Heads over heels for …

It's probably fair to say that I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to perfumes. The truth is that big 'proper' grown up perfumes tend to give me a headache. I have stopped counting the number of times I've gone and bought a perfume after having sprayed a little on me from the shop and realised that it's not a fragrance for me. So I am the perfect target market for mid range perfumes (which I like to call 'teen perfume') and body mists. I adore body mists. They don't last long all day at all but I just adore them.


When I first read about the new Body Shop Body mists on British Beauty Blogger, back in April,  British I knew right away that I was going to get some for definite. It has my name all over it and I just had to get some of them. Waiting for them to be finally released was excruciatingly painful and when they did finally landed in the shops, they only had samples to tease me with and not actual products to purchase. You could  buy some over the internet but I am a little bit stingy. I dislike having to have to pay for postage when I have a shop just down the road. Also, the Bodyshop always have offers all year round so I decided to wait for the right opportunity. And then one day, a brilliant offer came along: I managed to get my hands on my two favourite flavours, the strawberry and (surprise, surprise) the coconut ones at half price, with a free bonus full size shower gel, and postage was free. I just couldn't believe my eyes.







The body shops mists are exquisite. If you're a fan of body mists in general, you cannot but fall in love with love. They usually retail at the sweet price at £7, which is more than affordable for a generous 100ml spray.







What's in there for you that I wax lyrical
about an expired half price offer, will you ask?

Worry not. The offer is back and there's till the 4th September to make the best of it. :)





This post is totally inspired by the tweet of London Beauty Queen which made my day and also made me move my backside to blog about two products that I just cannot get enough of at the moment. I'd like to think that the sales assistants were also happy that I finally purchased my own copies, as I am sure they must have been fed up by the sight of me, spraying myself with the testers, pretty much everytime I walked past the shop.






The body mists also exist in grapefruit, mango, vanilla, shea and moringa. If, like me, you're a little bit stingy savvy, there could never be a better time to stock up on your favourites or try out some new goodies. Go on, with all this back to school malarkey and the weather getting cold, you are definitely worth it :)






what: bodyshop body mists
how much: £7 for 100ml
where: err, the bodyshop
special offer: Get 50% off all The Body Shop online orders until the 4th September with the code ES40 (can only be used once per person).

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Gosh Galaxy

When the news of the iconic Gosh Holographic nail polish being relaunched first broke, the first question that many of us asked ourselves was 'Are Gosh going to be doing coloured holographic nail polishes too or just the silver holo one’? Well, from what I've managed to gather, there is only going to be one holographic polish released in September but it looks like that Galaxy, another soon to be launched polish has got some serious holographic potential. I could totally been barking the wrong tree and maybe Gosh Galaxy is going to turn out more like Eyeko Cosmic rather than 'Reclaim' from Nubar but there is hope and we'll see.








Come September (I have yet to establish the right release date for these little beauties) I will also need to indulge in Lazy Green, which promises to be a very nice shade of khaki. I only own one khaki nail polish, a £1 little bargain from MUA. It fulfils my khaki needs but I wouldn't mind a more upmarket one.





Of course, I will need to purchase the repackaged and soon to relaunch 'holo' from Gosh. Quite frankly, I don't own a nail polish which has moved me as much. No photo I could take could possibly communicate its beauty to you, you need to experience it first hand. Its application is a journey in itself. As for its lasting power, it was the very reason why it was discontinued in the first place. Apparently people complained about it and it was dropped down from the shelves and stopped from being produced. But even more people complained that it disappeared. So much so that it started to sell on eBay for 5 times its value.




Its lasting power is still the same and Gosh is the first one to admit that, which is why it's now called 'one night only'. I hope Gosh is prepared for the storm this little holographic is going to cause as this might well beat the sales of this fire from Max factor.


Oh I nearly forgot. Gosh could have totally 'done a Sleek makeup' coup and amped its prices up drastically for the occasion. But no. The new polishes are planned to be sold at £4.99. Woop :)

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Simply pure: simply amazing!

