Fantasy Fire over Aruba

I dug out my Maxfactor Fantasy Fire and layered it over Essie's Aruba which is a stunning deep blue colour.

As most of you have probably seen, Fantasy Fire is a stunning multicoloured polish. Many have been comparing it to Clarins 230 polish, I haven't tried this so can't say for myself how closely related they are. However, from other people's images the two polishes do look like a very close match.

Fantasy Fire itself is very sheer, I have tried it by itself before, but even four coats didn't look great to me. I think this polish is best as a layered. Here I put two coats of it over one coat of Essie's Aruba blue.

I have seen people layer this over black which also looks stunning.

Everyone Loves a Bargain

I went into town a couple of days ago with my other half to buy our wedding rings. The wedding is less than a month away now...

Afterwards I popped into a few shops and picked up a few bits.

Starting off with the bag, which is from Tesco and cost £12

Then 3 for 2 on Montagne Jeunese face masks in red hot earth, crushed dead sea salt and prickly pear. I am slowly working my way through the different sachets of face masks. This company produces a wide range of masks which have different properties. Peel off, warming, scrubs, cloths....

In Superdrug I picked up Eyelure Naturalites Evening Wear lashes. In this pack you get two sets and it only cost around £4. I usually pay around the £5 mark for one set, so I was pleased with this bargain.

Then I picked up the biggest bargain of the day - a set of 8 razor cartridges for £1.96. Gillette Venus cartridges fit all their razor handles which is a bonus. So when I saw a set of 8 Venus ProSkin MoistureRich blades reduced from £14.75 to £1.96 I snapped up two packets. The sales assistant told me it is because the company are discontinuing these particular blades which is why they were so cheap.

Finally I picked up Nivea lip butter in caramel cream (under £2) I haven't used this yet but it smells amazing, like Werthers Original sweets.

Dior - Velvet Peony Extract Foaming Cleanser

For the last few years I have been using Estee Lauder's gentle foaming facial cleanser. The smallest amount goes a long way so the tube lasts a long time.

Recently my mum bought Dior's velvet peony extract foaming cleanser, so I thought I would give it a try. 

This is what Dior say: "This pearlescent gel turns, upon contact with water, into generous foam that enfolds makeup and impurities before they are pleasantly rinsed off. Working at the core of the formula, moisturizing agents ensure the comfort of dry skin. 

"For greater comfort, a neutralizing agent traps all traces of hard water deposits to restore the skin's sweet pleasure in water. Soothed  by velvety peony and gently high-performance textures, the skin is perfectly revealed: it remains clear, supple and velvety smooth."

The gel smells light and fresh, but it didn't foam up as much as I would like. It rinses off well and didn't leave a film on my skin like some gel face washes tend to do.

It left my skin feeling smooth and after using eye makeup remover, this face wash took off the day's makeup.

This face wash costs around £28 which is pricey, my usual Estee Launder foaming face wash is £21.

The day I met Tom Daley - he speaks Spanish

If you follow me on Twitter you may know I am a journalist at a newspaper in North Devon. I have worked their for four years and have worked in different departments. I started off as editorial assistant before that post became redundant seven months ago. 

I was offered a role as a trainee reporter (I have a BA Hons degree in journalism) covering my own patch. The whole job was, and still is, a steep learning curve. However, something happened last week which was unexpected and last minute. 

I met Tom Daley.

 

As luck would have it, the newsroom was contacted by a teacher at Pilton Community College saying telling us they were hosting a foreign language speaking competition and Tom was representing Plymouth College.

I hot-footed it up to Pilton which is a few moments drive from the NDJ offices. Having been greeted by smiling teachers I was introduced to Tom, who at that point, was still happy to be having his picture taken with other students.

Tom's teacher was happy for me to interview him. As we walked outside, the sound of high pitched screaming schoolgirls almost deafened me. Tom told me how much he enjoyed coming to North Devon for the speaking competition.

I have to say he was a pleasure to talk to, a very humble and down to earth lad. 

Afterwards I went back to work to get the story up on our website, Twitter was going a bit crazy.

Here is a taster on my Tom Daley in North Devon speaking competition story.

The full story will be printed in this week's North Devon Journal including some lovely shots of Tom.

Wonderstruck - Perfume by Taylor Swift

I bought this perfume a few weeks ago from Superdrug because it was in the sale, I read some good reviews and wanted to give it a go.

This is the first celebrity fragrance, I don't usually buy into the celebrity endorsed or celebrity "made" products. When I first sprayed Taylor Swift's Wonderstruck perfume I thought it was a bit too sweet. Once it had settled down and the scent had a few moments to develop it didn't seem as sickly and was very pleasant.

This is not a mature scent, it is young and girlie and if you like Snowfairy showergel by Lush then I am fairly certain you would like this perfume. The scent lingers on the skin for a couple of hours but is not a perfume that would notice all day.

I can't remember exactly how much this cost, but in the Superdrug sale it was around the £20 mark.

I have to admit, the purple holographic bottle is stunning and looks great on the dressing table.

Fruit Pastel Collection - Scented Nail Polish by Models Owen

One of my favourite makeup brands, Models Own, have been on fire releasing new nail polish collections recently.

Image - screen grab from Models Own

Their latest offering is called the Fruit Pastel Collection and consists of five (you guessed it) pastel shades which are scented.

In my experience of scented nail polish, their smell only emits once the polish is dry.

What makes the Models Own scented polishes different is the company has included a scratch and sniff sticker on the lid. 

The polishes in the collection, which will be released in Boots stores across the UK from March 22, will be Strawberry Tart, Apple Pie, Banana Split, Blueberry Muffin and Grape Juice.

I believe they will cost £5 like all their polishes (apart from the pro line)

If you live near Westfield London, you can grab these from Models Own Bottleshop from March 9. They will also be available on www.modelsownit.com from March 20.