Alva Naturkosmetik Foot Care Anti-Callous Balsam - A Review For My Pure and A Product Rave!

Unless you've been living under or rock or in case your a recent follower you might have noticed that in January I broke my ankle. Thankfully everything is just about healed now but there was a downside to the months in plaster and in an ankle brace - absolutely hideously dry skin on my right foot. The plaster and the brace helped my ankle to heal but with the constant friction and lack of air my foot turned into something even a hobbit would be ashamed of. I haven't included any pictures of the offending foot so you'll just have to believe when I say it was bad. I tried lots of creams and things on my foot but nothing seemed to do the trick, so for one my April products from My Pure I decided to go for the Alva Naturkosmetik Foot Care Anti Callous Balsam.

The product from German, certified organic company Alva contains ingredients such as Calendula, Tea Tree, Sage, Thyme and Manuka Oil which have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. It also includes Vitamin E which helps skin to restore and soften; Other softening ingredients include Vegetable Glycerin, Vegetable Oil, Peanut Oil and Beeswax. It also includes Willow Bark Extract to help with cracked and painful skin.

The product itself comes boxed and in small 30ml brown glass jar in order to protect the essential oils and plant ingredients.

The product itself is described as a balm or balsam so I actually expected it to have a more thicker waxy texture.

 In reality it's more of a cream texture that initially feels quite dense but it does actually spread quite easily, and I found that it absorbed into my feet quite quickly, leaving them with a herbal Tea Tree type smell which was very clean and refreshing.

Alva and My Pure  make a number of big claims for this product claiming that it will smooth cracked and dry skin, and remove pressure points and callouses without the use of pumices and scrubs on not only your feet, but on your hands, elbows and on your knees. They also claim that you should see a 75% reduction in hard calloused skin within 28 days. Do I believe them - as a matter of fact yes I do!

Despite my initial fears that this little point of cream wasn't thick enough to do the trick, this stuff is officially amazing - I've used this cream at least once a day on just my right foot and the difference has been astounding. At the start of the month my foot was still splinted up and was so dry and sore it was untrue - my heel was literally peeling off the skin was so raw and scrubbed. I used this pretty much every night - I just rubbed a small amount into my heel and the balls of my feet. It took a few minutes to soak in and immediately you could feel the difference. On my last hospital appointment on 20th April my feel were in a good enough condition to wear flip flops. My heels look normal, and there is virtually no dryness or soreness anywhere on my foot, in fact I've even had to start treating my left foot to even them up ;) Although you really don't need very much my one tiny complaint is that the jar isn't that big I would prefer a slightly bigger container for the price. Never the less this product has certainly made it onto my April favourites list it has rescued my feet just in time for summer and considering the state of my foot less than 2 months ago it really is (whispers) a miracle product - love, love, love it :) Alva Naturkosmetik Foot Care Anti-Callous Balsam retails at £12.50 for 30ml from My Pure.

*Sample

I've Got The Royal Wedding Nailed

After my little look at some of the more bizarre Royal Wedding Merchandise it's not surprise that the beauty industry has got involved, with special kits and products from brands such as Neals Yard, Batiste, Elemis, Nails Rocks, Essie and Leighton Denny I didn't take much persuasion to get out my purse but what did I buy?
Well in two words nail varnish - OPI's Britannia Collection to be honest was just a bit of a re-release of older shades some of which I already own including Dating A Royal.

So I skipped it, and I also skipped the Leighton Denny and Essie Royal themed kits, but I did buy a Butter London polish. Butter London has a few London and Monarchy named polishes including HRH, Tea With The Queen and All Hail The Queen, but the star for me is No More Waity, Katie

Made to the usual Butter London formula which is free from formaldehyde, toluene and DBP, No More Waity, Katie is a limited edition nail polish designed by Butter London and inspired by Kate Middleton to celebrate the biggest wedding of the year. Described as a greige with a lilac glitter, in reality is a kind of dirty lilac with a purple sparkle

The first coat was a streaky mess a very, very sheer lilac with the odd splodge of glitter, coat 2 was better but these pics are taken with 3 coats - I love the colour but the application was a nightmare, it was streaky and super splodgy - not good lovely colour but an awful formulation, such a shame. Butter London No More Waity, Katie is a limited edition polish with retails at around £15.00 from Butter London stockists including Power Rooms and Debenhams.

