Happiness Is A Pair Of Warm Socks

Yet more rubbishy weather today so I stayed indoors tweeted and did a bit of online Christmas shopping. I've cancelled the appointment I had for tomorrow and we have some shopping hopefully coming on Thursday so I can stay indoors for the next few days and catch up on blogging and hopefully a bit of You Tube. My Christmas giveaway may be up a bit later than I intended a few bits haven't came yet so I'll wait until they do before I launch it x Till then I leave you with a picture of something that made my happy today a pair of `cozy zebra slipper socks .

Stay safe and cozy xx

Snovember

Hey my loves I've put this on my You Tube channel but I thought you might be interested in a little vlog I recorded over the last couple of days - moi in the snow, and lots of it x Enjoy x

Christmas Wishlists

Well now is the time when we start to think about what we'd like from Santa I know a few bloggers have done this so I thought I would too - it's just a bit of fun really :) Wishlist is the operative word here I've already got some of my Christmas pressies a new laptop and a new tv so some if not the majority of these are just pie in the sky - if I win the lottery tho ;) Obviously my number one wish would be to have my health back but if not any of these goodies would make me happy :)


An Oversized Mulberry Alexa in Black

OK we'll start with a dream on I have a Next tan copy which I adore but I'd love the original x

Some Sort Of IPL Hair Removal System

What can I say at the weekend I looked like I was taking part in Movember and believe me hair removal in this cold weather makes your skin smart afterwards

A Missoni Scarf

I would love a Missoni scarf not necessarily this design but I had one and I lost it - hmm that's why I won't be getting another one

An iPhone

A possibility this one, my mobile contract is nearly up but since this is an ongoing thing and I need to get my finances into gear I doubt I'll get one of these in my stocking

Calvin Klein Beauty Perfume

I've asked for this so you never know - I tried it when I was on holiday and didn't buy it but I do like it not that I need another perfume tho...

Benefit Gift Set

Not this one is particular but I usually end of with some form of gift set from a cosmetic brand and Benefit have some really cute ones this year

MAC Cool Thrillseekers Pigment Set

Love this kit and I've asked for it so fingers crossed oh and I'd love a back up of Faerie Glen lipstick if Santa's listening

(pics from Apple, Net-a-Porter, MAC Cosmetics, House of Fraser, Superdrug and Boots)

So there you go, tell me what you'd like to get under your tree this year xx

A'kin Jasmine Body Wash - A Review For My Pure

As soon as I saw this product on My Pure's inventory I knew I had to try it, so I was thrilled when they gave us the chance to select our own products to review :)
As you know I've already reviewed quite a few products from Australian brand A'kin, and I have to say I've generally being impressed, their products are predominantly organic, and both paraben and sulfate free.

The product I chose was the Jasmine Body Wash, I have to say I love the smell of Jasmine some people find it too heady but I love it.

Packaged in the green bottles we've come to expect from A'kin the product dispenses by giving the bottle a gentle squeeze

The product is a clear slightly runny gel, which gently foams when its mixed with water, don't expect huge bubbles with this more a soft creamy foam

As well as in the shower you can use this in the bath too where it produces a nice creamy foam, (see below), and also as a gentle hand wash liquid for your clothes, and as a hand wash by your sink.

Suitable for use on babies, children and those with sensitive skin, it contains botanical based foamers and moisturisers, as well as pure Jasmine extract

Perfect for relaxation and pampering, and known to be a mood improver, Jasmine is a beautiful aroma often used in fine fragrance. Pure Jasmine extract smells amazing where as the synthetic fragrance can often be artificial and heady. You needn't worry thought this is wash contains the purest extract from the Jasmine flower. It's heady but never sickly or too strong. It lingers slightly on the skin but you never feel overpowered by it.

Having tried numerous Jasmine products I have to say that this is one of the best it's a lovely all round body wash, that smells great and leaves your skin soft and not tight or dry, it's definitely made it's way into my November favourites video  If you love the smell of Jasmine I would definitely recommend this product, if you don't several other fragrances are also available in the A'kin range. The A'kin Jasmine Body Wash retails at £7.49 for 225ml from My Pure. Any questions please leave me a comment x

A'kin Jasmine Body Wash was provided by My Pure for review purposes

Brush Up Well With Denman

OK as promised a product rave, well partially a rave and partially a review as you'll see :) About a month ago I was lucky enough to be sent a package of hair related samples from a PR company, included in the package was a hairbrush - cue a very excited LouLou :)

Why may you ask was I so excited by the inclusion of a hairbrush,well the brush I was sent was the latest model of my favourite hairbrush of all time the Classic Styling Brush by Denman.

