Veelicious-ness!

UK Floam dupe!!?? (sort of)

2012-09-12T09:00:00.000+01:00

Most of you are probably familiar with Floam by Nail-venturous / Ninja Polish, but if you're not it is an Indie polish that resembles this stuff:

And here is the nail polish:

It has a mix of yellow, green and blue matte glitter and I would definitelly say it grows on you. The first time I saw it I thought it was ugly and strange but then I came to realise thats why it works. The trouble is, it can be a pain to get hold of, it sells out fast when it is restocked and it has a price tag of £9 ish including shipping from USA. For many people, that is a bit pricey for a bottle of nail polish. Fear not, I have found an alternative, and you can get it for as little as £1.95!!

W7 Cosmic Green.

I know, its not a perfect match, there are many differences. Cosmic Green is metallic and Floam is matte neon. That said, the similarities are there and shouldn't be overlooked, and it should keep that lemming at bay for a while. I am surprised nobody else has picked up on this yet but I suspect that is because all eyes have been on the other W7 polishes lately (namely Mosaic, Lava Flow, Salt n Pepper).

Let's take a closer look:

They are not a million miles away from each other are they? So far, we have only looked at bottle shots though. How do they compare on the nail?

I applied a coat of Rimmel Pro Matte Top Coat on top of Cosmic Green to see if that would make any difference.

Conclusion: They bear more than a passing resemblance and it is my opinion that W7 may have been inspired by Floam somewhat. It is not what I would call a dupe but if you are on a budget and can't be done with waiting for Floam to be restocked, W7 Cosmic Green is for you!

Which one would you choose?

DISCLAIMER: Both of the products in this post were paid for by me, not that it changes my opinion anyway!

Dove By You Exhibition

2012-09-04T14:02:00.001+01:00

Recently I took part in Dove's latest campaign: the Dove by You Exhibition. It was an app on their Facebook page where anyone could upload a picture of dove artwork. They provided stencils and templates and the rest was left up to each individual. I decided to create nail art for my entry as I wanted to see if I could actually pull it off. A few weeks later I received this:

10 postcards printed with my design..

..and a hamper containing full size Dove products and beautifully packaged in shredded tissue.

I got Dove Go Fresh Body Wash in Plum & Sakura blossom (smells very fruity and yummy!), Dove Original anti-perspirant stick, Dove Beauty Cream Bar & Dove Indulgent Nourishment Body Lotion with Shea Butter (this is my favourite of the lot!)

I am amazed by how generous Dove have been and would like to say a huge thank you! It was such a lovely surprise!

It wasn't even a competition, EVERYONE who took part got sent one of these gorgeous hampers. Entries to the exhibition are now closed but you can still check out the gallery to see everyone's lovely creations. Keep an eye on Dove's Facebook page as I'm sure they will have lots of wonderful opportunities in the future even if you missed out this time.

Share the Dove love..

DISCLAIMER: The products in this post were sent to me free of charge by Dove for taking part in the Dove By You Exhibition. I have not been compensated for writing this post.

My (rather late) Birthday post!

2012-09-03T11:20:00.000+01:00

Hi, it was my birthday in July and I just thought I'd show you some of the gifts I received.

Emery Board, Nail Clippers, Tweezers, Barry M Lip Gloss (from Impulse gift set)

Technic Nail Art trio (purple, white, gold)

Technic Nail Art trio (silver, pink, black)

beauty uk Glitter Brown| Astor Fash'n Studio Black| Barry M Nail Paint 122 (from Impulse gift set)

Aaaand finally, Technic Carnival x2

Oi! Oi! That's yer lot!

DISCLAIMER: All products featured in today's post were gifted to me by my lovely mother for my birthday.

Holo comparison: GOSH old vs GOSH new vs FNUG vs M&S

2012-08-30T22:16:00.001+01:00

My FNUG holo arrived today and so did my nfu-oh Aqua Base, so I grabbed some of my other holos and let them battle it out!

For these, I just used one coat of nfu-oh Aqua Base (it takes quite a long time to dry!), and then applied one generous coat of holo.

So which one is which?
1. GOSH Holographic Hero (the new one)
2. FNUG Psychedelic
3. GOSH Holographic (original)
4. M&S Rainbow

I think the FNUG is a clear winner on this photo but in real life there is not much between that and GOSH original holographic. In certain lighting the new GOSH holo catches up with the other 2 aswell. Sadly M&S lacks in the holo department though. Don't get me wrong, it is pretty but the other 3 are just too good!

Which is your favourite?

FNUG : more holo than Chanel holo!??

2012-08-27T23:23:00.001+01:00

I recently came across FNUG, which is a scandanavian brand, through their Facebook page.

