Aussie body washes

I have been a huge fan of the Aussie hair care products for years. Their shampoo, conditioners and leave-in products, I love them all. They smell gorgeous and do such a great job on my unruly locks. 

While mooching around Boots recently I stumbled across some body washes from Aussie. I had to try them out seeing as Boots were selling them on offer, two for £6.

I picked up the Fresh Mate and No Rush body washes. Other products in the shower line include Mega Watt and Shower Smoothie.

Both of these smell amazing, very similar to Aussie's shampoos. They lather up well and a little goes a very long way. The only grumble I have is the packaging. The bottles look and feel just like their shampoo bottles with the same top to dispense the product. I don't know why that bothers me, it just does, however, I will over look that seeing as I love the actual product.

Have you tried these new washes? If so, what did you think?

Simple nail art

I go through phases with nail art. I am not very good at freehand so that's wear stamping comes into play.

 I have been using the Konad stamping kit for years and thought it was time to dust it off and start using it again. 

I start off with two coats of nail polish and wait for it to try. The using Konad' special polish in black to stamp using the plate M63.

The Konad special polishes are thicker and more gloopy than normal polishes which makes them great for stamping.

The two base polishes I used were Mint Green by Barry M and Electric Pink by Jack Wills. 

To finish off there needs to be a top coat to keep the design in place. I use Seche Vite's fast drying top coat which I have found is the best top coat to use with Konad stamping because it does not smear the design.

What do you think of this nail art? Have you tried Konad before?

Colour Chrome by Models Own - new nail polish release

Similar to all fashion and makeup trends nail polish trends are coming full circle. Chrome nail polish was very popular many years ago with Sally Hansen bringing out some stunning colours. However, the chrome polishes didn't seem to be a popular finish with a lot of people, I find older formulas tend to leave streaky brush strokes.

I have high hopes for the latest collection by one of my fav high street brands, Models Own.

On January 29th Models Own will be releasing their Colour Chrome collection during their oneline sale. They will then be stocking their range in their UK Bottleshops from February 7th and Superdrug stores across the country on February 11th.

The collection consists of 10 metallic shades including Indigo, Mauve, Cerise, Rose, Pink, Gold, Silver, Olive, Green and Blue.

There is no denying that these new polishes look amazing, but come on Models Own, I think these items deserved more interesting names.

For any nail art fans, whether you use Konad or another stamping brand, chrome polishes work really well.

All the Colour Chrome polishes will cost £4.99.

Selfridges Enchanted Spells advent calendar - December 21,22,23,24

I know it is now January, I haven't gone mad, however I forgot to post what was behind the final few days of the Selfridges beauty advent calendar which came out for Christmas 2014.

Behind the door for December 21 was a lip gloss from Lancome. The shade was number 337 which is a gorgeous fuchsia pink with a hint of shimmer. Stunning on the lips. I was excited to find a gloss inside this calendar. 

For December 22 there was another Lancome product, this time it was another face serum, Advanced Genifique. I haven't used this one yet but I like that the sample has a pipette applicator. 

Behind the door for December 23 was one more Lancome product, infact it was another lip Lover item. This time a gorgeous raspberry pink shade.

Did you have any beauty advent calendars for Christmas 2014? If so, which did you have and what did you make of them?

#rollerlash: Get your hands on Benefit's latest mascara for free

Who doesn't love a freebie? What's more, who doesn't love an exclusive freebie? I saw some exciting news on Twitter recently that Benefit has launched a new mascara called Roller Lash.

The product is due to be launched at Benefit counters late February. However, you can grab a free sample of it with the March edition of Elle magazine. 

Benefit themselves aren't launching their product first, infact, it is the monthly glossy beauty and fashion magazine doing that job. 

The magazine's March edition is the only place you can get your hands on the product ahead of its normal beauty counter launch. 

According to the publication the mascara claims that you won't have to use eye lash curlers to achieve that gorgeous, wide-eyed look. The magazine says that the brush was styled on old-school Velcro hair rollers with a flexible wand which has small rubber hooks to gently grab the lashes and curl them. 

Sounds promising. 

What do you think of this latest creation? 

No 7 Eye Shadow Palette for £10

There are some brilliant sales around at the moment but I have been recovering from a chest infection so I haven't been hitting the shops that much. 

However, I picked up this eye shadow palette from Boots for £10. 

No 7 is well known for their Protect and Perfect range and in recent years their makeup range has expanded. Nail polishes, mascaras, eye shadows and more. 

This rose gold eye shadow palette was £20 reduced to £10 in their up to half price sale recently. 

The palette contains 20 shadows with a mixture of finishes including mattes.

The shadows don't have names but each is numbered, they come from popular palettes already in No 7 collections. 