Next up the biggie -  British company Nails Inc seem to have gone Royal Wedding daft with limited edition crystal cap polishes and a gift set of 4 limited edition polishes. I couldn't resist the gift set and purchased it with one of my Diet Coke vouchers so I got it for £20 as opposed to £25 but the full set should retail for £44 if you could buy them separately (as Louise tries to justify her purchase as a bargain ;)

Packaged in a gorgeous cream and gold box with a gold ribbon, all of the polishes in the Royal Polish Collection, are limited edition and feature gold lids instead of the usual silver. The blue, red and gold polishes are all named after famous Royal locations including castles and religious establishments.

First up Sandringham, named after the Queens Norfolk residence - a gorgeous metallic shimmery red -exactly the same colour as my mums new car :)

It's a little darker than it showing here the bottle shot is probably the most accurate but it's a proper rich regal red ;). With just one coat I got perfect coverage with this one - if your after a good rich red this is definitely the one x

The second polish in the collection is named after the wedding venue Westminster Abbey

OMG this is easily my favourite colour of the 4! Described as a liquid gold shimmer, it is basically a liquid gold, with tiny sparkles in it. For being a sparkle / glitter it applied really easily this is two coats here but you probably could have got away with just one the coverage was so good

It's is much, much nicer than it looks here you really can't see the true sparkle and liquid gold appearance.

My one issue was that like a lot of glitters and sparkles it was soooo hard to remove, but that doesn't bother me in the slightest, this is a gorgeous colour that I really didn't want to remove :)

Next up Balmoral, named after the Queen's Scottish residence :)

This is perhaps the strangest colour in the collection, all the others are metallics, and sparkles, but this is just a true mannequin hands nude beige colour.

The first coat applied a little bit streaky as creams often do but the second seemed to even it out. Not the most eye catching colour but probably the most wearable of the four.

 

The final colour in the set is probably the one that first drew me in - Windsor - described by Nails as a deep metallic navy - a true regal colour if ever there was one

The bottle pictures indeed do make it look a deep shimery navy blue, but in some lights it can also look more like an indigo shade with a touch of purple to it

In real life it probably looks darker than it does here, but again to be honest one coat would have done I only did two because of my poor painting skills -these pictures are taken without the flash

This picture is taken with the flash you can see much more of the flashes that appear in real life

This I have to say is a gorgeous colour, giving my love for blue nail polishes it was a welcome addition to this kit, do I already own something similar to this, yeah probably but that has never stopped me before:)

All in all I think this was a pretty decent set all the colours are wearable and the quality seems to be there too. I know this is a limited edition kit but a few places still seem to have it including, ASOS, Debenhams, QVC and of course Nails Inc themselves and I think it's pretty good value for £25 espeically since I got it for £20:)

I hope you have all enjoyed Royal Wedding Day - I have to say I've only watched a little bit to see the frocks and hats mainly and boy haven't there been some shockers - Fergie's girls and Miriam Clegg mainly! Although I wish them well as I would any couple on their wedding day I still find it hard to feel any sort of emotion towards a couple who I don't know so my glances at the screen have been fleeting I must say, but the TV networks loss has been you gain as well as blog post drafting I have a few You Tube vids ready to go up too - I hope you all enjoy the rest of the day and the saying what goes around comes around is a true one - this ring was my grans alas not real sapphires and diamonds but not too different in style to Catherine's I think?

I hope you've found this post useful/interesting I have a renewed respect for nail bloggers after all the painting and removing :) Any questions give me a yell xxx

A Gift From A Gorgeous Follower

Last week I received a lovely email from one of my followers Victoria - she had recently gotten a lipstick from Back 2 MAC which didn't suit her, as it was an item from my wishlist she offered to send me it.

It came this morning along with a packet of little mini chocolate eggs which I'm afraid me and Mummy LouLou ate this afternoon, white and milk choc eggs nom nom in my tum. The lipstick itself was Plink.

Described by MAC as a yellow seashell pink in a lustre formula, it is a gorgeous sheer pinkie peach shade - I'm in love, I am so over nudes now :)

It was so sweet of Victoria to send me this, not only that but she refused to take anything in return - a huge thank you honey and if you don't follow her blog already get following her :)http://victoriatreasures.blogspot.com/ . My followers really are the best - thanks to you all x

From Breakfast Cereal To Gnomes Celebrate The Royal Wedding In Style

Well it's eventually hear after all the TV and press coverage it's eventually Royal Wedding week - it seems like the preparation and hype has being going on for years. Today's post is the first of two concerning Royal Wedding Memorabilia. This one I have to say is a bit tongue in cheek, Royal Wedding souvenirs have come along way from the obligatory Union Jack, mugs and a bit of bunting - although these bits are still alive and kicking and available at anywhere from Selfridges to Aldi, a lot of souvenirs have taken a different slant, from the cute to the damn right ridiculous I have trawled the net to find my picks. I have in no way been coerced into writing about or sent press releases on any of these items, these are just some of them that have took my fancy :)

First up probably the most controversial and probably the most talked about (well the most controversial that I was going to feature anyway - try googling Royal Wedding merchandise ;) Royal Wedding sick bags - hmm well I am sure some people will certainly take offence at these but I like to think that they are for when you have celebrated Wills and Kate's big day a bit erm shall we say too much :) Designed by graphic designer Lydia Leith these retail at £3 each.