This photo is what drew me to them:

AQUA FIX BASE COAT - 2002 / FUTURISTICA - 39, blue / PSYCHEDELIC - 38, silver / FANTASTICA - 40, green

Exciting huh? It gets better though! There is talk that these are actually MORE holo than Chanel!! Now, unfortunately I do not own Chanel so I have had to rely on images I have seen online but... it seems to be true! I do have the original GOSH holo to compare it to though. They don't exactly come at a budget price, they are £15 and they recommend you to buy the Aqua Fix Base Coat to go with it. If they are as good as they look though I think this is a fair price to pay! I have ordered Psychedelic so I should have that this week some time, and if it is that good, I will get Futuristica later on. In the UK, you can buy these at Wild Swans , where delivery costs an extra £4.50. Have you ever heard of this brand before?

Models Own Mirrorball Collection - Metallic flakies!?

2012-08-24T22:42:00.000+01:00

Models Own is quickly becoming my favourite nail polish brand of all time. They have had some beautiful releases and now they have come up with something even better. Earlier on today they posted an exciting announcement on their Facebook page, so exciting that I had to post about it as soon as I got home and back on my laptop.
I present to you, Models Own Mirrorball Collection:

"NEW! The MIRRORBALL Collection, a completely unique glide-on glitter that will revitalise your entire polish collection! Wear alone or over your favourite colour polish to give a frosting finish, taking nails from boring to BLING! Each polish contains five different chunky colours of hand-cut glitter that are guaranteed to get the party started: Disco Inferno, a glittery gold disco bomb; Hot Stuff, an intoxicating mix of pink and gold sparkles; Freak Out, a crystal shimmer mi
x of bold blue and purple; Dancing Queen, fabulous flecks of emerald, blue and gold; Boogie Nights, a multicoloured mix of intriguing purple, pink and blue! The Mirrorball Collection launches (with LIMITED EDITION metallic coloured caps!) exclusively at the Models Own Bottleshop on Thursday, September 6th, on the Models Own website from Monday, September 10th and in Boots stores nationwide from Wednesday, October 3rd. x Which is your favourite? Hit the comments to let us know!"

My first thought = WOW, metal flecks/flakies/shards , whatever you wanna call them! Then I though ohh I have to wait til September, thats ages away, before realising that its only 2 weeks away or 2 & 1/2 until the website launch! Woooooooo!

P.S I saw Xmas gifts being stocked in Superdrug today. Eeeee!

Product Testers Wanted!

2012-08-23T14:37:00.002+01:00

Hi, I have an exciting opportunity for you today, a product testing opportunity!

This is genuine requirement to be a product tester and will be based on a first come, first served basis. For the first wave of testers we only require females whom are based in the Midlands or the North West - addresses will need to be accurate as products will be sent in the post to the addresses provided (males testers and testers from other areas of the UK will be sought in the near future for further product testing requirements so if this applies to you please still complete the screener for future inclusion). Products are generally distributed on a week by week or month by month basis. There is no catch or commitment required and you can opt out at any time should you for any reason find it's not to your liking (not that we've ever had anyone opt out of free product testing). The products are not junk based and are genuine tangible items that are desirable by the vast majority of the population. The only thing our client asks for in return is that you feedback your opinions on the products that you receive (usually via a short online survey once a product as been delivered to you) and if you like them to tell your friends about them. The products are distributed to your home (or place of work should you so wish) and are generally items that are either soon to be released or have just been released to the major supermarkets or stores of which the general public would usually pay for. As an example this has included such items as Absolute Vodka, Dettol No-Touch Hand Wash, Lipton Ice Green Tea, L'Oreal Haircare products, Dove Beauty Bars, Huggies Baby Wipes, Penguin Books, Panasonic electronics and many, many more such items. Please feel free to pass this on to friends or family who might also like to take advantage of this opportunity.

Does this sound like something you would like to do? Its for a company called MRFGR who I have been a member with for a long time, they usually deal with paid focus groups but are now branching into this sort of product testing too. I signed up and got accepted on a trial straight aaway so this is a very exciting opportunity that I am delighted to be able to share with you! All I ask is that you complete the survey, it will ask who invited you, so if you could enter "Vicky Cullum (vic_c@sky.com) ", you will be good to go.

Happy testing!

Here is the link you will need: http://www.mrfgr.co.uk/product-testing.php

P.S Have any of you done product testing before? Would you be interested in more opportunities like this one? Let me know!

Barry M - Jewel Britannia &Team GB Nails!

2012-08-06T00:28:00.000+01:00

Hello, some of you might remember my Barry M purchase from last week:

It is limited edition for the jubilee / olympics - isn't this a wonderful time to be British?

I'm seeing red, silver & blue hex glitter and silver holo micro glitter. It applies well, it is buildable, opaque in 3 coats, dries quickly and it does need a top coat to smooth it out.

Inspired by the amazing games London is hosting right now, I did another olympic manicure. It has wibbly wobbly line work again but I'm not starting over this late at night so it will have to pass.

Polish used:
Barry M - Jewel Britannia (3 coats over naked nail!)
GOSH - Attitude (blue)
White nail art pen
Red nail art pen
Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Top Coat

Oops, I bought more nail polish!!

2012-08-05T20:09:00.000+01:00

Well, earlier in the week, I went stalking Superdrug to find the new GOSH Holographic Hero, only to be left disappointed. I did, however, buy some other nail polishes to make up for it!

