CarolineXO

CarolineXO is three years old!

2012-02-19T20:49:00.000Z

Out of curiosity after seeing several other blogs' birthdays', I checked when my first post was and it was 9/2/09, making my blog the grand age of three (is it bad that I just had to count on my fingers to double check?)!

I'm still the worst blogger ever, but I am getting better, I promise!

Anyway, Happy Birthday CarolineXO! Wouldn't you love to be my friend if you received the above birthday cards? Teehee!

Caroline.x

Recently;

2012-02-16T22:28:00.000Z

Bonjour! It's nearly Friday, yay!

I've had a bit of a pants week... Tuesday night I went to bed feeling normal, to then wake up at 5am feeling incredibly sick and then being rather poorly. Long and short, I took waaaay too many cocodomols (I hate being a girl) and it made me veeeeeeery poorly. Nearly 48 hours later and I still feel horrendous. Ah well.

As I'm feeling so poopy, here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks!

1- I bought these adorable tea light holders from Tesco for £6. They're probably half price now as they were in the Valentines section...

2- I bought some bog roll just cuz it had owls on. Andrex limited edition, if you're curious.

3- It snowed a lot for the UK. I also discovered how bad my rear wheel drive car really is in the snow. Skidddyyy!!

4- I bought some cool Panda print pjs. Primarks finest.

5- I became obsessed with fancy nails again. Except I'm outta practice with the leopard print.

5- I got Netflix and am now obsessed with Twin Peaks

6- I discovered Tesco have come up with a really cool idea. Ready to bake cookies, cakes, pizzas etc. Perfect for the lazy baker like me.

7- I rediscovered my love for animal themed vests.

8- Its been cold. Really cold. It got down to -13 the other night. Thankfully I have mr penguin the hot water bottle to keep me warm.

9- My dog is still fluffy and cute

10- And finally, I discovered a super tasty yoghurt tonight.

Other news - I'll soon be doing my CIM qualification so I'll be a part of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. Yay me! My full name will end with BSC (Hons) FCIM ;).

Other bad news - a few weeks ago we found out one of my dogs is really poorly. She has a huge mass of cancer on her chest and the beginnings of kidney failure :( Just taking one day at a time and hoping for the best. Poor Macey dog.

Caroline.x

Cute magnetic makeup palettes...

2012-02-12T18:57:00.001Z

Whilst perusing Etsy (which I do very often and lust over loads of tat that would look cute in my room), I stumbled across these!

Aren't they beautiful? They are unique handmade makeup palettes, with a magnetic plate inside so you can house all your depotted eyeshadows blushers etc, adorable! All you need to do is just put the eyeshadows etc in, with no need for extra magnets. As I'm spending more and more time away from home, I'm constantly looking for ways to easily travel with my makeup - it's not practical to carry two MAC palettes, one containing eyeshadow and the other blusher, so these are just perfect. As well as this, the corners of the palettes contains a strong magnet so they snap together and stay together!

Check out the Book of Shadows store on Etsy now for adorable designs! Priced from $12.99 - $15.99 - and they ship worldwide too, even better!

Caroline.x

My life lately according to my iPhone

2012-02-03T10:00:00.000Z

The Body Shop's Hemp Range

2012-02-02T10:00:00.000Z

I've become somewhat of an advocate of The Body Shop recently. I think this is mainly down to that an outlet store as opened at my local outlet centre - who doesn't love a bargain? I've found myself dabbling in ranges I never would have looked at before, all for a discounted price, even better!

My latest The Body Shop obsession is the Hemp range - in particular, the hand and lip products.

Pictured are my latest Hemp range purchases. Initially, I went in to buy the Lip Protector and the Hand Protector, but, the Hand Protector was £10 alone, then I spotted a cute little set consisting of the Hand Protector, Hand Scrub, and Moisture High Balm for £11.40 - silly pricing huh? Good for me though!

Hand Protector

The Hand Protector is targeted for 'very dry skin'. I personally don't have what I would class as dry skin on my hands by any means, I never even got dry hands until this year! It is a very thick consistency, and with this it means you only need a tiny bit otherwise it can turn onto the greasy side. If you use the correct amount however, it is easily absorbed into the skin without leaving residue. I'm highly impressed with this. Even after about a weeks usage, I can already see and feel the difference in my hands. My only beef is I don't like the packaging - I much prefer a flip top to my hand creams just for the practicality (greasy mitts + screw top = fiddly job!), but beggars can't be choosers. The 100ml size (there are smaller more handbag friendly sizes available) is usually priced at £10, but I've just noticed that it is half price on the website, so now is the perfect time to try for just £5! Available here.

Moisture High Balm

I'm yet to use this extensively, but the website blurb describes it as a dermatologically tested, multipurpose balm which provides intensive hydration for areas of very dry skin. As it's a balm, it is very greasy. I can imagine it being very effective on areas such as your knees or elbows. I've started to apply it to my cuticles so we shall see how effective it is soon! Available here for £6.

Hand Scrub

Again, I'm yet to use this product - at all to be honest! I actually can't find this product on the website, which is really handy. Not sure if this has been discontinued? Anyway, it is a very fine exfoliator designed for the hands, with a few larger grains of exfoliator included. I would imagine this would be brilliant for somebody who has very, very dry hands - maybe a gift for your builder boyfriend!