Next up something a little more erm sedate - tea bags, not not the lovely Twinnings Royal Blend (nom) but these Kate and William tea bags by Donkey Products. To celebrate the wedding they have added to their celebrity tea bag range, which already includes musicians and fashion designers and brought out a William and Kate version - these retail at £6.00 from Urban Outfitters

Sticking to the food theme I was surprised to find these Kate and William Breakfast Cereal - William's The Royal O's and Special Kate's -  in a limited run of just 1000 per box start your day with some Royal cereal at only £9.99 a box :)

Next up one of my favourites - Royal Wedding themed garden gnomes - maybe William and Kate in their later years ?- thanks to B&Q just £20 for the 2 :)

Perhaps a more traditional idea next paper dress up dolls, take this opportunity to dress both William and Kate the way you want, you could even deisgn your own wedding dress :) just £5.99 from Culture Label

Next up a couple of bits for the little ones including this cute little HappyLand figure set at just £12 from the Early Learning Centre

and finally one of they toys of my childhood Sylvanian Families and their Wedding Celebration Set with William and Catherine Bunny Rabbit which retails at £24.71 from Amazon - surely they should have been Corgis?

and finally probably my favourite that really makes me wish I could knit - Knit You Own Royal Wedding by Fiona Goble, just £5.67 from Amazon - you can knit everyone in the wedding party from William and Kate, to the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Corgis. I am waiting for a copy from the library so I can have a proper read :)

Oh and if you want bunting for your street party (is anyone actually having one?) I personally would forgo the traditional route and buy this shabby chic version from Accessorize - cute eh!
I hope you have enjoyed this tongue and cheek look at Royal Wedding Memorabilia - it makes you realise I guess how much companies will try to cash in on any event or occasion. Next up some Royal Wedding goodies that I did buy and yes it will be beauty related ;) xx

Easter Greetings

Hey my loves instead of my normal Monday Goods and Bads post I thought I'd focus on lots of positives and happy things :)

First up Happy Easter - I hope you have all had a fabulous holiday weekend - I got so much chocolate it is untrue - the picture above shows two of my favourites the customary chocolate bunny and a Cadburys Caramel Bunny mug :) I haven't weighed myself next week because I just know that I've gained, and believe it or not I'm cool with that - it's just one of those things I'll weigh in next Sunday and deal with it then :)
I had a pretty quiet long weekend to be honest I am just getting used to walking around on my bare feet, I am ok in the house but going will probably be a different story - uneven ground and kirbs eek. I managed to have a proper bath on Friday which was my first since before my accident and it was amazing I have a whole load of Christmas Lush things to use up :)
On to my bloggy blog - well I managed to get most of the posts I wanted up last week including my giveaway (click here to check it out), and I've gained some more new followers which is so exciting - thanks guys :) Again I have quite a few posts planned this week including a couple of Royal Wedding posts which I hope you'll enjoy, a couple of reviews and hopefully towards the end if this week and into next my shopping your stash / rediscovered products post and the accompanying video :)
Apologies that I didn't get a blog sale update up yesterday but I was feeling a bit blargh never mind - I will try and list a whole load of new items on Saturday including more limited edition MAC items, Sleek and more x Huge thanks to everyone that made a purchase from me last week, everything was posted on Monday afternoon so if you haven't got it by now you should soon x
Well I am off to eat some more Easter Egg, and enjoy the remnants of the Bank Holiday, and if your in the UK don't forget we get to do it all again this weekend - lets just hope the weather holds x

Get The Glow With Perfume Fairy (UK Only) - CLOSED

Edited To Add - This is giveaway is now closed thanks for all you enteries I will announce the winner tomorrow x

As you may have noticed I recently did a little post on my blog talking about Perfume Fairy - the Perfume Price Comparison Website (click here to read it ). Well the lovely people at Perfume Fairy have provided me with a a little prize especially for you. You can win 100ml bottle of JLo Miami Glow EDT.