Used frequently by hairdressers including mine, Denman describe this as the most famous brush in the world and I can see why, I must have had mine the D3 Classic Medium 7 Row Styling Brush for about 5 years and it is still as good as new. With 7 rows of nylon pins set on an anti static rubber cushion, you can use this brush on wet or dry hair and it is great for blow drying and it never tangles or tears my hair. I've dabbled with others but for the last few years this has been my hairbrush of choice (excuse the hairs stuck in it tho - erk)

So as you can guess I was thrilled when I received the new Tutti Fruiti Fragranced version of my beloved brush. Identical in design to the original D3 with the sturdy plastic handle, and white nylon pins, the main difference is the pretty fruit designs on the handle and the coloured, and scented rubber cushion.

 I was sent the Wild Dewberry version which smells exactly like The Body Shop's traditional Dewberry fragrance, and comes with purple printed berries and a purple cushion. You can also get the D3 in Strawberry Shortcake, Lemon Sherbet,Coconut and Green Apple fragrances. The fragrance is lovely, but at the same time subtle and I noticed no real transfer on to the hair, which I would have liked :(

It might be a bit of novelty value but the fragrance is a nice touch and this is a really good all round hair brush and I am certainly happy to have another. The original Denman D3 Classic Styling Brush retails at around £6.94, and the D3 from the Fragrance Range retails at around £7.16. The brushes are available from Denman stockists including Boots, Superdrug and from Denman's own website. Any questions please let me know xx

(The fragranced brush was provided by PR for review purposes, I purchased the original D3 myself)

Project 10 Pan Poll Results Revealed

Drum roll the results of my Project 10 Pan Poll are in  - I had 27 votes and 22 votes were in favour of including face primers so you may spy a pot of Laura Geller Spackle in my finished list in the weeks to come. Thanks to everyone that voted x

One Month To Go Till Santa Comes

Well the scene outside my bedroom window today certainly looks Christmassy doesn't it but there is still one month to go. You wouldn't think it though would you VH1 has started it annual back to back Christmas tunes, and I put Now That's What I Call Xmas on my iPod last night lol Never mind Christmas always makes me feel happy so why not encourage it a bit when I'm feeling a bit down. I haven't done a Goods and Bads this week because to be honest I'm not feeling that great or that cheerful - ho hum maybe singing along to the Pogues and Kirsty McColl, and my mum homemade fruit cake will lift my spirits even if it doesn't warm my cold toes lol I promise normal non weather related posts will resume tomorrow with a product rave for you xxx

A Blogger Shoutout

Hey my loves I thought I do something bit different today and give a shout out to two of my favourite bloggers and twitter friends.
First up the lovely Amanda from Make Up Addict As well as having a great blog albeit one with a giveaway coming up soon :), she also tweets and has a brill You Tube channel too, not only that she is one of the sweetest people I have ever encountered in the blog sphere she deserves so many more followers so please check her out if you haven't already x
Next up the lovely liloo or tsunimee as she is on twitter such as sweet lady with a fab blog and You Tube channel, and one of the funniest people ever on twitter - follow her !!
So they you go two lovely ladies that you should really be following if your not already x

Welcome To Winter

Well the first snow of the season arrived today after showers on and off for most of the day it's starting to lie now with temperatures below freezing and more snow predicted for tonight - welcome to winter indeed x

A Little Purchase From Forever 21

Last week saw the online launch of Forever 21's UK website. After a couple of initial problems I managed to placed my order after about a week my order came today and I have to say I was very impressed with what I bought. Nearly everything I ordered was for gifts I was particularly impressed with an ethic print shawl / scarf I bought for Mummy LouLou I think it was £9.99 and I would easily have paid triple that for it - really nice quality and so pretty. Anyway I was a bad LouLou well a bit bad anyways and got myself just one tiny little necklace

It's a tiny little bouquet of flowers on a gold tone chain which was just £3.80, it was also $3.80 which means as per usual us Europeans have got a bad deal but still it's very cute. I also picked up another one of these for my Christmas giveaway so if you'd like to win one as well as loads of other goodies please check back on the 1st December to find out how :) x Any questions please let me know xx

Nail Growth Challenge 2 Weeks In - Leighton Denny

To be honest there doesn't seem to be a lot of point in this post I've been doing the Leighton Denny Hydra Flex programme for two weeks and as yet I can see or feel no difference :( (see my previous post here)

I am going to persevere with the programme for at least another two weeks and then I'll post again x Any questions please ask x

My Long Awaited Updated Make Up Storage Post + Video

OK I'll start this post off by saying yes I have a lot of make up and so on but please don't use that as an excuse to leave hater or begging comments - 99% of it has been bought and paid for by me I am not doing this to show off or brag it has been requested and I just thought it might help any one who has a particularly large collection. I have very few passions or vices anymore and make up and cosmetics happen to be way up there x Apologies some of the pictures aren't that great the lighting was soooo bad I hate this time of year for photography, but I will attach the two videos I've uploaded to my You Tube channel so you can see everything better - OK lets get started sorry this is a bit pic heavy ;) In the bathroom I keep my train case (a B&Q cantilever, metal tool box). I know your not supposed to keep make up in the bathroom but I can assure you my bathroom is freezing. In this I keep the things I use most often, and things I am trying to use up, I do change things round occasionally taking things out of the drawers in my room and putting them in here, mainly foundations, summer/winter colours etc.