Get ready for the photo spam (captions are all Left to Right):

Wet n Wild 406B Wild Orchid / Wet n Wild 213A Madly in Love

Rimmel - 830 Camouflage / Collection 2000 - 24 Shameless / La Femme - 124

Classics Glamour - 180

Saffron 09 / Saffron 05

W7 - 101 Sunset Island / W7 - 100 Fluffy Duck / W7 - 99 Moondust

W7 - 73 Cosmic Green / W7 - 96 Mosaic / W7 - 97 Lava Flow / W7 - 98 Salt n Pepper

Barry M - 228 Jewel Britannia

And now here's some close-ups of those W7's...

Orange & Yellow shimmers!

Silver & Red micro glitter - very sparkly!

Green & Blue glitter mix / Blue & Gold glitter in a blue base (dupe alert!!)

Black & Red glitter in a white base / Black glitter in a white base

So there we go, I love how W7 have now got the "indie" look and the pink Saffron looks like a dupe for Nails Inc - Pink Diamond to me. These were all so, so cheap, I can't wait to try them, and hopefully post about them in more detail.

UK nail polish Facebook Group

2012-08-02T10:30:00.000+01:00

Hi, I would like to introduce you to a new nail polish group I made on Facebook. It's called:

UK Nail Polish Freaks & Frankeners Unite!

Please come along and join us. You can share blog links, nail art photos or just have a general chit chat. As we get more members we will also be holding contests and giveaways. Another thing I would like to add is that there is a huge gap in the UK market as far as frankening is concerned. (we basically can't get hold of any of the supplies here!) I hope that in the future this will change and supplier details will be shared on the group. We have a few documents which can be edited to add UK friendly shops, holographics, flakies, indies with more being added regularly. If you know others that might be interested in this group, invite them to come along too. Everyone is welcome. Hope to see you on there soon!

Wild GOSH chase!

2012-08-01T23:58:00.000+01:00

Today was supposed to be the launch date for the re-release of GOSH 549 Holographic (Hero) nail lacquer. However, after more than 2 hours of travelling, I was still left disappointed. I have seen many Superdrug stores and to be honest, the stock in each one is so inconsistent. (Don't get me started on the website!!) I was told the deliveries today did not include 549 and they "might" get some in their next delivery, on Friday. The best store I saw had a space ready and waiting for 549 to go but even then, there is not much room for stock. I think they have really under-estimated the demand. Seriously GOSH, I think you are amazing but you can do better, I think it is time for you to move on to bigger things and open your own (fully stocked!) UK website. After all, the only people who have your brands best interests as top priority is you!! I hope to be able to shop directly with you sometime in the near future. Sorry for the rant, just had to make my opinion known.

Have you had similar problems or have you managed to grab the best one-night-only-nail-polish ever made? Leave a comment and share it with us!

Olympic Nail Art

2012-07-17T18:04:00.000+01:00

Hi, I can't believe how long it has been since I posted again, I promise I'm still here!

With the London 2012 almost upon us, I have created some Olympic themed nail art just for you!

My natural nails are on a detox at the moment, sadly they started peeling, breaking and just looking a mess so I am trying to take better care of them. In the meantime I am practising my nail art on faux nails instead.

Not 100% perfect but I am happy enough with the result. This was my first time writing on nails, it was very difficult for my shaky hands to deal with.

These babies also feature 3 kinds of glitter polish: GOSH rainbow (flakie) on the torch flame, gold glitter on the torch body (hopefully this resembles the "cheese grater" look it has going on, and American Apparel meteor shower (gold shardie) on the medal.

As always, I love reading your lovely comments, and I would love to see your London 2012 nail art. Were you lucky enough to get tickets any of the Olympic events?

P.S If anyone knows of any nail art challenges or groups, link me up please!

World Book Night 2012 & my 1st ever GIVEAWAY!! (International)

2012-04-20T12:04:00.000+01:00

Hiya, just thought I would let you know I am taking part in World Book Night for the first time this year and I have been chosen to be a "giver".
This means I had to choose a book from the list of 25 and I would get some copies of that book to give away to people. I have am trying to distribute my copies in as many different ways as possible so I have decided to give away 3 copies here on my blog!

World Book Night is actually on April 23rd and the idea behind it is to make reading more accessible to people. 1 million special World Book Night editions of the 25 chosen titles have been printed and will be given away on or around this time.

You can read more about World Book Night and the people behind it at http://www.worldbooknight.org or find them on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/worldbooknight , you can even find them on Twitter! https://twitter.com/#!/worldbooknight . You should check out the events in you local area too, see if there's something you fancy attending there.

So the book I chose is:

Misery by Stephen King! Now I'm pretty sure all of you will of heard of Stephen King, right? And many of you will of seen the movie version of this already, so if you would like a chance to read the book, please enter my giveaway. Please do be warned though, his books are pretty scary!

The first page in these special edition books is a book plate page which looks something like this:

Each book has been given a unique number so if you go to http://www.worldbooknight.org you can register your copy of the book using that number. The idea is that once you have finished with the book, you pass it on to someone else to read and get them to register the book using the same method. The books journey will then be tracked online. How far can we get ours to travel?

