Photo Diary 01.

Terry's Chocolate Orange with Toffee Chunks (Ahh the holiday season is nearly upon us!) / A pumpkin bib I got for a friends baby for Halloween / Burning lots of candles now it's dark out / Rubicon Lychee is the best sweet drink ever / Bit of arm candy / Starting to flash my winter clothes / Prosecco at Prezzo for a friends birthday /  The best soup I have tried in a while / My amazing penguin hot water bottle / The biggest serving of nachos I've ever seen (only managed 1/5 of it)

Blue Ombré nails

O.P.I Nail Envy Original, Ticket to Gorgeous Nails Kiss Me Quick, Primark Beauty Nail Polish, Models Own Bloo Bloo, Primark Beauty Nail Polish, O.P.I Fly from the Nicki Minaj Collection

I was bored the other day and wanted to paint my nails. I never realised my obsession with blue/green nails! I did a take on ombré nails but I guess they are slightly like a blue rainbow haha. I liked the effect nonetheless and wanted to share them with you! 

O.P.I Nail Envy - I used this as a base coat for all the nails so as not to stain them!

Ticket to Gorgeous Kiss Me Quick Nail Polish - I got the royal blue in a set for Christmas from a lovely client of mine! These were available in Boots but no longer are. I have found them on eBay though!

Models Own Bloo Bloo - My favourite brand and I love this baby blue!

Primark Beauty Nail Polish - Primark do some pretty little sets of 4 polishes for £2 and I picked up a pastel set last year. The pale blue and mint green are both shown. You need 2 coats of this for it to look decent.

O.P.I Fly A dark turquoise green colour which is fully opaque after one coat.

A bit of a different post but my nails made me happy the last few days so give it a go and see if it brightens your day!

Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Fresh & Foamy Body Wash

Oh hayyy there new Soap & Glory product. Of course you had to me in my possession. I didn't even need a new shower gel; that's how loyal I am to the brand. So say hello to the Sugar Crush Fresh & Foamy Body Wash. 

Even though the Sugar Crush scrub isn't my favourite of all the Soap and Glory scrubs, I always loved the scent. My favourite body wash by the brand is Clean On Me which is really moisturising but more of an evening gel as the scents are relaxing rather than refreshing. With my new job on the horizon and having to wake up a whole hour earlier than I used to, I need something to wake me up in the morning alongside my flask of coffee! And what isn't to like about washing with a body wash that smells like mojitos?

As with most S&G products they provide lots of oils to really nourish your skin and this one is no different with Lime and Omega Veggie Oil included. Sometimes I feel oils don't allow the product to go foamy but this isn't the case here; I love that it lasts ages and gives enough foam to last a few minutes to you can enjoy shower time! 

As with all their shower gels, S&G provide a large 500ml bottle which always last around 2 months so are definitely worth the price. £6.50 isn't really that bad when you get a good quality product and I run through a bottle of Radox shower gel in like 2 weeks as you need lots for a foamy shower!

If you want to try the body wash pick it up from Boots here!

O.P.I Nail Envy

This is a product I have wanted to try for ages. I have decided that this year I am not going to use acrylic on my nails and that I want to have healthy longish nails. O.P.I Nail Envy basically promises to help strengthen your nails and therefore increase growth due to less breakage. My nails have always grown at a reasonable rate but they do break easily and I'm on of those who can't have one short nail when the rest are long so they usually are cut short. 

You use this product by apply two coats on the first day then one coat every other day for a week, then restart. I like my nails to be coloured and I definitely don't have the time to repaint all my nails every other day so I haven't really stuck to this regime; I do find using it as a base coat each time I do my nails  has worked well though. Results? Well I find my nails are growing longer than usual before breaking and they are definitely a little stronger but I have only been using this for about 3 weeks so perhaps in a few weeks the results will be even better! (I would show a picture of my nail growth but I had a wisdom tooth removed yesterday and as I was so nervous I ripped my nails to shreds)!

As you can see I have the Original Formula Nail Envy and the Matte Formula Nail Envy. It kinda speaks for itself but the Original leaves a glossy clear finish (but not stupidly shiny) and the Matte one leaves a natural finish. If I had to choose between the two I would go for the Original at it just feels nicer on the nails. 

I haven't mentioned the price until now. These come in at around a whopping £18 each. I'm not too sure they are worth this to be honest! Now if you haven't heard of Buyapowa I am rectifying this. It's a website where you bid on certain products and the more people that bid the lower the price. I'm sneaky at wait until near the end when a product is at it lowest possible price then swoop in and make my bid. This is how I got this Nail Envy's and got them both with P&P for £14.50. Much more reasonable. Serious check out the site, today they have Estée Lauder's Advanced Night Repair for £10 off the RRP!