Right this is my bedroom set up, I would love a dressing table but it isn't that practical so I have two of the Ikea 6 drawer malm units which match the rest of my furniture

On the left hand side unit I keep the lid up so the mirror is visible, on here I keep my perfumes, hairbrushes, lipbalms, sometimes a few skincare items, and my eye brushes in a Sephora style brush holder using beads from Hobbycraft and Ebay, and a vase from Ikea :)

In the top thin drawer I keep my loose powder eyeshadows, pigments, mixing mediums etc. and some back ups. The trays came in a Bare Escentuals make up bag x

In the next thin drawer I keep my cream shadows and liners, and my back up mascaras, in a cutlery tray from Ikea

The next drawer down contains drugstore eyeshadows, singles, duos, trios and small palettes, and the next drawer down contains my high end eyeshadows again stored in a cutlery drawer from Ikea

The next drawer down is my foundations, and the bottom drawer contains my blush, bronzer and highlighter  products, all in trays from Muji

The next drawer unit has some mini plastic drawers on the top from Poundland, these contain my lip products, some lip balms , and my eye and lip pencils. You can also see Sir Teddy, some Hello Kitty bits, some hair products, a paperweight and some candles. I also have a few of my most used palettes on here in a letter rack from Urban Outfitters. I also now have my face brush holder on here too.

These drawers to be honest aren't too interesting the top one contains my brush rolls, and other make up applicators, the second contains some nail art things, some hair bobbles and some random things. The next drawer down is my skin care back ups and things to test, and the drawer below that is some nail polishes in a container from Ikea. Next drawer down is another nail polish drawer containing Models Own, China Glaze, Nails Inc and so on.The final drawer is predominantly my OPI drawer, but I also have Essie, Chanel, Leighton Denny, Illamasqua and Nars are well as some minis - the tray is from Muji

So that's my drawers next to them I have a mirror and underneath that I have a storage box from Store Twenty One which contains the rest of my palettes including my MAC palettes, my Sleek, Lauren Luke, and some randoms and things I've pressed myself

So there you have it - if you want to see it all more clearly please check out these videos on my You Tube channel

Any questions please ask xx

Hungry Fish At Appy Feet

Last week I was fortunate enough to be invited down for a fish pedicure treatment at the new Appy Feet branch in the Metro Centre.

I'd always been intrigued by the whole concept and couldn't wait to try it. Appy Feet were the first company to bring the fish foot spa treatment to consumers in the UK. The treatment itself sounds unusual but it has millions of devotees across Turkey and the Far East. Ideal for those suffering from skin conditions such as dermatitis or Psoriasis, the small, toothless Garra Rufa fish gently nibble away the dry, dead skin from you hands or your feet, revealing fresh and glowing skin :)

The first thing I noticed about the Appy Feet salon was the bright colours, oranges, blues and whites, unlike some of the fish foot spa venues Appy Feet have made their salons / stores bright and airy, as well as super friendly staff - everyone was so pleasant and helpful.

The treatment starts by a foot wash - what struck me at this point was the care and consideration towards the hygiene and welfare not only for the customer but also for the fish. The foot wash at Appy Feet purely involves washing your feet in some very warm water. I know some other fish spas uses antibacterial wipes and washes so I asked the member of staff who was assigned to me why they just used water. The answer was simple it's better for the fish, be using just hot water they won't be ingesting any chemicals from any washes or wipes.

After my foot wash I was invited to put on a pair of Crocs - this will be the only time I will ever wear these lunch boxes on my feet but again they are used for hygiene purposes, often used in hospitals they are easy to clean and are ideal for getting you from the foot wash to your pod. This branch of Appy Feet contains 12 pods arranged in groups of 4 to make it more of a social experience. Each pod contains between 100-150 Garra Rufa fish again in warm water, there is a constant flow of water into the pod, and it's sterilised at last 5 times an hour making it as hygienic as possible.

