NOTD: Flower Decals

I fell in love with a particular pair of nail decals on Rachel’s blog, Treat Party. I loved how she’d used them and was determined to get my hands on them!

When I finally got them, I paired them with my favourite Bubble-gum pink gel polish and now I’m in love! I didn’t do them on every nail as I wanted something quite subtle.

Whilst I’ve titiled this as a ‘Nail of the Day’, it’s more like a ‘Nail of the Fortnight’ as my gels will last a fair while!

Excuse my dry cuticles – it was a very cold day!

The seller I got these from doesn’t have any of these particular decals left, but they’ve got some other very cute designs – you can check them out here. Be sure to check out what Rachel did with the decals too!

What’s on your nails this week?

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Week in Instagrams #5

Haven’t done one of these for a while, just because I felt like I wasn’t taking enough time to post other stuff and they were starting to take over! I’m getting back into the swing of things now though so here is last week …

Body Shop order / Introduced a friend to eyebrow threading / Strawberries for a cake / Burger & fries in Armadillo’s before cinema / Finally putting my washing away /

Fresh avocados / Won another giveaway / L’Occitane Instyle Event / World’s best smoothie from Zumo’s / Inside my L’Occitane goody bag /

Homemade rocky road / Lemon & Raspberry Cupcakes at work / Pizza at work – super morbid obesity is luring … / #PhotoADayJune I will complete it this time / #PhotoADayJune Day 1 – Morning /

Another Body Shop order with my free Satsuma body butter / Amazing L’Occitane Lip Balm – Review to come / Making a diet plan at work / #PhotoADayJune Day 2 – Empty / Swaps from BBS /

Put the eggs at the back of my fridge and they froze :( / Removing my shellac / SingStar time – my FAVE game / Gym @ 2am / #PhotoADayJune Day 3 – On my plate.

What have you been up to this week?

My Instagram username is LolaStar 

She Said Beauty Box.

Quick post about the first She Said Beauty box that I received just a few days ago. I was really disappointed with the box so probably wont be ordering another one.

As it was the first box I figured they’d start with a bit of a bang but it wasn’t a bang, just a little squeak.

The box itself is a Tiffany blue colour, and not as sturdy as the Glossy or Carmine box. It’s magnetic, which means I don’t have the difficulty opening it like I sometimes do with Carmine, but it still feels a bit cheap.

Same presentation as the other leading boxes, tissue paper sealed with a sticker, wrapped and tied with a piece of ribbon.

IN THE BOX:

ORLY Manicure Miniature in Mint

COMFORT ZONE Good Night Kit

PREMAE Harmony Face Balm

AVEDA Smooth Infusion Trio

COLLECTION 2000 Cream Puff

* JING Flowering Dragon Eye Tea *

 Please excuse my hideous nails, I stressed and peeled off my shellac :(

As mentioned in my post, I’m constantly shellaced now so nail varnishes are of no use to me. I’ve luckily arranged to swap this, plus the Andrea Fulerton nail varnish from Carmine, with someone over on Beauty Box Swaps for the Clarins Day & Night creams from the January Glossy boxes – wahey! Loved the nail file, a bit too gritty for the handbag, but a nice touch.

There was a little bit of drama over the Comfort Zone Kit as a lot of people’s were dated two years ago. She Said have confirmed that it isn’t a sell by date but a manufacturing date, and that products are guaranteed for three years. Regardless of the date on it, it’s not a product I’d use as I’ve just gotten myself into a routine that has settled my skin.

The above goes for the face balm too, I wouldn’t want it to interrupt my routine at the moment. It’s for combination skin, and whilst I do have combination skin I’m dubious of using anything oily during the day as my skin produces a lot of oil on its own.

I did like the Aveda skin fusion trio, however I felt that the samples were too small to really do anything with. I have really short hair, but it’s really thick and the shampoo wouldn’t even be enough to do one rinse in my hair, and I need at least three(!).

The Collection 2000 was the worst item in the box. Don’t get me wrong I’m a huge fan of drugstore brands, but I felt that this was a bit too low-end for a beauty box. To be honest, I’d rather it wasn’t in the box at all.

The tea was a nice surprise as a bonus and although I’ve heard mixed reviews about it, I’m going to give it a try and judge for myself, as I love herbal teas. The ‘teabag’ is apparently a flower that opens up after you’ve brewed it, which I think is really cute. And at £1.50 a pop it’s got to be alright… right?

So yeah, that’s it. Overall emotion is disappointment. I won’t be ordering another one, but I have the most horrible feeling that I’m going to be jealous of everyone with the next box and regret unsubscribing. But hey-ho, that’s how it goes eh?

Anybody else highly unimpressed with She Said?

Lola ..x

February Carmine Box!