With an RRP of £38, Miami Glow is just one in the series of Glow fragrances, deisgned and endorsed by Jennifer Lopez. Miami Glow is described as a mixture of tropical fruits, shimmering floral notes, amber and musk - perfect for summer :) Not only that but the bottle features a cute friendship bracelet with a little flip flop charm a perfect beach accessory.

Giveaway Rules

You must be in the UK (sorry to my international followers I'll make it up to you xx)

You must be a follower of my blog

Just leave a comment telling me what your favourite perfume is and the cheapest price you can get it for by using Perfume Fairy The Price Comparsion Website x

You have until Saturday 30th April at 6pm UK time to enter x

That's it any questions please let me know and Good Luck xx

(This Is A Sponsored Giveaway In Association With Perfume Fairy The Perfume Price Comparison Site)



Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish - A Product Rave

I promised you this post in my recent Boots No 7 Radiance Boosting Hot Cloth Cleanser review so here it is a  product rave on one of my favourite products ever :) Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish has to be one of my most purchased ever products - the amount of bottles I've used must be well into double figures - I love it :) I first bought this about 7 years ago in a little travel kit and I have to admit I used, thought yeah it was OK and then moved on to something else. It wasn't until one of my relatives started using the range and started raving about it, that I decided to give it another go and to be honest I've never looked back.
My skin has never been that bad but I was prone to oily skin, congestion and blackheads I have to say I was sceptical how could such a creamy product clear my skin up - well it did! I don't know whether it was the ingredients or the exfoliating action of the muslin cloth but my skin is is 100% better than it was all those years ago.

Cleanse and Polish generally comes in a 100ml pump action dispenser, although sometimes you can get special 200ml tubes and you can also get little travel sized tubes. It has a creamy balmy texture and contains amongst other things Cocoa Butter, Rosemary Extract, Vegetable Glycerin, and Eucalyptus Extract. The Eucalyptus is the key ingredient for me, it has such a fresh clean smell, and it's especially good when you have a cold :)

To use it I generally massage a couple of pumps over my dry face to dislodge the grime and make up (the cleanse part), then I damped the muslin cloth in warm water (the warmer the better) and move it in circular motions across my face and gently over my eyes (the polish part). Cleansing and exfoliating in just one step simples :) This stuff really gets everything off from waterproof mascara, to long wear foundation. I have to say I prefer to use a separate eye make up remover because I don't like the pull on my eyelids but you really don't need to - this will take it off no problem at all.

My skin is still oil prone and I would probably describe it as combination, but it works just as well on drier or more mature skin. I must say Cleanse and Polish did break me out for the first few weeks I used it but from what I was told this is just because it is giving you skin a more through cleanse than what you have been using - so don't give up and don't panic your skin will sort itself out x

Cleanse and Polish leaves my skin super soft, clean and clear, and because of the glycerin and cocoa butter never dry or tight. I don't generally buy into the hype surrounding products (I don't honest;) but this product in my opinion deserves every bit of praise it gets - I even made a You Tube video singing it's praises and showing you how it works - it was in the early days of my channel so you may have missed it so I'll pop it in here for you x


I either buy my Cleanse and Polish from QVC or directly from Liz Earle, but you can also buy it in John Lewis too. As well as rave for Cleanse and Polish this should also be a rave for Liz Earle in general - if you order from her website you also get samples, and the customer service is second to none you really feel like you matter and that your custom is appreciated. Prices for Cleanse and Polish start at just £5.10 for a 30ml starter tube to £11.75 for a 100ml pump. Any questions please ask x

Clothing Bargains - Sainsburys

Well we had intended to go to the Metro Centre this week but it never happened, and there is no way I am going on a Bank Holiday weekend so at least I'll save a bit of money ;) We did however pop to Sainsburys yesterday after my hospital appointment. Sainsburys is one of the last places that I would ever think for looking for clothes, Tesco and Asda yes Sainsburys no, although why that is I don't know - Sainsburys have their own clothing label TU, and it just so happened that from yesterday till Easter Monday there is 25% off their entire clothing range including sale items. My mum picked up a sage green t- shirt for herself for just £2 and she bought me a couple of bits too. First up harem pants - I love harems yes they aren't always flattering but they are just so comfy and easy to wear especially in a light jersey fabric - these khaki ones (they are looking grey here but they are definitely khaki) came to less than £6

Next up a skirt this was originally £20 but we got it for less than a tenner, it has an elasticated waist and is double layered - I am really loving pleats at the moment :)

Have you ever found clothing bargains in an unexpected source? Any questions let me know xx