Lip Protector

The Lip Protector has to be the real winner for me. I remember having this when I was about 13 and giggling at the fact it had a marijuana leaf picture on it! I also remember it being wonderful for chapped lips. I've never really suffered hugely from chapped lips, but this year despite the UK having an unseasonably 'mild' winter, my lips got so sore and chapped that they split and bled - hurty! Sudocrem sorted that out, but now I'm determined to keep my lips moisturised at all times. This balm is designed to restore very dry lips and protect them in extreme weather conditions, and that it does! Again, the texture is very thick, but I don't mind that on my lips. As it's a protector too, it works to lock in the moisture too which is a bonus. I can't recommend this enough! Available here for £4.

Overall, I'm liking the Hemp range. I think some may be adverse to the smell... it is very, um, 'green' smelling - if you can imagine what a colour smelt like, I would imagine it to smell like this! I actually quite like the smell, it's different to the usual sweet offerings available.

As always with The Body Shop's products, the hemp seed oil is ethically sourced via their Community Fair Trade campaign. Click here to read more about The Body Shop's Values & Campaigns.

I also bought the new Almond Hand & Nail Cream as a more lightweight hand cream for work. So far, I'm definitely impressed with this and love the light consistency of this. If you find the Hemp Hand Protector too heavy, this could be a great alternative. Available here from £5.

Check out the full range of Hemp products here.

I've also bought some other products which I have fallen in love with (Vitamin E range!) which I will talk about shortly :)

Caroline.x

Cloud Nine Hair Straightener Review

2012-02-01T21:17:00.000Z

Quite a while ago now (4th of December to be precise!), I was very kindly sent a pair of Cloud Nine hair straighteners for reviewing purposes. I’ve purposely taken my time in reviewing these for a number of reasons such as:

Assessing hair damage with lower heat compared to GHDs
I wanted to try them on other people’s hair (my hair is too layered for curls)
To test their durability

This is gonna be a long one, so brace yourselves!
The Blurb

Just Like Heaven...For Your Hair

Imagine… a hair styling iron that allows you to achieve breathtaking results - without constant, searing heat.

Well, it’s arrived and gone are the days where you at the mercy of one temperature setting – high. The brand new Cloud Nine iron, brought to you by the founders and inventors of the original ghd iron*, will allow you to take instant control - drop the heat, increase the heat - and enter another world of styling.

From natural and smooth, to experimental and bold, you can now get the hair you want, everyday, no matter what its type, your challenges or your hair-aspirations.

With its low, medium and high heat options, six in total, and a perfectly constructed, rounded barrel, Cloud Nine is one tool that enables you to achieve a whole range of finishes. You can create natural curls and waves, or even simply smooth a blow dry, as well as crank up the heat when you do need to achieve something more structured or adventurous.

The varied heat settings also mean you can adjust the temperature to suit your hair type. Finer hair may not require white-hot temperatures to smooth out a kink, while thicker hair can benefit from a variety of heat settings as you style layer-by-layer.

Poker straight hair delivered through searing heat, and the same look day-in, day-out, is over. With Cloud Nine, you can, at last, go a bit easier on your hair, while discovering a whole world of flexibility. Curly, wavy, straight or voluminous - you choose.

Look closely at the iron’s black ceramic plates, and you will see they contain an element of pearl sparkle. This patented technological element actually adds extra shine to your hair.

Sounds promising, eh?

What’s In the Box?

The packaging (which I forgot to photograph – oops!) is sleek and tidy, much like the straighteners. However, I must say I find it a bit boring, and dare I say it, cheap. I know, I know, never judge a book by its cover, but it is kept very simplistic with the only indicator that it is a hair straightener being a few tiny words in small writing. I personally feel that the box should have more decorative aspects to it in order to jump out at the buyer – we all know the hair straightener market is dominated by GHD, so in my opinion the packaging needs to be a bit more eye-catching.
The box however provides 1 straightening iron (of course), 1 heat guard, 1 styling tips, safety instructions and manufacturers guarentee booklet, as well as a handy little pouch to keep the straighteners in (although I’m not 100% sure this is heat proof – I’m guessing it is).
Iron Features
Temperature control panel
With low, medium and high heat options, plus everything in-between, the irons can create unlimited styles with lower temperatures. The LED panel gives a clear indication of temperature, and with a simple tap of the buttons you can raise or lower heat.
Black ceramic plates
There are some trade secrets we can’t share. Take our black ceramic plates. The special and mysterious ingredient we’ve incorporated into them gives hair added shine and sparkle, each and every time they are used.