If you don't usually read, now would be a good opportunity to try it, you never know, you might enjoy it!

Enter my giveaway below:

DISCLAIMER: These books were given to me for free but not because of my blog, I just decided to distribute some of my copies using this method to get them to people who wouldn't otherwise get this opportunity. Postage will be paid for by myself so I am going to do it the cheapest way, cheapskate, I know! I should also point out that I am not sponsored or endorsed by World Book Night, and I am writing this post of my own accord. All opinions / views are my own!

Now that's out of the way, feel free to enter my giveaway below! Fingers crossed it works OK, please let me know if you come across any problems with it. (First giveaway, first time using Rafflecopter, eek!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Oh. My. GOSH!

2012-04-11T00:31:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone, I have been very quiet lately so first of all I would like to apologise for that. I have been mega busy with stuff, my son and sister went for a photo shoot at Max Spielmann, we are really pleased with what we got for the money, I won a competition with Collection (2000) for me and my friend to go to their 25th Birthday and rebranding party in London, I won another competition with Fairy, I also did a few days of interviewing customers at a big technology store which was loads of fun and did wonders for my confidence, it was my lil sister's first birthday so we all went to the zoo, the Alton Towers tickets came with the dates that I wanted (during the October Scarefest when the park is open til 9pm and they have a few extra scary things going on), and then it was Easter. So, did you have a nice Easter weekend? Thomas got spoilt rotten, I think he will still have some eggs left by Christmas!

Moving on, today I went shopping just for nail polish.

First of all I got these:

L to R: Beauty UK - Lilac Girl (35), Beauty UK - Slate (50), Max Factor - Fantasy Fire (45), Revlon Cuticle Remover, Technic 21129 Mermaid (looks like it MAY be a dupe for the Milani Jewel FX in Teal off my wishlist, yay!), City Chick - Sparkly Nails Black.

I wasn't gonna buy Fantasy Fire really, because of the size and I have seen it talked about loads so its not really new anymore, until I went into Superdrug and saw it. It is simply stunning so I had that as my special treat for the day. I have noticed that Meganails and Lozza Nailed It! mentioned on their blogs that there was a clearance on some GOSH makeup in their local Superdrug so I looked around for it and didn't see any :-(

So I was quite happy to buy Fantasy Fire instead:

So off I went down the toiletries aisle to get to the tills. Then, I noticed loads of makeup in a big cardboard stand, some of it was broken, opened and in a bit of a sorry state to be totally honest, but I had a closer look anyway. Then I noticed that it was all GOSH products. There were loads of eyeliners and eye dusts but I didn't really see any that took my fancy so I had a good rummage and found some nail polish.

GOSH - Magic Star 562

This stood out to me because of how sparkly it was so I popped that straight in my basket.

GOSH -Yellow Bombay 552

I didn't own any yellow nail polish at that point and this has a nice shimmer to it so I decided to buy this aswell. I think it was at this point that I started to pay more attention to what I was looking at as this one is definitely discontinued. There seemed to be a couple more bottles of Magic Star but one looked a bit different as it seemed to shine more red so I picked it up to have a look..

I nearly dropped the bottle in shock! That was GOSH - Rainbow 546 I had in my hand! My beloved flakie that has sat on my wishlist for a long time. I had given up all hope of finding this one as I hadn't even seen a trace of it on eBay so I quite literally couldn't believe my luck. I then went through all of the other nail polishes until I came to the last one. It was quite a dull silver colour in comparison to the others I had chosen, but on checking the label at the top it said 549 Holographic. I checked twice as in the bottle it didn't look holographic at all!

It doesn't look that special does it? Maybe thats because I've hunted for this for so long that I expected to have more of a presence about it, or for music to play when I held it my hand.. At this point a practically ran to the tills with a crazed grin on my face. I was in such a rush that I didn't even take any notice of the price, it wasn't until I checked my receipt afterwards that I realised they were £2 each. I nearly fainted. Just the day before, I nearly put a bid on this on eBay for £20 and now I had it for a fraction of the price!! Result!

I don't want to seem like I am bragging too much because I know there are plenty of people out there that haven't been as lucky as have and are still on the lookout for these. I can assure you though that these ones have gone to a very good home where they will be loved and cared for and given the attention that they deserve. I am a little bit scared to try them though as I have dreamed of this day many times over the last year and I'm worried I'm expecting too much of it. Anyway, if you are looking for these polishes, get your ass down to your local Superdrug ASAP! You never know, you might get lucky! If you manage to find any bargains there, let me know.

Sorry for the long post but I think these nail polishes deserved it!

St Patrick's Day NOTD (+ easy how-to)

2012-03-18T14:31:00.000+00:00

Sorry that its a day late, I needed to get a tripod for my camera in order to photograph an awkward hand pose. Here is my version of a manicure inspired by St Patrick's Day.

The gold represents a pot of gold, the multi coloured glitter is supposed to resemble a rainbow and the green is *cue awkward hand pose*...