Thanks to boots and their decision to discontinue my favourite cleansers, I have been on the look out for a new face cleanser for my poor dehydrated and ageing dry skin. What I am after is  a cleanser which:

1. cleanses effectively
2. specially formulated for dehydrated or dry skin
3. doesn't cost the earth (maximum £6)
4. visually attractive (nice packaging)
5. something which has a nice smell or a smell which I won't be bored of half way through the bottle.

I stumbled on the Superdrug ‘Simply Pure Aqua Hydrating Cleansing Gel’ facial cleanser last week end and guess what? I am baffled on how many boxes this ticks already.



The whole line was designed with sensitive skins in mind and are meant to very kind to your skin. No fragrance or parabens which some find irritate their skin, just kind for you, and as harmless as a feather coming close to your skin, hence the packaging. There are 4 ranges within the line, but more about that later.

When I read the description (see picture below) of the 'aqua hydrating cleansing gel' I felt it was just designed for me. I've already used it for a week now, day and night and I am happy to report that it works: No feeling of dryness, quite hydrating and it does exactly what it says on the tin. So that's 2 boxes ticked right away.





The price was the aspect which shocked me the most. Usually this would retail at £4.59 but it was at half price. KERCHING. This sounds too good to be true. If I carry on enjoying this product, I won't have any problem repurchasing and it's even cheaper than my beloved discontinued botanics one. Can't go wrong with that!


The packaging is inoffensive, simple, discreet and minimalistic (a bugger to photograph though ) Will I get bored of the smell? Absolutely no risk of that, the product is fragrance free. So just like that, Superdrug ticked all the criteria boxes. BAM!


Do I love this cleanser? No. I will repurchase this product, without the shadow of doubt. It does everything I ask, it's functional but it doesn't send me to cloud nine. Yes the packaging is inoffensive but omg, how boring. I am drawn to something which reminds me of nature, something green, a leaf, a plant and now all I get is blue. I don't connect with this cleanser. At this point, I hear you scream 'get a grip, who needs to connect with a cleanser, a cleanser is supposed to cleanse your skin, not having a romantic fling with' I know, I know but what can I say, I miss the fresh herby olive oil or honey smell of my boots cleansers, I miss the cream texture (this one is a gel) and I am still grieving their disappearance. This aqua cleanser is like the guy you find at 2.00am when the bar is about to shut, the guy which will do I guess but it's not James Bond.


Have you found the james bond of cleansers?



If I am not mistaken, I *think* that the dehydrated range from simply pure range is still on half price at the moment, but don't delay if you want to try. This would also cater for oily skin, and yes oily skin can also be dehydrated. Even though the whole range is for sensitive skin, they also do a calming range,  combination skin range and oily skin (now the packaging for the oily skin grabs me so much more. I wish I had oilier skin just to be able to buy that)




















If, like me you've been left high and dry by Boots discontinuing your cleanser, one of these might be for you.  Thank you Superdrug

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Tropical Pampering and face mask mania

If I had all the money in the world, I would be booking regular  facials at the beautician and be pampered non stop. Sadly, I am  only an administrative assistant and I am more or less living on  my overdraft. Temptations arising from my daily blog reads don't  help but I've never been raking in money, even before I started  blogging. Lately, I've started a face masks routine at home, whereby  Sunday is dedicated to a weekly facial.


This is how I had envisaged it would go before embarking on this  routine:
On a Sunday evening, around 8pm, I would pat myself on the back  for having prepared a week worth full of blog posts. My flat  would be immaculately clean and tidy. You could smell the lemon  of Mr clean on the floor, you could actually have your dinner on  the floor it's that clean. I would then decide to relax, burn a  coconut candle maybe, sip a cup of decaf coffee, nourish my nail cuticles, apply a face mask, then quickly jot some notes down  about face mask for blogging at a later stage. I would go to bed, refreshed and  nourished from the inside.


This is how it usually goes:
It's 22:39 and I realise that I've  done naff all, all week end apart from tweeting myself into  oblivion, complaining there was not enough sun for taking  pictures for the blog, and watching 7 episodes of 24 back to  back. The flat is an absolute tip, so I decide to put on a face  mask at 11pm because what the hell, wasting a further 15 minutes  out of a whole week end is not going to make it worse, is it? I  would go to bed, with a lovely nourished skin while it's chaos  everywhere else.