This months Carmine box was – in my opinion – a massive treat. I think a lot of people signed up after receiving a disappointing Glossy Box, and I think Carmine managed to pull the stops our for this one.

So...

IN THE BOX:

ANDREA FULERTON Nail Varnish in Julia. (Full size)

BALANCE ME Super Moisturising Body Wash (Full size)

STEAM CREAM Steam-infused moisturiser (Full size)

DIEGO DALLA PALMA Lipstick in shade 42

WHITE GLO Professional Choice Whitening Toothpaste

* YARDLEY LONDON Peony Fragrance *

As a few regular readers will know I’m newly converted to Shellac, having tried it at Christmas and been HOOKED since. Because of the shellac I kind of have no need for nail varnishes anymore as my polish lasts two weeks without chipping (if I’m not careless!) and keeps my nails long and strong. So the nail varnish, as nice as it is, wasn’t for me. I really loved the colour though and if I didn’t have the shellac I know I’d definitely use it! Worth £5.

My new shellac in 'Sacha'. Decided to get them cut down and go for something natural this time.

I’m quickly falling in love with all Balance Me products, having recently gotten the face oil in a beauty box and buying the Rose lip salve. I’m yet to use the body wash but this was probably my favourite item out of the whole box. I wouldn’t have discovered the brand if it hadn’t been for beauty boxes, which is part of the reason, I signed up in the first place. Retailing at £8 for 125ml I’d definitely repurchase. Yes, slightly premature since I haven’t used it, but judging by the other products I know I’ll love it.

I’m sure it was the Steamcream that was responsible for the February box selling out so quickly. The quirky tins were really cool and I love mine. I’m not sure how true it is but apparently Streamcream is the sister company of Lush. Even if it it’s not true I love the fact that this cream is made of steam and absorbs really well into my skin. It’s not the cheapest of moisturisers, it now retails at £12.95 (they’ve apparently hiked the price up from £10), but it definitely earns a place in my handbag.

I was really sad when I tried the lipstick today, as it really doesn’t suit me. You know when you eat a spag-bol that has a little too much oil in it and your lips go a funny colour? Yep, that. No offence to Diego Dalla Palma, as the lipstick smells amazing and you can instantly tell that it’s really moisturising, but the colour just wasn’t for me. The sample was really cute and if the colour was better suited to me then I’d buy the full size in a heartbeat!

I have a complete obsession with teeth. I feel really uncomfortable when I look into people eyes (not because I’m lying!) so I’m always looking at peoples’ mouths, and inadvertently their teeth. I get SO jealous when I see people with lovely pearly whites – even though I know my teeth aren’t yellow – so this product gave me a big toothy grin. Probably the last thing you’d expect in a beauty box, the White Glo toothpaste did receive mixed reactions but I personally quite like it. I can’t really see a difference in my teeth yet but I do like it so I will probably switch to this toothpaste once the sample is finished.

 

Last but not least the cute little bonus perfume put into the box. The Yardley London Peony fragrance smells really nice, if floral perfumes are your thing. Now as a bonus ‘gift’ I loved it – simply because I love free stuff. But also because it does smell nice. Carmine did well putting this in as a gift, but I’m glad it wasn’t in place of a sample or product. Would I purchase it? Probably not. I did appreciate the sentiment though.

Overall I’m really pleased with this box, I think Carmine hit the nail right on the head and got one over on GB!

Lola ..x

Running & Manicure.

Earlier than I’d expected, but le diet officially starts today. It was supposed to be yesterday, and was right up until about 6pm, but our Tesco shop arrives today and that has everything we need to start. So it’s au revoir carbs, bonjour protein.

I had trouble sleeping last night so downloaded a few new apps for my iPhone. Firstly, I got a new app to record my weight loss each day/week. I do have one already but it’s got the stuff from last time on it so I’d rather start afresh. I’ll do a mini review of it once I’ve been using it for a little while.

I then got an app called ‘5k Runner’, which is designed to get you off of the couch and running 5k in eight weeks – or so it says on the tin. For medical reasons I can’t start it until February but I’m really excited. Especially because I’ve decided to do Race for Life in June. Both of my mum’s parents died of cancer, and as bad as it sounds it’s my biggest fear for her as she’s a heavy smoker. So let the training commence… soon.

Source

I have a date with my mum later, we’re going to get our nails done. About a month ago we got Shellac Manicures – Shellac is a type of gel nail varnish that doesn’t chip, it’s amazing! One of my nails has chipped though, but only because I was eating roasted chestnuts and the chestnut skin got caught under the gel. Apart from that one nail they’re all fine, they’ve just grown out a lot so I need to get them redone. 

Will post a picture once they're done.

Ta-ra! ..x