A lucky shamrock!

Here is what I used:

L.A Colors Energy Source, L.A Colors Atomic, SNB Gold 06, Saffron Gold Speckle, Technic Carnival and L.A Colors Voltage.

If you would like to recreate this look, here is how to do it:

Step 1. Paint all nails with a white base coat.
Step 2. Paint nails 1 & 3 with a green nail polish. I used 2 coats.
Step 3. Paint nails 2 & 5 with a gold colour, followed by a gold glitter.
Step 4. Paint nail 4 with a multicoloured glitter. I used about 8 coats to get it opaque.
Step 5. Finish with a clear top coat.

Please note: each coat of polish should be completely dry before doing the next coat.

Did you do a Paddy's Day mani? I would love to see your take on it.

DIY: Soap : I made my own soap! Easy tutorial in 8 steps.

2012-03-18T11:30:00.000+00:00

I recently blogged about how to make your own soap and showed you some soapmaking kits I had come accross. well, I finally got around to actually using my kits. I made enough to fill all 3 soap moulds once. I took a few photos to show how I did it. For most of it, I used only the ingredients that came with each kit to give an idea of what results you can expect if you use the same kits. Here, I used the House of Crafts Handmade Soap Kit.

Step 1. Cut the soap into small cubes. It doesn't have to be exact, it just helps the soap to melt a bit faster. Estimate how much you will need to fill each mould and then add a tiny bit more (I ended up using roughly a quarter of the soap that came with the kit.)

Step 2. If you are going to heat it in a microwave, put it in a microwavable container. I used an Asda Smart Price jug, which only cost 35p! If you are using a saucepan, follow the instruction sheet for that method.

Step 3. Melt it! I put my soap in the microwave for 30 secs, gave it a gentle stir, then again for bursts of 15 seconds stirring inbetween each burst. You shouldn't heat it for more than 15 seconds at a time as you risk overheating your soap. Carry on until it is completely liquid.

Step 4. Use the pipette to get put some fragrance oil in your soap. I used about 14 small drops. If you use a different oil, please check that it is suitable for use on the body. Fragrance oils that you use in oil burners and candles are NOT suitable for use in soap.

Step 5. If you are adding any petals, seeds, colour or glitter (cosmetic grade) this is the time to do it. Mix it in gently. If you want each soap to look different, you can add petals or seeds to the mould and mix it after filling the mould.

If the soap sets before you have time to pour it, pop it back in the microwave for 15 seconds at a time until it is melted again. This is the beauty of working with melt and pour soap.

Step 6: Pour the soap into the mould. Cover it and leave on a flat surface until completely set. I left mine overnight before unmoulding. Notice how my soap has air bubbles? One way to get rid of this is to spray with rubbing alcohol. Unfortunately, this is not easy to get hold of in the UK. I think it adds character to the soap anyway but that is down to personal preference.

Step 7. When your soap is set, gently push it out of the mould. If it doesn't want to come out, pop it in the fridge for half an hour and try again. You should wrap the soap in cellophane or clingfilm as soon as possible.

Step 8. Run yourself a bath and enjoy your handmade soap!

Easy huh? Here are the all the soaps I made from the 3 kits I had:

I am really pleased with my results, especially for my first try. It was a lots of fun to do and I love how you can control everything that goes into them. Will you be trying this?

Haul Unboxing

2012-03-17T23:05:00.000+00:00

I had a delivery today nice and early this morning, I was expecting one package to come yesterday as I already arranged with Royal Mail for them to deliver on that day. I waited in all day and they didn't turn up. They didn't even let me know so I was a bit annoyed by that. It finally turned up today though so all is forgiven (almost). Mini rant over, phew!

I had 3 lovely packages today, you may notice in the photo above I kinda cheated and opened the box, I wasn't gonna include that in this post but I changed my mind.

This is a set of 4 eyebrow stencils, they were 99p including delivery from eBay.

Here they are, I know the picture is bad as the stencils are clear but they have the markings on them so you can match them up easily with the angle of your natural brows.

This is what was in the box, its loads of magnets to use with magnetic nail polish. I actually sell these on but I thought you might like to see the different styles available:

They work with any magnetic nail polish so its nice to be able to do different patterns now.

Next is the package that should of arrived yesterday..

It was very well wrapped in lots of bubble wrap.

*in Aussie accent* Can you tell what it is yet?

Ta-da! L.A Colors haul!

Left to right:

Energy Source NP402

Atomic NP420

Exotic Pink NP434

Lightning NP422

Nuclear Energy NP417

Left to right:

Electrified NP408

Live NP409

Tropical Storm NP439

Goddess NP442

Left to right:

Treasure Island NP444

Aqua Crystals NP448

Glistening Purple NP445

Left to right:

Voltage NP401 (clear)

Sparkling Diamonds NP446

Star Light NP443

Jewel Tone NP447

Sassy Sparkle NP441

I also got Saffron Speckle in Gold and Silver (these were the closest things to the Milani Jewel FX I could find in the UK) It will be interesting to see if they perform.