When I first shared with you my purchase of the 'self heating smoothie mask' with apricot, peach and mango, I remember one of  my readers warning me that 'Be really careful with the heating  facemask from there. I felt like Samantha in the episode of SATC  when she has the facial peel'. I took little notice of it. I am  a big fan of sauna masks. Psychologically, when it heats up, it  cleans better, and the cleaning gets deeper.  The same way as  you soak a crusty porridge bowl in hot water to dissolve the  dried left overs, cleansing your skin with heat is better, well,  in my head anyway.





The claims of this smoothie mask are quite big: For 99p, it  claims to whisk you to the tropics, turn up the heat, deep  cleanse your skin and intensely moisturise it.






I decided to put  my mask in the bath while I had a head full of dripping  conditioner. On opening the sachet, I was greeted by a lovely  smell of mango peach and the most delicate texture. I thought  the mask really deserved its smoothie name. I couldn't wait to  apply it on my face. Heating sensation was not as hot as I  expected but it was hot enough to make me feel it's doing  something. Immediately after removing the mask, I felt it had  cleansed my skin really well (I felt squeaky clean) but my skin  felt a bit tight and dry. Not what I would expect from a  moisturising mask!


I didn't moisturise my skin right away and was still in the  bath, rinsing my hair and going about mah business, in the bath.  I couldn't wait to get out of the bath and moisturise my face.  Following morning and it was a whole different story: My skin  looked brighter, felt so smooth and the feeling of dryness and  tightness had totally gone. My skin felt so clean, it almost  felt a little bit like I had a salon micro dermabrasion the night  before. This feeling of smoothness lasted about 1 week and a  half which is more than a regular exfoliation or home micro  dermabrasion done at home would give me.



I feel this mask is very potent, maybe too potent for me and I  don't even have a sensitive skin. I feel I shouldn't repurchase  it but I have been thinking about it all the time ever since.  The only thing which has stopped me from re buying it is the  fact that, surprise surprise, my local store didn't have any. I  wouldn't recommend this mask for anyone with a sensitive skin. I  wouldn't even recommend for me, to be honest but this deep down  cleanse felt so good, and the smoothness lasted so long that I  want it  again in my life and soon!



What about that immediate tight and dry feeling you had after  removing the mask, will you ask?
I think I can remedy to that.  My ultimate favourite body scrub does exactly the same: If I  don't go and moisturise right after, it leaves my skin tight and a little bit itchy. So I reckon if I tone and moisturise right  after, I should be ok.



Now for the annoying part. Superdrug redesigned all their face  masks, I am a bit lost and I don't like the new look of the  masks. I think the smoothie mask has survived the redesign. I  mean the packs look ok, but I preferred the old design. I can't  help but thinking someone went to complain to Superdrug and  thought that the model on the packaging was always Caucasian and  that it was not representative of the multi ethnicity of  Britain. So maybe it's better after all. Well, at least, it’s not god awful packaging like montagne jeunesse. Sorry but I just can’t go past the packaging of montagne jeunesse masks, why do they all have stuff in their eyes, painful!







Any masks from this new collection which you fancy trying?



I reviewed the 'superfruit smoothie one' here if you fancy reading about it
There are so many I want to try. Superdrug needs to make a 3 for 2 offer me thinks.




What: Superdrug Self Heating Smoothie Mask
Where: Superdrug
How much: £0.99
Disclaimer: I bought these myself

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The new nude in town...

If I had heard about these news before 5pm today, I would have probably rushed down to my local Superdrug and see if they have it. A little birdie told me that the folks at 2true Cosmetics have released a limited edition of the £1.99 fast dry polishes, (you know the skinny bottles) and it's a nude colour!

I absolutely adore the formula of these eyekoesque skinny bottles and I can't get enough of nude polishes. When the shade is right, nude polishes make feel pretty, elegant, classy and make my nails look longer.