Swivel cord
At last, an iron that’s solved the problem of the dreaded twisted cord. Thanks to the swivel cord – unique to Cloud Nine – you can enjoy incredible freedom of movement when styling your hair, without worry or hassle.
Heat guard
As soon as your client has finished using their irons, they can clasp them back together, slip on the protective heat guard and allow them to cool down knowing that they’ve safely left them resting.
Hibernation mode
This intelligent sleep technology automatically kicks in when the irons have been switched on, but not used for thirty minutes. When in this mode they’ll cool down to ‘box temperature’, and only reheat once they’re switched off and on again.
RFID chip
The state-of-the-art RFID chip allows us to identify each iron with its own unique ID number. This means we can track each iron and monitor it throughout its working life to ensure it’s a genuine product only sold through authorised Cloud Nine stockists. This technology is designed to protect you from fraud or mis-selling.
Dual adaptor
All Cloud Nine irons are supplied with a standard two-pin Euro plug, but have been fitted with a UK 3-amp adaptor. To use the iron in a country outside of the UK that uses the two-pin Euro plug, simply remove the screw that’s positioned between the three pins and remove the adaptor from the two-pin plug.
Most of the features mentioned are standard with pretty much any competing/similarly priced straightening iron, particularly GHD. I do however find the RFID chip a pretty nifty little feature. Personally, I’ve never had a pair of straighteners stolen nor have I lost a pair, but I do know others who have, and I find it reassuring to know that if that ever were to happen, mine could be easily identifiable.
Initial Thoughts

The iron itself is very sleek and to an extent, very low profile. It is predominantly black in colour with a few bits of silver and sparkle (on the plate itself) making them look very sophisticated. There is an on-off switch located on the inside of one side of the iron, and on the opposite side there is the ‘temperature control panel’ whereby you set your desired heat.
This temperature control panel is Cloud Nine’s unique selling point (USP) – less heat, more style. Here’s a little rundown of what you can achieve from each heat setting:

Smoothing a blow dry without losing body

All hair types: 100°

The naturally straight look

Fine hair: 100°

Medium/Thick hair: 150°

Soft curls for medium/long hair

Fine hair: 125°

Medium/Thick hair: 175°

Soft curls for short hair

Fine hair: 125°

Medium/Thick hair: 175°

Waves

Fine hair: 100°

Medium hair: 150°

Thick hair: 200°

Tight curls

Fine hair: 150°

Medium hair: 200°

Thick hair: 200°

Flicks

Fine hair: 100°

Medium hair: 150°

Thick hair: 175°

The very straight look

Fine hair: 150°

Medium hair: 200°

Thick hair: 200°

I’ll be honest with you, I haven’t had a chance to play with each setting properly, nor have I been able to curl somebody else’s hair using these. I do however, have a good feeling they will work well for curling due to the shape of the body of the iron – it is curved (much like the GHD) which I know from experience really does aide in curling. The time it takes to heat up is remarkably quick – by the time I’ve sectioned the bottom layer of my hair off it has completely heated up. Anyhow, I initially used the ‘high’ temperature to straighten my hair. Yes, it did make it poker straight, but I felt that the temperature was just too high so I moved it down to ‘200’. I’ve found that this works very well for my hair, but I could probably get away with the setting below 200.
Now the big question – how smooth are the plates going through the hair? Well, I will say there is a bit of a ‘snag factor’. They don’t entirely glide through the hair like I hoped they would do – they’re fine on my non damaged roots and mid-lengths, but when I get to the dry damaged ends, it pulls. I know this is generally the case for most straighteners, but the gloss finish GHD’s don’t do this, and you would expect the Cloud Nine’s to do the same being in the same price range. I will say however that despite the snagging, the finished result is perfectly straight with no lumps and bumps.
What’s the damage then?
As I mentioned before, I deliberately took my time in reviewing these straighteners as I wanted to see what kind of damage was caused by them. They arrived at a great time as I’d just had my hair cut a couple of days before, so it was perfect time to try them out.
Fast forward a month, I decided I wanted rid of the red hair and the only way to get rid of it was to Effasor (bleach bath/colour stripper) the hell out of it. Without going into too much detail, red is much harder to remove from hair than black, (black bleaches up orange, red bleaches up pink – pink is much harder to cover!) and we ended up having to strip it twice as it just didn’t want to budge. This of course meant my hair had extremely split ends, and to be honest, I’ve got off pretty lightly with the damage. Most people would be left with three inch long hair from stripping their colour twice, thankfully I only lost about an inch of hair from doing so.
Anyhow, this has obviously hindered my experiment to see how damaging the lower heat settings were. But, before my little colour experiment, I did notice that my hair was getting noticeably less split ends from using them, despite blow drying my hair, and straightening it every day. I’m not saying that the Cloud Nine iron causes no damage whatsoever as obviously any heat will cause damage, but the damage in my opinion was remarkably less.
Picture – straighteners closed with Heat Guard on.

Durability
The other reason for my delay in review was that I wanted to see how durable the straighteners were. As you know, the brains behind Cloud Nine are those that created the original GHD iron, and if you can remember back that far, the first gen of GHD’s were not known for reliability. I can’t find any news articles right now, but they were notorious for literally ‘blowing up’ and catching fire at the plug socket. Now, I know technology has advanced and they would have learnt from their mistakes, but I just wanted to make sure that these iron’s weren’t going to follow in the footsteps of their GHD cousins and blow up in my hands.
I also wanted to test how well the body of the straighteners held up, and so far, so good! So far, there are no marks on the straighteners (minus fingerprints) and the plates seemed to have held up well, too. My only criticism of the plates is that they gather ‘hair muck’ as I like to call it at the sides. My GHD’s also do this, and I have had clients ask me what to do to remove it. I usually advise a lightly damp cloth wiped over to remove it (switched off of course!). I’ve had this discussion before with colleagues that we think GHD should make a specific plate cleaner to remove the muck and also provide the plates with a spruce up – Cloud Nine, make one please!
I do however have a big (and possibly pedantic) criticism about the design of the body.
The picture below focuses on where the hinge of the straighteners is on the body of the iron. It might be difficult to see/to understand, but when the iron is closed, that ‘line’ to the right of the ‘Cloud Nine’ name is opens. Now, I keep my straighteners when they’re not in use enclosed in the heat guard pictured above. When this heat guard is removed, the straighteners spring up, and if your hand is where the line is, your fingers get pinched. Sounds trivial, but I really don’t like pinching my fingers every time I go to straighten my hair. Boo on you Cloud Nine, sort it out! Other than that, I have no complaints about their durability.