Look at the shape of the bottles though, is it just me that thinks they are a bit ~~weird~~ different?

This is the one I am most excited about , Technic - Carnival!

The nail polishes were from http://www.themakeupbagonline.co.uk

For all 20 nail polishes & delivery, they cost me £26.40. Not bad!

Oh , I forgot to mention, they also threw in a free gift in the shape of 5 make-up bags:

I love the way these were packaged - a bag in a bag in a bag in a bag in a bag!

That is everything that I got so as always, I would love to hear what you think of them!

DISCLAIMER: Everything included in this post was bought and paid for by myself. Except for the bags which were a free gift for spending over £20!

MUA Glitter Ball Palette Swatches / Review

2012-03-14T10:30:00.000+00:00

I finally got my hands on the MUA Glitter Ball eyeshadow palette from Superdrug the other day for £3, and now I'm dedicating a post to it, if I added it to the haul post, it would of been way too long!

Here are some more photos of the palette itself:

Superdrug say:

"A palette of 12 spectacular shades in a range of high impact colours that will add instant sparkle to you eyes, perfect for partywear. "

MUA say:

"Highly-pigmented shimmer colours, ranging from green to purple, allowing you to create endless looks fit for day or night. Each of the 12 shades can be applied alone for a dramatic effect or mixed to create a personalised look."

I did some swatches so you can see how they look on my skin.
Top Row:

Bottom Row:

Told you I was pale! Some of that is down to the flash and the metallic finish of the shadows though. Overall, I was impressed, some are more pigmented than others, and some are way glittery than others too. The more glittery a shade was, the softer it seemed to be, and there was some fallout even just while swatching so that is one thing to be aware of. However, this only cost £3 so it is an absolute steal really. I will definitely purchase again. My favourite thing about this palette is the colour combos, they are all wearable for me, unlike other palettes I have tried previously. This has the thumbs up from me!

At the moment, MUA palettes have £1 off their usual price, but only if you buy from the Superdrug website or instore. On the MUA website they are still £4.

Ooh, what's this? (parcel unboxing!)

2012-03-13T20:15:00.001+00:00

I had a very exciting delivery today, so I decided to take photos to show the unboxing as it happened.
It is an early Mother's Day pressie for me (this year will be my first one ever!)

Well, we can see where it's from already!

Don't think I've ever seen green bubble wrap before... *pops a few bubbles*

Almost there!

Yay!! NYX Nail Polish!

NYX Pink Glitter NPS216

It seems to be lots of different textured glitters in a clear base. I can see green, yellow, pink,orange, purple, blue. The purple / blue really stands out in the light, its lovely! There is lots of fine glitter, some hexagons and some stars!

NYX Dark Glitter NPS217

It is fine red glitter, red hex glitter in a very sheer black base. It looks like a dupe for Deborah Lippman's Ruby Red Slippers.

NYX Acid Pink NPS185

Neon pink with a shimmer, I see flashes of purple and silver in it. Looks like it might be a one coat wonder.

NYX Beach Glitter NPS218

Fine holographic glitter with larger hexagons in a sheer, almost transparent blue base.

Do you like them? I know I do! I was surprised by how chunky the bottles are and the delivery was superfast. The polishes all cost me £4.50 and delivery was an extra £4.50. I think you can get these a lot cheaper in the US but not here in the UK. I would still order again though as they are worth the money, I just have to build my collection a few at a time rather than one huge spend. I ordered from nyxcosmeticsstore.co.uk (thanks to @pinkylorren on Twitter for telling me I could order from there!)

Have you tried these polishes or something similar? I'd love to hear from you!

MUA Shade 9 & Rimmel Disco Ball mani

2012-03-11T22:41:00.002+00:00

In the last week you may have noticed I bought some new nail polish which included MUA Shade 9 and Rimmel Disco Ball. Here is what 2 coats of MUA looks like on the nail:

I love this colour! I don't wear blue polish that often so it was a nice change. I did feel that it was lacking *something* so I put one generous coat of Rimmel Disco Ball over the top:

As usual, the glitter didn't show up as I'd like it to on the photo, but as we have had some lovely sunshine over the weekend, I was able to take a shot outside. Yippee!

That's more like it! I am impressed by both polishes, they apply well and I have not had any problems with them. I am extremely glad I purchased them. Not really sure what I can add without rambling too much so I will leave it there.

My Most Wanted: Nail Polish Wishlist!

2012-03-10T15:28:00.001+00:00

Hey, hope you're all having a fabulous weekend so far!
Today, I am going to share my nail polish wishlist with you, its nowhere near complete but hey, we have to start somewhere, right?

I don't own any of these (yet!) so pictures are all borrowed from some lucky people who already have these in their lives!

These lovlies are Milani Jewel FX - I want them all!

Maybelline Mirror Image

Stargazer Chrome Silver

Essence Nail Art Twins

Essence Special Effect Topper

Nfu Oh 41 - 60 (flakies)

Nfu Oh 61 - 80 (holos)

Gosh Rainbow

Gosh 549 (Holographic)

Jessica Hologram Chic

Nabi Star Glitter. Nabi make loads of chunky and funky shaped glitter polishes so I really want the whole collection hehe but do you think I can find anywhere that sells them? Nope.

