Blogger's Event in Lush, Exeter

Yesterday I attended my first blogger meetup. This one was organised by Jess over at  Mismatched Knitwear and was held at Lush in Exeter, Devon. So many blogger events in the south seem to be held in Bristol, so it was great to have an event which is relatively close to home.

The final picture is the goodie bag the Lush team gave to each of us.

I drove to the event and went with the lovely Liza from Glambeautys and Zoe from ZoeGeorgina Beauty and Fashion.

There was a small group of bloggers at the event which was nice, everyone was able to chat to each other. The staff welcomed us with drinks and we were able to browse all the products on offer.

We watched demonstrations and got to try as many things as we wanted. We also got a sneak peak of some of the products Lush are bringing out for Christmas.

This was my first bloggers event and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The girls I met were friendly and welcoming, the staff at Lush were brilliant with us  which made the event even more memorable.

Products I have used up - Not done this one before

What do you think of "Products I have used up" posts? I haven't done one before but I enjoy reading other people's so thought I would give it a go.

From left to right we have: Estee Lauder Perfectly Clean splash away foaming cleanser, TRESemme Instant Refresh translucent dry shampoo, Pantene Pro-V aqua light treatment, Snow Fairy shower gel by Lush, balance me super toning body wash and Olay eye make up remover.

The Estee Lauder foaming cleanser is my all time favorite cleanser, they have now discontinued this product (always the way!) but have replaced it with a similar cream cleanser which can be doubled up as a mask. 

I bought the TRESemme dry shampoo from Superdrug when it was on offer (I usually use Batiste) and I doubt I will be buying it again. I just didn't feel it worked as well as Batiste.

I really enjoyed using the Pantene conditioner, it was on the reduced shelf in Sainsburys for £1.50 so couldn't resist picking it up with the weekly shop. I used this instead of a normal conditioner and it made my hair soft and smooth. Win.

Snow Fairy, a cult Christmas product from Lush, which I love. Although, because I love it so much I bought a few bottles and hid them so I could use them throughout the year. Now the smell of this product does not remind me of Christmas because I used it all year round. Nonetheless, I still love it and will always repurchase it. Anyone else thing it smells of foam pink shrimp sweets?

The balance me showergel was a freebie with Glamour magazine a while back, I liked it but would not pay full price for the product. (£10.25 for a full size bottle, 260ml)

Olay cream make up remover is my fav way to take off eye make up. I prefer using this with my fingers rather than a liquid on a cotton pad. 

THE C-WORD.....Beauty Christmas Advent Calendars for 2013

We are fast approaching autumn, the clocks have not gone back yet but there is a definite chill in the air now and it is getting darker earlier.

Last year I so many blog posts and videos on Christmas beauty product advent calendars. I am keen to get my hands on one this year and so I did a bit of research.

Ciate are bringing this nail polish advent calendar for 2013. It has 17 mini paint pots, four mini caviar blends and three paint pot glitter shades. The mini mani advent calendar is exclusive to Selfridges and can be found here.

Next up is this year's offering from Benefit - this calendar is called Countdown To Love. I have the lovely British Beauty Blogger to thank for finding out about this little gem.  I am lead to believe that this calendar will go on sale for one day only, on November 4 and will cost £50.

Benefit cult classics to be included in this package are: POREfessional, high beam, benetint, BADgal Lash and more.

Thanks to the British Beauty Blogger for allowing me to use her picture.

Next up is a calendar from Latest In Beauty. I tweeted the team today to find out if they were planning on bringing out a calendar for 2013.

Now this was their 2012 calendar:

I have been told by the Latest In Beauty team that they will be bringing out another calendar this year:

Latest in Beauty ‏@LatestInBeauty3h

@NicoleTopToToe Hi Nicole! Yes, the Advent Calendar will be back and it will be better than ever! Keep your eyes peeled... :) xx

I wonder what goodies will be in this year's offering.

What do you think of beauty product advent calendars? Will you be picking one up this year?

Newspaper Print Nails

I have seen lots of  videos and blog posts on newspaper print nails and since I work as a reporter on a local newspaper I had to give this a try.

The method to create this manicure was surprisingly simple. I painted my nails with one coat of Beth's Blue by Models Own and waited for it to dry.

Beth's Blue is good to go in one coat which is great for this manicure if you want something unique and fast.

Then I poured some rubbing alcohol into a glass ramekin dish and cut small sections out of a newspaper. I dunked my finger (one at a time) into  the solution then firmly press a paper cutting onto the nail.

Leave for around 30 seconds, I like to keep pressure on the paper, keeping it flat to the nail. I found it helped the ink transfer to the nail better.

Do this for all then digits and finish with a top coat - I used Seche Vite.

A big bottle of Seche Vite

I have been a fan of Seche Vite's fast dry top coat  for more than three years. I used it before I started blogging. I have dabbled with other top coats but none compare to Seche Vite. Until now I picked my bottles up from Sallys at the business park near home. 

Last week I ordered a bumper bottle of Seche Vite from Amazon after finding out my local Sallys had none in stock.

This kit cost just under £20 - it comes with a full size bottle of Seche Vite and a 118ml refill. The refill bottle comes with a plastic nozzle to make decanting the polish into the small bottle easy and mess free.

This should last a very long time, at least I will always have it to hand!

Guava - Gelly Hi-Shine

You may have seen my last post a few bits I picked up when I went shopping. Since Boots were having a buy one get one half price on all Barry M nail paints I grabbed a couple. 

The first one I tried out was Guava which is one of their Gelly polishes:

So shiny! Granted, these pictures were taken with a top coat, but I assure you, these polishes dried to a high shine finish. 

I adore this colour, I think this one for any time of year and it would suit any skin tone.

The polish itself applied flawlessly, no lumps, lumps or streaks. These pictures are taken with two coats of colour.

So far so good, thumbs up Barry M.