Shades 1,6 and 10 are from the Cappuccino Trio. Shades 2 and 20 are from the Moonlight Shadows Duo. Shades 3,11 and 15 are from the Night Shadows Quad. Shades 4,7 and 19 are from the Classic Matte Trio. Shades 5,8 and 13 were taken from the Good Earth Trio. Shades 9, 12, 16 and 17 were taken from the Chocolate Fondant Quad. Shade 14 was taken from the Golden Trio. Finally, shade 18 was taken from the Green Glades Quad. 

The colour pay off of all of these shadows is brilliant, each shadow is highly pigmented, the formulation reminds me of Urban Decay shadows. They blend together well which is another bonus.

For £10 I couldn't say no! Have you picked up any bargains in the January sales?

Cook Island Free House: Pub Grub: Lasagna, chips and warm waffles

I love going out to eat, in fact, it is bit of a problem, I need to ease up on my habit! Going out for some warming pub grub after work on a dark and blustery night then heading home to curl up on the sofa is my idea of heaven. 

Recently I went to a place in North Devon called Cook Island which is a family friendly pub near Ilfracombe. 

I went with a friend and we had hunter chicken, lasagna and of course pudding! I had warm waffles with chocolate and caramel sauce and icecream, my friend had sticky toffee pudding and custard.

Despite eating there during the Christmas holidays and the pub being packed with large families our food came out promptly.

The food itself was comforting and filling, I mean, you can't really go wrong with a cheesy lasagna, chips and salad. 

Price wise I couldn't grumble, main courses were around the £14 mark while the puddings were around the £6 mark. 

Which do you prefer? A boozy Saturday night out, or a chilled out put supper?

Sanctuary Spa Covent Garden: Mum To Be: Ultimate Retreat Hat Box

As many of you already know my husband and I are expecting our first baby this spring. One of my sisters-in-law bought me some mum-to-be pamper goodies for Christmas. 

Here we have the Sanctuary Spa Covent Garden Mum To Be Ultimate Hat Box. Phew, what a mouthful. 

This pamper back contains some gorgeous products including a fluffy pair of socks, a shower puff, collagen boosting body butter, stretch mark oil, tummy soothing bath soak and cooling leg and foot gel. 

I love that the hat box contains products formulated for mums-to-be, all the goodies contain ingredients which help the skin during pregnancy. 

All the products smell gorgeous, relaxing but not too sickly or overpowering. In my opinion, the best product is the stretch mark oil. My stomach is taking a battering and I have developed a few stretch marks over the last few weeks. The oil really helps to sooth the skin. I use this at night time before bed.

Any other mums-to-be have any more pamper goodies they swear by? If so I would love to hear all about them.

Tea On The Green: Doorstop sandwiches and mega cakes

Sometimes a light bite and copious amounts of tea are just what the doctor ordered. Recently I have been battling a nasty chest infection, I am on antibiotics and am slowly starting to feel better. 

On Sunday I went out for a quick brunch with my husband. We went to Tea On The Green in Westward Ho! North Devon.

First of all, can we just take a moment to appreciate these beautiful cakes.

Each weekend the family-run cafe posts its weekend cake reveal which is a taster of what to expect for the coming week.

See that white, milk and dark chocolate sponge on the bottom right of the picture? That was their New Year cake. I bought a slice to take home, my husband went for a Banoffi Pie.

I had a prawn doorstop sandwich while hubby went for a two-slice cheese melt. Bliss. We also had a pot of tea for two. 

Where are your fav places to go for a quick bite?

Lush - Winter Garden - Christmas gift set 2014

I love Lush all year round but let's face it, they do some cracking gift sets at Christmas time. One of my sisters-in-law bought me the Winter Garden gift set for Christmas. 

Winter Garden comes in a festive tin which I will keep for storage. Inside were our goodies from Lush, including some newer products.

Inside the tin you get  Ro's Argan body conditioner, Rose Jam shower gel, Sultana of Soap and Helping Hands hand cream. 

I have been a lover of the Nivea skin conditioner for a while but had never tried the Lush one, but this smells amazing. The shelf life on this isn't too bad either, around two months and since the pot contains 45g worth of product I am sure to get through this. 

The Rose Jam shower gel reminds me of Turkish Delight, amazing, what more can I say.

The Helping Hands cream contains honey and lavender, two of my favs! This is a tiny tin so is great for a weekend away or for just popping in your handbag. 

I love Lush for their soaps, I normally sway towards the clarifying ones, the ones which leave your skin squeaky clean. Sultana of Soap is a rich, creamy soap which leaves the skin soft and smooth. I have been converted.

Lush used to do money off coupons on their gift sets which they have stopped, frustrating as Lush is not exactly cheap. Lush need to bring back their discount vouchers!

Have you tried any of these products?