I literally cannot wait to try it and I might have to go to the shop before work tomorrow to see if they've got it in. Shade 11: come to mama!

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Gold by Giles Nailwear - My entire collection swatched

If your New Look store is anything like mine, they will have stopped stocking Stargazer Polishes. Fear not as there is a new brand on the block taking the relay offering a wide range of makeup products at a competitive price: It's called Gold by Giles, created by British Designer Giles Deacon, yes, the same one who designed the fabulous statement legwear.

Today, I am excited to share with you my impressions and pictures of a selection of nail polishes which I believe will hit the stores on 21st April. The bottles reminded straight away of Nars polishes and I couldn't wait to try them on. Despite a formula which was a tiny bit thicker to what I am used to, I found the Gold by Giles polishes super easy to apply and necessitated no clean up. Let's have a look at some pictures, shall we?





















Coverage wise, the bright orange and baby blue required 3 coats for full opacity. I was ready to go out for the door with 2 coats with the plum purple, turquoise and brown. The bright neon pink is shown here with only 2 coats. Three coats would have made the white line of my nail totally imperceptible but I really don't mind it like that. The medal of honour goes to the lavender polish, which you can see here with just one coat.

My favourite polish? It will have to be the bright neon pink as I don't own any other polish like it. I have a soft spot for the baby blue also, but that might because of the gorgeous contrast of the gold lettering against the bottle, which reminds me of Greece for some reason and the sun bursting on my polish, giving it an amazing shine. I believe there are 12 polishes in the total, but you will have to pop down to your New Look shop to check them out. Have I mentioned that the polishes are £2.99 each? Yeah baby


The Gold by Giles range is huge, they do eyeshadows, lip glosses, FALSE EYELASHES *screams*. My blogging and twitter friend Caroline was invited to the Press Event and has got some photos for you. 


What: Gold by Giles, Nail Polishes
How much: £2.99
Where: Selected New Look Stores nationwide and online.
Disclosure: Polishes were sent for review purposes.
Credit: Top Picture was sourced here.

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My daily treat: How I got to enjoy YouTube again

I used to watch you a lot of YouTube videos before. In the past, not a day was spent without religiously checking YouTube homepage to see if any of the lovely people I was subscribed to on YouTube had made any new videos. Then I got more serious about blogging and I got behind with my YouTube activity, making videos and watching them, that is. By the time, I was ready to watch some YouTube again, YouTube had made some serious changes to the homepage that it really put me off visiting the homepage, let alone watching videos. More space was given to videos 'recommended to me' rather than the stuff I actually subscribed to, it is not possible anymore to remove select content from your subs box (you used to be able to do that by crossing clicking the X on the corner of each video) even more annoying adverts, the list goes on...


And then my lovely friend Liz aka @MidnightDraven showed me a rather genius way to keep up with my YouTube subscriptions. It's nothing revolutionary, some of you might already be using this but for me, it is all kinds of awesome.






Ok, Get on with it. What is it then?
It's very easy. It involves installing an add-on or extension to your internet browser.

Not any browser, mind you. You need to install Google Chrome if you haven't got it already. Before all this, I didn't even have Chrome. In fact, I don't even like Chrome and I still do most of my browsing through Internet Explorer but this little add-on/extension made me my installation of Chrome a million times worth it.

The extension is simply called YouTube Feed, available for free in the Chrome Web Store and you can download it here.





They say: “This extension notifies you instantly whenever new videos are available in your YouTube Homepage Feed. These are videos that your friends or subscriptions have uploaded, favorited, liked, commented on, etc” I am not too bothered (read: I couldn't care less) about what the people I am subbed to favorited, liked and so on so I've changed the settings so that the thing tells me only about new videos.


Once you've installed the extension, you should see the little YouTube logo in the right hand side corner of your Chrome Browser. And once logged in, you can have a look at all the new videos from your subscriptions. No need to go on homepage, no adverts, no recommended rubbish, just the stuff you have subscribed to. It's simple, it's quick, it's effective and it's my daily treat when I come back from work.



Thank you very much again, Liz :)
What about you? Do you use Google Chrome?
Any Chrome extensions which changed your life?

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