That is all I can think of right now, I ordered another 24 polishes yesterday! (I know, I know, I have a problem!)
If you know where I can find any of these or even something similar, please, please get in touch and let me know where I can get them! I am in the UK ,by the way. Also, if you know of another polish that deserves a place on here, please let me know as I am always looking for new nail polish!!

Veelicious-ness is growing!

2012-03-09T19:35:00.000+00:00

Exciting news! Veelicious-ness now has a Facebook page! Please come and check it out, its a little empty as its new but we will get there in time. You can find out about the latest news, competitions or just pop by for a chat. http://www.facebook.com/veelicious1

P.S I am working on my first EVER giveaway!! I am planning to start it when I reach 50 followers. I have 40 right now so only 10 more to go! I know I really do appreciate each and every one of you so this is my way of saying a huge thankyou!!

Another Haul!

2012-03-09T17:12:00.000+00:00

I have been spending again! Pictures are worth a thousand words, so on to the good stuff!

Superdrug Colour Effects 8:1 Cool Blonde, £1.29 each. This acts as a toner for my bleach blonde hair, it removes yellow tones. Quick tip: There are loads of products available specifically for blonde hair, but if you want it to remove yellow or brassy tones (making it whiter), it HAS to be a dark purple colour. This applies to toners, shampoo, conditioner, hair mousse, anything you put on your hair basically. I have used blonde shampoo and toners in the past that have been honey coloured and they have made my hair look MORE yellow, so it is important to check.

As you can see, this toner is a very dark purple colour, this is going to counteract the yellow tones in my hair.

Finally! I got some MUA eye palettes! They had a pound knocked off them so they were an amazing £3 each.

MUA Glitter Ball Palette

MUA Heaven & Earth Palette

These are very popular amongst bloggers so there are already tonnes of reviews and swatches out there.

MUA nail polishes £1 each. Shade 17 (clear) and 9 (blue). There was a black one aswell but sadly it didn't make it home, it got smashed on the floor of the car park while loading the car. *sob sob*

Superdrug 2 in 1 Top Coat & Hardener and Conditioning Cuticle Oil Pen. These were on offer, 2 for £5.

Sally Hansen Maximum Growth Daily Nail Treatment £4.50 from Tesco. My nails are looking rather used and abused and this promises to show results in just 1 week. Hmmm..

Tesco Exfoliating Face Scrub. It was on offer for £1. I have no idea how good it is but for a pound I don't mind taking a gamble.

Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Shampoo and Conditioner. These were from Tesco and were £1.66 each for 400ml. Never used it before but it was a good price and it smells of yummy coconut.

I bought these sets of 12 glitter in glass bottles off eBay they were under £2 each including postage. I have strands, powder and hearts here and am waiting on some stars and hexagons.

They are really pretty so I thought they deserved a second picture.

Thats everything I got today, hope you liked it!

DIY: Soap: House of Crafts Soapmaking Kit Comparison

2012-03-06T21:26:00.000+00:00

Hello again! Yesterday, we discovered the 4 ways of making your own soap. The method that suits me best is melt & pour soapmaking. If this is something you want to try, you can either buy all of your ingredients or purchase a kit instead. In the long run, it is cheaper to buy everything separately but this means spending more upfront. I decided to try kits first. I purchased 3 kits from Hobbycraft, all made by House of Crafts.

House of Crafts - Soap Making Craft Kit

This kit cost £8.99 from here and includes a soap mould with room for 6 soaps, a pipette, fragrance oil, 3 coloured pigments and some clear soap base. It also comes with an instruction sheet.

House of Crafts - Handmade Soap Kit

This cost £10.99 from here and includes a soap mould with space for 3 soaps, a pipette, fragrance oil, marigold petals, Irish moss, lemon grass and some clear soap base. It also comes with an instruction sheet.

House of Crafts - Organic Soap Making Kit

This one cost £14.99 from here and includes a soap mould with space for 4 soaps, organic lemon essential oil (the bottle has a dropper in it so a pipette is not needed, aniseed, linseed, poppy seeds, marigold petals and organic soap base. It also comes with an instruction sheet.

The biggest difference between these kits is the amount of soap you get.

With the first kit, you get aprox. 250g of clear soap, the second one is about 750g of the same clear base and the organic one has roughly 1kg which has a creamy colour to it.

The kits are fairly good value for money just for the moulds as these can set you back from £5 - £10 each on average. The fragrance oils with the first 2 kits smell very similar, if not identical and it is a floral scent, not one which I am a fan of to be honest. The lemon essential oil smells divine though. Also, only the first kit contains dyes to colour your soap with. The first two kits can be melted in a microwave or in 2 saucepans over the hob whereas the organic one only mentions the saucepan method in the instructions. If you only buy one kit, you can only make very small batches each time as you need to wait for your soaps to set before you can remove them from the mould.