Conclusion
Overall, I am genuinely impressed with the Cloud Nine iron. Although the plates do have a slight snag factor to them, the multi heat setting is a big bonus and it is possible to create styles without the high heat provided by GHDs.
The design of the iron is sleek and sophisticated and so far it has held up well. The long swivel cord is also an added bonus, as well as the hibernation mode for those that forget to turn their straighteners then dread coming home to a house on fire.
Now the big question…. Would I choose Cloud Nine over GHD?
Its a tough one, but overall I would say yes. That yes though, is in comparison to GHD’s regular straightening irons, not their limited edition gloss finish irons – the finish the gloss iron’s give is unbeatably smooth, but for reviews sake, I will keep to the regular irons. The price point is almost identical to GHD’s, but the ability to choose your temperature is a big pull factor over the GHD iron. Many complain that with GHD there is no natural straight style, it is ‘poker straight’ and that’s it. There are endless styles and finishes you can create with the Cloud Nine iron without the searing heat.
Thank you Claire at Propaganda for allowing me to try the Cloud Nine iron.
Micro iron and wide iron’s are also available. Medium iron costs £129.99 and is available from www.cloudninehair.com
Caroline.x

I went to Inglot!

2012-02-01T21:15:00.000Z

Yep, as the title suggests, I went to Inglot in Westfields, London yesterday. I do luuuurve me some Inglot! I used to only have to travel a little bit to Bluewater for my Inglot fix as they had a stand there, but nope, they took it away and put it in Westfields instead, boo!
Mother and I first raided Primark on Oxford Street (see picture below!), went and stuffed myself at Pizza Hut buffet, followed by a trip over to Westfields. My sole purpose of course for the trip to Westfields was to raid Inglot again… hmm… anyhoo!

Aw, isn’t all pretty?
Matte Lipstick #413

Cor, look how shiny the tube is in the photograph, impressive! I picked up this rather nice pinky nude lipstick in number 413. It look’s quite pink in the photograph, but weirdly it comes out more on the nude side on my lips. My only gripe is that is almost TOO matte. Don’t get me wrong, I love matte lipsticks more than any glossy lipstick, but this feels like it's going to drag my lips off! Oh well, I can’t whinge for £7!
Lip Paint in #59

I first heard about these lip paints on Yinka AKA Vexinthecity’s blog and I knew immediately I must have them. This colour is #59, a rich purple – right up my street! It reminds me of MAC’s Up The Amp lipstick, which is my ultimate favourite purple lipstick. It is kind of like a mix between a lip gloss and a tinted lip balm – sort of reminiscent of Sleek’s tinted lip balms, but with more pigmentation. I have no swatches on the lips, but I found it took quite a lot to build up the colour to it’s best, but I don’t mind. I think this was £8.
Cream Blush in #88

First of all I shone to their dupes for MUFE HD Blush (the gel/creamy blush in the little squeezy tubes), but after much um’ing and ah’ing, I decided they would be too difficult to blend when I’m in a hurry so my eye’s spotted their cream blushes. I wouldn’t say this was exactly a cream… it’s more like a hybrid between cream and mousse – incredibly light and fluffy and blends like an absolute dream. I highly recommend these! There is an enormous colour range too which is a bonus, I already have three other’s I have lined up for purchasing.
Eyeshadow Trio

Yes, I know, I didn’t need any more eyeshadows, but I just had to get these three. If you aren’t aware of Inglot’s ‘Freedom System’, you can basically pick any eyeshadow’s from their enormous collection, and put them into little palette’s. You can also mix up the palette and have a combination of eyeshadows, blushers, face powders, lipsticks (in different shapes, of course). The shadows are very silky and smooth and incredibly easy to blend, too. And the best part is? It’s incredibly cheap. These three cost me an amazing £11 – excellent!
Swatchy Swatchy:
Left to right: Lipstick #413, Cream Blush #88, Lip Paint #59

Left to right:
As shown in photograph of trio above!

Annnd some more photos from my trip to London!

Yes, I bought too much!

Also, I’ve been wearing my hair curly recently, do we like it?

Also, are you guys interested in seeing what I bought from Primark? I don’t usually write about fashion, as quite frankly I don’t see myself as a very fashionable person. Let me know!
Caroline.x

New makeup holders!

