Nails of the Week

China Glaze Secret Peri-Wink-Le in natural window light, with flash
                  
Price: £4.50-£5, including P&P, from beautyzone2007

I've started painting my nails again! I actually started to paint them last week and wore China Glaze Make Some Noise, but I wasn't ready to start taking photos of my nails because I become obsessive when looking at the them, and I don't like it. I will be repainting my nails in Make Some Noise and blogging about it soon though, because I love the colour and formula. 

Anyway, this is China Glaze Secret Peri-Wink-Le. It's, well, a periwinkle shade! It's in-between a blue and a purple... it's a 'blurple'. The formula is thinner than the other China Glaze polishes I own, taking three coats, four on the odd nail. Although I used a flash in the photo above, the natural light is still the dominant light, so the colour is fairly accurate. I was actually surprised by this because blue-purples are a nightmare to photograph!

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Three ways I use my Lush Bubble Bars

The Comforter (1/6 used), Candy Mountain (Christmas product) and Magic Mushroom (Valentine's product).

The Bubble Bars are one of my favourite products from Lush because they can be used for many purposes. I don't have baths, so use them in other ways:

In my shower puff to wash my body. The Bubble Bars are quite concentrated, so be sure to add plenty of water.

In a bucket of water for a foot soak. We're always walking on our feet, so I think they deserve regular pampering. After a Lush Bubble Bar foot soak, my feet are soft and smell great!

In the bottom of the bath tub, with the plug in and shower on. Whilst washing my hair, face and body, I like to soak my feet. This is similar to the use above, but is for people who don't have time for a long foot soak.


Another way I know people use them is to crumble or grate them in to the drum of your washing machine. I've tried this a couple times, but unfortunately, my clothes didn't come out smelling of anything. If this did work for me, I would use them when washing my bedding and dressing gowns.


When I am not using my Bubble Bars, I leave them around my room (wrapped in cling film) to make it smell amazing.

Not only are the Bubble Bars multi-purpose products, but they can be used multiple times. An average 100g bar lasts me at least 3-4 times, and The Comforter, which is 200g, lasts me at least 6-8 times. I cringe when I hear of people using whole Bubble Bars at once!

Primark hair ties

Hair ties arranged in colour, not in packs.

I've never thought to blog about these because they're everyday, boring items. The boring products are often the most useful though. Primark hair ties come in packs of 30, including both thick and thin variants, and are priced at just £1. As you can see, I've bought quite a few packs! The best thing about these hair ties (apart from the price) is the fact that they are elasticated all the way around and don't have those annoying metal bands on them.

I picked up the hair elastics the other week, after looking for some for months! I use these when I plait my hair.

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Liz Earle Energising Body Lotion

Liz Earle Energising Body Lotion*

Packaging

I love the packaging. The dusky, baby blue tube and silver banner compliment each other well, and gives an overall elegant feel to the product.

Formula

The formula sinks in to your skin fast, so you are able to get dressed straight after applying the product. It moisturises, but what body lotion or butter doesn't? 

The lotion claims to 'firm and tone'... a lot of products claim this, but I don't think it is the products that directly achieve these results. It's more to do with the motion of your hands when rubbing them in, so really, any moisturiser can do this.

Scent

I cannot stand the scent! It does capture my senses, but for the wrong reasons. When you first apply the product to your skin, it smells fresh and herbally, like the other products from the range. Then, when you start to rub it in, the scent changes. I can smell a strong scent of patchouli coming through, which I hate. Looking at the ingredient list (which contains a lot of natural products, yay!), patchouli oil is listed, so this is the reason why I can smell it! The scent lasts for hours on your skin, which, if you like the scent, is a positive aspect.

Price

A 150ml tube is priced at £17, which is very expensive for a body lotion. I wouldn't purchase it because I do not like the scent, and the scent of a body product is very important to me. However, Liz Earle sell smaller sizes of the products, so you can try the products before investing in a full sized one. I would suggest purchasing a 30ml tube first, which is priced at £4.75. Then, if you love the product, you can purchase the 150ml tube.

*PR sample

Avon Empowerment Necklace - Raising awareness and supporting domestic violence charities

On the 8th March, it is International Women's Day 2012. In celebration of this day, Alesha Dixon, Avon's Beauty and Empowerment Ambassador, is launching a new empowerment necklace*. It is priced at just £3.50 and all proceeds will go to Refuge and Women's Aid; Charities that help women who have experienced domestic violence (one in four women experience domestic violence in their lifetime, which is horrifying).

By purchasing and wearing this necklace, you will be supporting and raising awareness of these domestic violence charities.
You can purchase the necklace from here.

*PR sample. I wanted to write about this because I think it is an important cause. I will be encouraging my friends and family to purchase a necklace of their own, to help support these charities.

A cheesy birthday present

I turned 19 on the 20th January (I kept my birthday quiet on the blog this year). For my birthday, my sister bought me this t-shirt I wanted from ASOS. It was originally £18, but I think my sister bought it in the sale for just £9. I love t-shirts (and cheese!), so have already worn it a few times, and I can see myself wearing it a lot.

Pretty Polishes

China Glaze Dance Baby, China Glaze Make Some Noise, China Glaze Secret Peri-Wink-Le, Color Club Gimme A Grape Big Kiss, Color Club Pucci-Licious and Color Club Age of Aquarius. 

Oohh... I want to buy more already! I bought these from eBay seller beautyzone2007. With combined shipping, these worked out to be around £4 each. The Color Club polishes are for my mum and sister, but they may let me borrow them to swatch for you!

The China Glaze Electropop collection contains a lot of shades that are similar to older ones. For example, Make Some Noise is similar to High Hopes, Aquadelic & Kinetic Candy are similar to For Audrey, and Electric Beat is similar to Secret Peri-Wink-Le. 

I don't have shades similar to Dance Baby and Make Some Noise, so that's why I bought them (Dance Baby is a cool toned baby pink, and I only have warm toned baby pinks). I chose Secret Peri-Wink-Le over the new Electric Beat because Secret Peri-Wink-Le is slightly more purple.

Expect some Nails Of The Week posts to follow!