Personally, I would not really recommend the Soap Making Craft Kit as you don't get anywhere near enough soap. The Organic Soap Making Kit is great if you want natural soap but my favourite has to be the Handmade Soap Kit just because it can be prepared in the microwave so it is easier to prepare.

When I bought these, they were on a 3 for 2 offer so I ended up paying £24.99 for all 3. If it weren't for that, I probably wouldn't of got all of them.

In addition to any of the kits, you also need something to cut the soap with before melting, a chopping board, something to melt the soap in (either a microwavable container or 2 saucepans depending on how you choose to heat it) and a spoon. Technically it should be OK to use your equipment for food after making soap with them as long as you have cleaned them thoroughly but I prefer not to take the chance.

I have also purchased ingredients and moulds separately. It cost me a lot more than £24.99 though! Here is what I have:

Moulds

Soap Base

Fragrance Oils (must be cosmetic grade)

Pigments & Glitter (cosmetic grade)

House of Crafts also make a bath bomb kit but I would strongly advise you NOT to buy this one because it is not good value for money. All you need is Sodium Bicarbonate and Citric Acid and you use the same colours / fragrance oils and moulds as you do for soap making. 5kg Sodium Bicarbonate cost me £4.99 and 1kg Citric Acid was £2.99. Thats enough to make LOADS of bath bombs!

Bath Bomb Ingredients

Sorry for such a long post but I hope this info was helpful. I will post more photos when my soaps are done!

DIY: The 4 Ways To Make Your Own Soap

2012-03-05T23:00:00.000+00:00

Hi! Today I am writing about something a bit different. I know a lot of you like to experiment with DIY beauty products. I have recently become interested in making soap, and I just wanted to share this with you how to get started if you would like to have soapmaking as a hobby too.

If you want to make homemade soap, there are 4 ways you can go about it. You really need to choose your method first so you can look for information and recipes specific to that method later on. The equipment you need will change depending on your chosen way too.

Melt and Pour
Cold Process
Hot Process
Hand milling

I have also included Youtube videos that demonstrate each technique, so hopefully you can find the one to suit you!

Melt and Pour aka Glycerine Soap, Soap Casting, MP
I would strongly recommend that you start with this method. It is easier, safer and more forgiving than the others. You can even do it with kids and it teaches you the basics about colours and fragrance. You start with a soap base, melt it in a microwave or on the hob (the same way you melt chocolate), add colour and fragrance then pour into a mould. As soon as it has set, you can remove it from the mould and it is ready to use. You can add other oils and other extras such as petals, oats and seeds, but you are limited to how much you can include. If you make a mistake, or the soap hardens, it can be melted again without a problem.

Cold Process aka CP, Lye Soap
This is how you truly make soap "from scratch" or from raw ingredients. It involves the use of Lye (NaOH, Sodium Hydroxide, Caustic Soda) which gives off harmful fumes and is corrosive. You can't get this on your skin at all so proper safety precautions must be taken. This method requires more equipment and you need to use large quantities of oils to add to the lye. Even though it is called cold process, the chemical reaction causes the liquids to heat up. You have more control over what goes in to soap made this way but you also need to be precise with your measurements. Failure to do this can make your soap unusable. This kind of soap needs to be left to cure for several weeks. This cannot be remelted on its own so if you do make a mistake, you can sometimes rework the soap using the handmilling method, unless it is lye heavy (it will have white crystals on the outside). This would be dangerous to use on the skin and should be disposed of as a caustic material.

Hot Process aka HP
This is the same as cold process except that the soap needs to be cooked to evaporate the excess liquid. Even though this means it takes longer, this additional step means that there is no curing time. Your soap will be ready to use as soon as it has set. Again, this means working with lye so it is not suitable to do around children. Some mistakes can be handmilled unless it is lye heavy.

Handmilling aka Rebatching, French Milled Soap
As mentioned above, this technique is great for putting mistakes right. As you do not have to add extra lye, it means you do not have to work directly with lye. You could also buy readymade lye soap and use that for this technique. The soap is shredded and then mixed with a liquid such as water, milk or even fruit juice, and heated up. Colours & scents are added before it is poured into moulds and left to set. This does need to be left to cure for several weeks so if you are impatient, this method is not for you!

Hopefully, by now you have a good idea of how soapmaking works and if this is something you would like to try. If you now know which technique suits you best, you now need to go and research A LOT. You could just search for your chosen method online for recipe ideas and more information, join a soapmaking forum or buy some books.
Suggested reading:

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Making Natural Soaps by Sally W. Trew with Zonella B. Gould
The Everything Soapmaking Book by Alicia Grosso
The Soapmaker's Companion by Susan Miller Cavitch
The Natural Soap Book by Susan Miller Cavitch
300 Handcrafted Soaps (melt and pour) by Marie Browning

I hope you enjoyed this post, and I hope you have a better understanding of how natural soapmaking works. Due to the safety risks with the other methods, and having a little boy who's nearly 11 months old, melt & pour is the only technique I can use at the moment. Tomorrow, I will be doing a comparison between soapmaking kits and buying the materials separately.