2012-02-01T21:13:00.000Z

Today I perused Paperchase and discovered these two cute pencil holders:
How sweet are they?! Of course I’ve decided to use them to hold makeup not pencils! I have so many eyeliners and mascaras I neglect due to them being hidden away in a draw, so hopefully this way I will use them more!
Detail on the owl:

Sooo cute! I love anything owl related.
They were both £4 each which I do think is a bit high for a bit of perspex but meh, I like it!
Caroline.x
P.S.
Check out how bling my mouse is! (The nail polish is Ocean Love Potion – Sephora by OPI)

Check out my Katy Perry inspired bling nailz!

2012-02-01T21:12:00.001Z

Wellll in case nobody noticed, it has snowed in the UK. A lot. I cant get over this image from NASA!

Crazy huh? Anyway, I didn’t make it work today thanks to said snow, so instead I did this!

So tacky yet so brilliant. I took the inspiration from Katy Perry’s uber bling nails she posted on her Twitter. I was planning to do mine like that but a) They would get on my nerves b) I didn’t have enough rhinestones! Me likey.
Hope everybody is enjoying the snow and isn’t too fed up with it… I leave you with some pictures from my walk out in the snow with Macey dog :)

Caroline.x

The Importance of Skin Testing

2012-02-01T21:12:00.000Z

I've been wanting to write this post for a little while, but after last week's antics, I'm now more than ever passionate about the subject of Skin Testing (actually, passionate makes me sound like it is my one sole interest, it's not! lol).
When I say skin testing, I mean testing the skin prior to the use of hair colour. It sounds like such a trivial thing to talk about, but I'm still amazed by the amount of people that skip this little important test, or are willing to ignore the guidelines.
(After and before - Image taken from this article)

As I've mentioned a zillion times before, I work in a hairdressers. Our guidelines when it comes to all over tints (colour that is directly placed on the scalp, not colour/bleach in packets/highlights) is that a skin test must be conducted at least 48 hours prior to application. The skin test must be placed behind the ear (not forearms) and must be monitored and kept on for that full 48 hours. If the client experiences any form of irritation including itching, a burning sensation, or the area has turned red, they must wash it off immediately and inform us. Despite the warning's, at least two or three times a week I will have this conversation with a client over the phone:

Client: I want to book in for an all over colour please
Me: From your records I can see you haven't had an all over colour with us before so I will need you to come in for a skin test before hand
Client: Oh no it's fine I've had colour done elsewhere before
Me: Unfortunately we require that a skin test is done here as other salon's may use a different brand of colour
Client: Oh but but but...
Me: No

Haha, I'm not quite as blunt as that, but you get the idea.

An allergic reaction can vary from mild reactions such as slight burning or itchy sensation along the scalp, watery eyes, or slight swelling, to severe reactions including a swollen throat resulting in belabored breathing and in some rare cases danger of sudden death.

I know from personal experience that I experience a very very mild reaction to L'Oreal's 6% releaser every time I use it (my scalp itches upon application and I have to sit with a tint brush scratching it!), but any other brand's 6% I'm fine with.

Allergic reactions can occur at any time, whether or not you have been dying your hair for twenty years with the same colour and same brand. All it takes is the company to change ONE ingredient slightly, or a bad batch of colour to be sent out and you have an allergic reaction. L'Oreal recommend skin testing every six months as the ingredients are changing constantly. Remember also, once you experience an allergic reaction, it can trigger OTHER NEW allergies, too. Do you want to give up your favourite perfume for life, just to avoid the two minute of chore of testing your skin prior to colour application? Didn't think so!
(Before and after - image taken from this article)

Now, I can hear you asking 'last week's antics? What happened?'. Well, here is a prime example of how reactions can occur at any time.

Last week at my work, we had THREE allergic reactions to colour. I've now been at my place of work for four years and have never seen an allergic reaction occur, yet within the space of a week, we have three. All three clients are regulars who come in every 6-8 weeks to have their colour done and have never had a problem. They all experienced extreme burning and itching sensations, and one clients face began to swell. Not nice, huh? It turns out, all three clients had exactly the same colour put on the scalp, and we came to the conclusion that it was a bad batch of the colour and it was immediately sent back to L'Oreal and the clients sought medical attention.

See? Reactions can occur at any time. Of course, 99.9% people will have no problems in their lifetime with hair colour, but do you want to be in that 00.1% who DOES have a problem?

And on a side note, if you have a henna tattoo or even a permanent tattoo, it can possibly cause an allergic reaction to hair colour. I'm not entirely sure why so I don't want to comment too much on that!

Anyway, I'm going back to bed to feel sorry for myself as I've picked up a nasty cold.

What do you guys think? Do you always skin test? Have you had an allergic reaction?

Happy hair colouring!

Caroline.x

Oh Essie!

2012-02-01T20:16:00.003Z

I've dabbled with Essie before, but being the lazy person I am, I tend to only buy nail polish from the wholesalers, or anything that takes my fancy on the high street when I'm out and about. A nail polish has to completely wow me online for me to purchase. Which is what happened when I spied these two beauties...

Here I present to you Essie's 'School of Hard Rocks' & 'Bangle Jangle'. Can you see why I bypassed my laziness and ordered online? These two are part of Essie's Winter 2011 collection which came out late last year (late to the party here!). The Winter Collection is a set of 6 muted colours - my kinda colours!