Revlon ColorStay Ultimate Suede

Revlon is still going strong as my favourite drug store brand right now. Especially when it comes to the lips. As I was going a little mad in Boots a few weeks back I picked up two colours from their latest creation, Revlon ColorStay Ultimate Suede.

Revlon ColorStay Ultimate Suede in High Heels and Socialite

When I first heard the word suede, I imagined a true matte finish but with a velvety feel. On application, which can be built up but not massively as it has high colour, the finish is slightly shiny and high on colour pigmentation. After a while the product starts to dry and you are left with a matte finish. I find when this starts to happen you can tell if you lips are moisturised or not so use a lip scrub and balm before applying for best results.

High Heels - Socialite

I love a pink lip so opted for two fairly muted pinks within the collection (there's a decent amount to choose from, Revlon always provide lots of colours)! High Heels is a true girly pink, which has a slight blue tone and perfect with cat eye liner and lots of mascara. Socialite is more a more subtle pink which on me leans towards a nude, my lips but better colour and definitely a keeper for a work lip and it doesn't draw attention.

I do worry my lips look & feel dry with this product but I think it's the way the finish is meant to feel. I absolutely love the colour of these products but I'm not sure how a bright one would look in this finish, more subtle colours will suit the finish better. I would love to try a plum or dark raspberry this Autumn though!

You can pick these up for £8.99 each or 3 for 2 at Boots!

LOOK Glow & Go Highlighter

LOOK Glow & Go Highlighter was a slight impulse buy when I was wandering through Superdrug about a 7 months ago. It was definitely a one minute wander and made it to the bottom of drawers very quickly. I found it whilst having a clear out about 2 weeks ago and I'm hooked. Powder is something that is rarely used in my daily routine and I've been embracing natural, dewy skin for a while now.

There are three ways to wear this product; on it's without foundation, under foundation for a all over glow or on top of foundation above the cheek bones (my personal favourite way to wear it). I apply by using my Real Technique's buffing brush and dabbing it along my cheekbones and then blend.

The colour is a pale pink colour with quite a bit of gold shimmer (think Benefit's High Beam) so steer clear if you aren't a fan of shimmer! I'm not sure if you can see the effect so well in the photos above but the last one shows how it  highlights along the wrist slightly. It's very subtle and I wouldn't suggest building it up because the whole point is a small hint of shine above the cheekbone.

This is a really good dupe for High Beam so you should try this out before spending the £21 at the Benefit counter. You can pick up LOOK's Glow & Go for £8 in Superdrug here. Oh and LOOK products are on 3 for 2 right now. Don't blame me if you spend lots though, ok?

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paints

Hi everyone, I hope you had a fantastic Easter! I have eaten, drank and laughed so much the last few days!

As I have mentioned before lately I have been a huge fan of gelish manicures over acrylics so when I heard Barry M had released their version of gel nail polishes I was very excited! I think Barry M are really on top of their game when it comes to copying and putting their own twist on higher end nail trends and offer such amazing offers and colours!

Their version of the gelish manicures are called Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paints. There's 13 colours so far to choose from and the colours are mainly summer colours ranging from pale blues and lilacs to bright orange and hot pinks. 

I opted for a hot pink called Dragon Fruit which is a beautiful colour for holidays and warm summer days and Lychee, a nude cream colour which I thought was quite sophisticated and would look good for nights out. 

The great thing about these is you only need one coat for a full coverage. It does take a little while for it to dry as it is so thick but the result is a high shine finish which I haven't seen in a polish before. I would definitely recommend wearing a base coat which the brighter colours as it will stain your nails.

So far so good right? Well...I have one little moan. For a product which is so thick and gives such an amazing finish, I cannot believe how easy it chips. I'm one of those girls that can get away with my nails not chipping for days on end but I can't go a day without chipping this polish. So really you need a top coat for the polish to last, but as it offers a high shine finish this really annoys me as it shouldn't be needed!

All in all I think they are great polishes but I think I would prefer to stick with regular shine polishes that last longer than a high shine polish that lasts a day on me. If you can deal with doing your nails a lot then definitely go for it as I love all the colours.

*A quick side note* As everyone is aware GFC will no longer exist from July. My favourite way to follow blogs is on Bloglovin' so if you would like to follow me on there, I would love to see you other there. You can find my blog here.