (im having issues with Royal Mail at the moment) but my products must have been picked, packaged and posted minutes after I ordered it! Yes its the little things that make me very happy ;0)

So after an unexpected postal surprise the next day, THE NEXT DAY, here is what I ordered.

Diamond FX Black and White

Fardel Gold fluid make-up

Diamond FX split cake no7

Kryolan glitter gel

Grimas X3 square sponges

Grimas coarse stipple sponge

Bibi X6 double load sponges

FPUK round sponge stick large

FPUK large sponge dauber

The main reason I placed this order was because I really wanted to up grade my black and white paints to achieve more precise and clean line work. I had been researching the best paints on the market for line work and even though lots of people have their different favourites, Diamond FX came up time and time again.

As well as this I had been toying with the idea of a split / rainbow cake for a long time and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to take the plunge. I decided to go for the neon rainbow simply because it looked the brightest and I think it will show up the best on pictures as well as real life. Also the kids will LOVE it!

Well you know how it is, once you start its hard to stop and before I knew it I had a multitude of other items in my virtual shopping bag, all with very good reasons for why I needed them, cant remember those reasons now but they were definately there at the time.

Looking back the only mistake I may have made was buying the double load sponges. I thought they may have fit the rainbow cake making it easier to apply but unfortunately they are a little too short, I should have really got a Diamond FX sponge but hay ho! I'm sure they will still get used.

So as you can see below I did a quick swatch of the paints to show you. 

 

(sorry the colour has been blasted out of it a little and it also looks like we have raging parties in our house, which is so far removed from what actually happens in our house, we were set up for a photo shoot at the time) 

 

I'm really happy with all of the above. It may not look it in the picture but the split cake is just as vivid as I wanted it to be. The black and white are super easy to use and give a good solid shade. And the gold is so shimmery in real life, it will be beautiful for accents. I haven't yet tried the sponges but once I have I will report back.

Now I better get practising with this rainbow cake as I can envisage my Sunday party being filled with lots of neon butterflies and tigers once the kids have spotted it ;0)

Stacey x x