School of Hard Rocks is a muted teal creme with a thick creamy opaque consistency. I probably could have got away with just one coat of this. Bangle Jangle again is a muted purple-grey - in some lights it looks purple, in some, more the grey side. From looking at swatches, I actually thought this would be the real winner for me and that I would use this first, but actually, School of Hard Rocks is the winner for me. Maybe it's because I was already wearing purple, but it wasn't as 'unique' as I had hoped for.

Anyhow, I applied School of Hard Rocks tonight and I am totally in luuuurve. I can't stop looking at my nails!

So pretty! I'm really impressed with this collection. Some really wearable muted shades that will suit most skin tones. I think I shall delve into more Essie ASAP!

If you are favourite Essie colours? I need some recommendations!

Caroline.x

Keeping my paws clean at all times

2012-01-16T10:00:00.000Z

I'll be the first to admit it, I'm a little OCD when it comes to keeping my hands clean. Having stomach problems, I'm extremely conscious of putting my hands near my mouth when I've been fiddling around with stuff, who knows what germies we could pick up just from holding a pen, typing at a keyboard, touching a door handle etc! However, water and soap isn't always to hand (excuse the pun).

This is where travel anti-bacterial gels come in, but not just your bog standard boring ones. I'm an advocate of anything colourful, cute, shiny, novelty, and most of all, anything that smells amazing.

My firm favourite anti-bacterial hand gels are Bath & Body Works PocketBacs. They come in really teeny tiny sizes, perfect for your bag/desk/car/wherever you need it, and the best part - they smell A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. My favourites include Warm Vanilla Sugar, Twilight Woods, Midnight Pomegranate... the list goes on! Unfortunately, for us UKers, Bath & Body Works isn't in the UK (big sad face), so you have to coax an American pal to ship you over a bag full, or have a best friend like me who jets off to America every so often and brings you back some! Best part is, they're also only $1.50 (you can guarantee if B&BW ever came back to the UK, they would be double this price...).

However, recently I've noticed that the UK are cottoning onto this, and (nice) scented hand gels popping up here and there. First of all, The Body Shop have recently released some in some gorgeous scents - Strawberry, Satsuma, Sweet Lemon, Pink Grapefuit, Tea Tree (ew) - just to name a few. I have a couple of these sitting on my desk at work which when I use I get the question - 'what have you just sprayed?'. These aren't too badly priced (at £2.50) and again, come in handy little sizes.

Another place which has recently introduced scented versions, is Marks & Spencers - of all places! I picked up two - Soft Coral & Sweet Bloom (pictured) for the grand price of £1 each, for 50ml too! These smell just as divine, which is a bonus. I also did find some in New Look a few months ago, but they smelt absolutely disgusting and I can't use them - urghh!

Have you seen any brands releasing scented hand gels? If so, let me know so I can get my mitts on them! Again, excuse the pun there...

Caroline.x

P.S.

On a completely unrelated note, how good is Rubicon?

Jason Wu + Melissa

2012-01-09T10:00:00.000Z

Before you continue reading, just to warn you that I am incredibly excited right now and literally squealed when I saw them so this post may make no sense...

Why on earth did I not spot these before Christmas? Honestly, I just died and went to cute heaven.

You've probably seen them before, but Jason Wu has teamed up with Melissa (you know, them who teamed with Vivienne Westwood to make squidgy cute bubblegum scented shoesies) to make these absolutely gorgeous OWL PRINT flats!! I am a lover of all things owl (and deer, llama, and wolf related come to think of it...) and on pay day these are 100% getting bought.

Now to decide which colour to go for...

Available here.

Caroline.x

My domain expired.. now it's back, with TWO new posts!

2012-01-05T22:40:00.002Z

Yes, this is blatantly a shameless plug to make it show up on your feeds that I have revamped my blog, and have two (here & here) new posts for you to peruse :)

Have a picture of the (slightly Christmassy) cute candle holder I bought today to make up for my self promotion.

Caroline.x

Lactose free living

2012-01-05T21:50:00.001Z

So in November I found out I'm lactose intolerant - I also found out my whole digestive system is shot and I have no enzymes or amino acids and basically can't digest anything, hence the stomach problems, but that's another story. As I'm lazy, I shall let this website explain if you don't know what it entails:

"Lactose intolerance is the inability to digest lactose. Lactose is a type of sugar found in milk and other dairy products. Lactose intolerance happens when the small intestine does not make enough of the enzyme lactase. Enzymes help the body absorb foods. Not having enough lactase is called lactase deficiency. Symptoms often occur 30 minutes to 2 hours after you eat or drink milk products, and are often relieved by not eating or drinking milk products. Large doses of milk products may cause worse symptoms. Symptoms include:

Abdominal bloating
Abdominal cramps
Diarrhea
Gas (bottom burps hehe)
Nausea"

Blah blah blah. Bit of a bummer really. But, I'd rather be lactose intolerant than gluten/wheat intolerant so I guess there's a silver lining! Either way, having a food intolerance/allergy is a pain in the butt to start with.