I am led to believe it can take some people a few minutes to put their feet into the tank but I put mine straight in, almost as soon as your feet touch the water, you are pounced on by some hungry fish :)

I have to say it's the strangest feeling I don't have particularly tickly feet thankfully but it's a slightly tickly feeling which is actually quite pleasant, remember the fish don't have teeth so they aren't biting your feet more sucking them :). I have to say it feels super odd tho when they go between your toes lol. In fact my fishies even started to go up my calves bye bye peeling tan :)

What got my was the social interaction whilst you were having your treatment, there were 3 women in the same area as me and we all got talking about the treatment, it would be great if you had the treatment say with a group of friends :) Whilst I was having the treatment the staff kept coming to check that we were OK and ask what we thought of the treatment so far, which I thought was a nice touch all the staff were very knowledgeable and helpful. One of the founders of Appy Feet even came over to chat to us which was really useful, she told us more about the actual fish and their welfare. Imported from Singapore and costing at least £4 each it isn't surprising that they take good care of the fish after all they are their business, they also feed them on a Salmon based food to keep them healthy and happy after the salon has closed

When my 15 minutes was up you gently lift your feet from the pod, I was a bit apprehensive because the fish were still attached to my feet but when you take your feet out of the water the fish just fall back into the water. You are then given your own personal towel to dry off your feet and your given some foot cream to rub in. I have to say my feet felt so relaxed when I came out of the pod, tingly and alive, there was still a bit of dry skin on my feet but they were certainly a lot softer. I have to say this is something that I would highly recommend, my feet felt revived and because they work on a walk in, no appointment basis this would be an ideal treat after a few hours Christmas shopping. Another thing I liked is the affordability, a 15 minute treatment for the feet costs just £10, about the same as a large Starbucks and a Muffin or two x Here is a little video I made to show you my experience as well as the little haul I made too x


I really enjoyed the treatment and I will most definitely go back in fact I've even bought MummyLouLou a voucher for Christmas so we can go together for a really pampering, bonding treatment x

This quote from one of the lovely employees that I was lucky enough to speak to, Vanessa, pretty much sums the whole fish foot spa experience up :)

For more information including pricing, locations, and gift packages please check out the Appy Feet website x I'd like to think everyone at Appy Feet Metro Centre and MK Things Happen for the opportunity to try out the treatment. Any questions please ask.

(The 15 minute treatment retailing at £10 was provided for review purposes this hasn't affected my review in anyway)

Project 10 Pan Update - 1 Down

Well my first item on Project 10 Pan is officially finished as predicted it was my full sized Laura Geller Balance & Brighten in Regular.

This has lasted so long, admittedly I only use it during the summer months or when I have a bit of tan but this has easily lasted me about 3 years, either as a mineral foundation in it's own right or as a setting powder for my liquid foundation. I have a couple of back ups of this both in the regular and the light shade, so it's something I don't need to repurchase for long time; I also have a MAC MSF Natural and the Alva Colour one I reviewed a while ago both in pale winter shades to use up as well, eek I am a creature of habit buying loads of back ups and similar products lol Never mind I am one item down only another 9 to go ;) I think my next one will probably be a lip product or a mascara. Remember to vote in my Project 10 Pan Poll if you haven't already I really appreciate it xx Any questions please let me know xx

A Bad Girls Perfume Obsession

I don't know why but lately I have developed a real perfume obsession since the summer I have added about another 5 to my collection including a new one today, I had my NHS appointment this afternoon so I had a few minutes in town so I popped into the Factory Shop and bought a few festive gifts and I also bought something for me - a fragrance that I hadn't heard of, probably because it's one of the ones they bring out especially for cheap Christmas gifts ;) It's Sex In The City - Lust, it's actually quite nice if a bit synthetic,it's got a bit of depth to it and it's quite fruity

Better still it was only £5 for 100ml,  OK I've gone even further over my spending limit for this month but I deserved a treat after my appointment x

Goods and Bads

I know a lot of bloggers have been doing the Sunday or Monday summary but I've decided to keep doing my goods and bads posts despite I haven't done one for a few weeks eek so lets get started :)

Goods

• My new laptop :) I'm just about used to all the quirks now I think,and I'm loving the larger screen size and full sized keyboard
• Spent the afternoon in Asda superstore and in Ikea - I am doing really well with my Christmas shopping, and I've even picked up a few bits for the Christmas giveaway I have planned ;)

• I love my mum - have I mentioned that recently she has bought me so much lately and to cap it off she bought me a coat today from Asda - a bright red belted military style coat - I haven't had a red coat for years not so much Little Red Riding Hood, more Large Red Riding Without A Hood :)
• My mum made the Christmas cake last night it smells gorgeous
• Trufree Gluten Free Mince Pies are amazing end of lol

Bads

• The heating is really iffy at the moment we are supposed to be getting a new boiler and radiators in by Christmas but argh it went off for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon typical just as the weather is getting colder - it's been really icy the past couple of nights and the Asda car park was covered in salt :(
• ME /CFS pretty much always in my bads but I have had a lot of pain over the weekend and today, specially in my rib cage and I think I'm coming down with a cold again, still I am going to start a new NHS  programme tomorrow called condition management so we'll see what that can do fingers crossed it helps somehow
• Blogging and You Tube - I have a whole load of posts to do and videos to upload which I don't seem to have time to do fingers crossed I get caught up by the end of the week