When I first found out, I thought 'oh, it's okay, I don't drink tea/coffee, eat much cheese etc etc'... but then I discovered practically every sandwich in Tesco has a high content of milk products, certain brands of crisps have high levels of milk, pastries, cakes (basically anything fattening and tasty!) and the worst part.. chocolate! I am a definite snacker, which makes snacking so difficult, argh! Eating out can be difficult, especially lunch at work can be a nightmare and I usually end up having chips (sweet diet). On the bright side, there are certain milk products you still can have due to the low levels of lactase in them, such as:

Buttermilk and cheeses (they have less lactose than milk)
Fermented milk products, such as yogurt
Goat's milk (but drink it with meals, and make sure it is supplemented with essential amino acids and vitamins if you give it to children)
Ice cream, milkshakes, and aged or hard cheeses
Lactose-free milk and milk products
Lactase-treated cow's milk for older children and adults
Soy formulas for infants younger than 2 years
Soy or rice milk for toddlers

You can also take digestive enzymes which replace the missing enzyme that digests lactase, although I'm yet to try these.

I must admit, I'm not very good with this whole lactose intolerance thing. I get several tellings off a week from my boyfriend for eating foods which contain milk, and he's right, I should behave. I have this attitude that if I'm not doing anything the next day and am at home, I can eat whatever I want - which overall is a bad attitude to have as I'm not doing myself any good! I do however still regularly eat products which contain very small amounts of milk in them such as my beloved Sunbites crisps - it explains on that website that generally if the amount of milk is very small, you should be ok, higher than that, prepare to make friends with your toilet (grim).

Anyway, being a porker, I love to eat and have been researching/trying all sorts of milk free things. Due to my stomach problems I'm overall trying to eat a lot more healthier (the weight loss is a bonus). When I move in with my boyfriend, we're going to try and live a mostly vegan diet to help me and see what happens. Here are a couple of things I've discovered which are tasty and milk-free!

I picked up this oat milk today from Holland and Barrett. I'm yet to try it, but from responses on Twittah, it seems to be everyone's favourite choice of non-animal milk. Of course I bought the chocolate version... very practical.

Rice milk so far has been my non-dairy choice of milk. I'm yet to try it over cereals etc, but my boyfriend made some bangin' Yorkshire puddings with it - tasted no different to using normal milk! I've also tried the little chocolate cartons of this, delicious. There are of course other non cows milk alternatives such as soya milk, and goats milk. I'm not supposed to have soya, and I'm yet to try goats milk, so I can't comment on those.

Holland and Barrett quickly becomes your friend when you have some form of food intolerance. There are so many options available which are milk free which is wonderful. I picked up some Swedish Glace milk free ice cream today, can't wait to try that. They do a huge range of lactose free goods, there's a limited number of items on the website for you to peruse. I also discovered today they have also brought out a loyalty card, woohoo!

Now that food intolerance's are becoming increasingly common, most major supermarkets have a section which I like to call a 'special people food' section (I always feel an outcast when looking as I'm usually the only person looking!), so it isn't all that bad.

Anyway, I'm rabbitting on with no real message, so I'm going to stop here. I shall be updating more often with recipes & yummy lactose free things I find :)

Caroline.x

2012; A new start...

2012-01-05T10:00:00.000Z

As usual, I'm apologising for being terrible at updating. Unfortunately (well, fortunately for me), recently life has got in the way; work, boyfriend, sleeping, all that stuff so I have barely been online. I officially would win the award for being the worlds worst blogger of 2011. Which brings me onto my next point....

A new start for my blog. You can probably see I have deleted/made private all my previous posts (my URL has also changed as I'm too poor to pay for a new one just yet - ha). I'm probably shooting myself in the foot there as I have some pretty high ranking Google pages but I'll put them back at some point. I've done this as there is a lot of private stuff I don't want reminding of, but mostly because I don't want my blog to follow that direction any more. I'm still interested in beauty products (enormously), but I want a more varied content.. Although all the stuff I slather my body/face/hair/nails with will most likely still be the focus. I'm not going to make any vow to update more often, because let's face it, I clearly can't stick to those promises!

Anyhoo, happy new year & all that stuff! I had an awesome Christmas and New Year, probably one of the best so far. Overall, 2011 was pretty damn good which I am happy about, I think I deserved it after how atrocious 2010 was.

High points of 2011 -

Meeting my boyfriend - hands down the best thing to happen to me, but I won't gush on :P
Buying my car - still obsessed with it since July!
No longer having bronchitis... although I still have asthma, boo
Getting a job not in hairdressing - my 'big persons' job as I like to call it
And a bit of generic one... spending time with my happy and healthy friends and family

Low points of 2011 -

Stomach problems continually ruining every aspect of my life
Being unemployed for 6 weeks
My dad being unwell
My beloved Peaches ratty dying just before Christmas :(

2012 will be the year that -

I officially get my amazing Christmas present from my boyfriend! On the Friday before Christmas, I got a call from reception at work that there was something here for me, I went downstairs to be greeted by a huge bouquet of flowers with a note inside that we're off to Riga, Tallin and Helsinki :D! Yes, I was very spoiled :)! As well as that, we have other fun adventures planned!
I move in with my boyfriend in May/June... first time away from the nest, me scared!
I buy an iPad
I change my hair colour - finally! I'm thinking like this, hopefully!
Get a hobby/be more creative/occupy my brain a bit more
GET MY CAMERA OUT MORE! I have a beautiful digital SLR sitting here gathering dust
There's probably more stuff... I'll get back to you...

Anyway, it's late, so I shall leave you with a picture of the beautiful Thomas Sabo ring I bought myself today with Christmas money.

Caroline.x

Check Me! Sudocrem Beauty Blogger of the month!

2011-08-02T19:30:00.000+01:00

Hi! Check how cool I am! Only got chosen to be Sudocreams Beauty Blogger of the month didn't I?! :D!

I'm so chuffed about this, considering there's thousands of bloggers better than I am! So thank you, Sudocrem!

If ya want to read a little interview with me check it out here - http://www.sudocremtube.co.uk/blog/category/beauty-blogger-of-the-month/!

Thank you again, Sudocrem! And be sure to check out their lil blog too here - http://www.sudocremtube.com/blog :)!

Caroline.x

The best shampoo ever? YEP! L'Oreal Absolut Repair Cleansing Balm review.

2011-06-03T22:44:00.001+01:00

Ladies and gents, I think I may have discovered the greatest repairing shampoo ever, and it comes in the shape of this...

L'Oreal Professional's Absolut Repair Cleansing Balm. This is a relatively new product and I believe was released only recently within the last few months. It's a really unique product as it's a 'balm', not a typical shampoo, but I'll come to that in a bit. Let's talk about what it does...

The key ingredient in the Absolut Repair range is lactic acid, and the blurb on the back says 'lactic aid is able to create saline bonds between the keratin chains exposed in the cortex of damaged fibres. As if transformed, hair is left soft, supple with a natural-looking shine'.

Now for the technical part... a split end (or trichoptilosis, as it is officially called) is when the hair shaft splits due to damage - heat, sun, chemical treatments, colouring, even excessive brushing, all cause split ends (I'm sure you all know this). A split end under a microscope looks something like this...

As you can see, the shaft of the hair at the end is completely frayed. The Cleansing Balm creates a bond between each fray in order to smooth the shaft down, thus in return ease dryness and frizziness, and overall leave the hair in much better looking condition. Make sense? I hope so! Let's now talk about how unique it is...

This is possibly the most strange shampoo product I have ever used; It is classed as a balm, not a shampoo. It feels like a balm, almost like a conditioner, and doesn't have that runny texture to it like a regular shampoo does - it's almost like you could use it as a body moisturiser! But the strange part is when you use it on the hair. To use, apply it to the roots generously (it doesn't lather up particularly well - the ingredients list as far as I can see contains no sulfates, but as the product does not state sulfate free I don't want to say that it is) and then you work it down the hair and leave it for a few moments... which is where it gets a bit odd. You may not notice it when you use it on yourself, but having used it other peoples hair, when you work it down the lengths of the hair, it starts to expand. Yep, expand. I can't quite explain it, but you rub it in, then it starts to almost 'come back' as you think you have rubbed it in. Quite bizarre! I'm really not sure why it does this... my guess is that it is the product working to seize the bonds, but I'm really not sure.

Along with the finished result, the other great thing about this product is that first of all, you only need to use it once a week, thus saving pennies. L'Oreal say rotate with your regular serie expert shampoo, but they would, wouldn't they? During the training I had with L'Oreal Professional we were told to ignore the rotation recommended on the blurb, and only use once a week. Not quite sure why this was advised, but hey! And the best thing about this product is that you don't need to use conditioner. Yep, no conditioner! I'm not gonna lie... my hair is in a rough old state, it's been more abused than a high class whore, and if I don't use conditioner I can barely get a comb through it. However, with the cleansing balm it is silky smooth and knot free from the moment it's rinsed off. I can't say the same for everybodys hair, but the blurb on the back does not recommend conditioner, so I'm guessing it is the same for everyone!

And finally.. the finished result. My hair is left shiny but not 'omg silicone shiny', and there is a distinct lack of split ends sitting on my shoulders when I've finished styling my hair. Even 4 days later (yeah I only wash my hair once a week - and what?) my hair is only just starting to feel on the dry side. Marvelous!

L'Oreal's Absolut Repair Cleansing Balm retails at £13.90 and is available from all L'Oreal Professional salons. And if you can't find it, Kerastase do a similar product too.

Caroline.x

Outfit of the day...

2010-08-01T17:26:00.000+01:00

Firstly, woah, a post from me! And secondly, woah, an outfit of the day!

Yep, this is my first 'outfit of the day' post. I don't like doing these as I'm not particularly fashionable... makeup/jewellery/bags/shoes have always been my game, not clothes. It isn't very exciting, but here we go!

I'm not educated in the whole outfit of the day post and forgot to include detailed pictures of the jewellery and shoes so if you spot anything and want to know where it's from I shall let you know, but the clothes are:

Top - Bull Terrier top from New Looks
H&M - Jeggings from H&M with zip detail at the bottom

Annndd a dodgy screen shot taken off the River Island website, my sandals:

Look at my smug face! This is my usual boring every day makeup:

Face:
Revlon Custom Creations foundation
MAC NW25 Studio Finish Concealer
MAC MSF Natural Light Medium
NARS Orgasm blusher
Barry M Natural Dazzle (contour)

Eyes:
MAC Rubenesque Paint Pot
L'Oreal Voluminous mascara
MAC Fluidline - Blacktrack

Lips:
MAC Modesty lipstick

And there we have it :)

Caroline.x