OPI My Pointe Exactly

Morning All

I'm hopefully back in the swing of my beauty posts! It feels like ages since I've had the time to write properly. The last few weeks have passed in a blur. As the weather is getting worse I found myself drawn to My Point Exactly. I picked up the New York Ballet Mini's collection two years ago at the airport. It was an impulse purchase and I've not really used them all that much. 

I've not used some of the colours as much as I'd like as they are sheer formulas and I don't always have long natural nails. I'm a nail biter!

My Pointe Exactly is a sheer grey polish. It takes a 3 coats to build up to this level of coverage. I really like the finish on this. It's quite a subtle but done look to the nails and great for work when bright nail polish isn't allowed.

Grey in this shade isn't a colour I'd usually go for but I did receive a few compliments on it. I think for when my nails are longer I'd like more sheer polishes to try.

I find with these thin layers work better and a good top coat. Thick layer just peel off.

These are still available on Amazon.

Have you tried this collection?

Love M

xxx

Tough Mudder

Hi there!

If you've been following us on twitter or reading our fitness posts then you will be aware that we both took part on a Tough Mudder challenge two weeks ago.

If you don't know what a TM challenge is then here's a quick run down; each course is designed by Special Forces and is between 10 and 12 miles long. There are roughly 20 obstacles on each course but this could vary, particularly if you have completed a TM course before as you will have additional obstacles available to you that first timers do not.

The obstacles vary in their challenges; you could be required to climb a wall, swim through ice, crawl underground, jump off a plank into water or run through electric wires. You don't find out until the week before what the course is like nor which obstacles you will have to endure.

Here a few snaps from our day!

The official photos from the day are great and provided free which is always good. As events like Cardiff Half you have to pay for the photos. TM is really all about team work and you come away feeling like you've really achieved something and even if you didn't fully know your team at the start you will at the end.

It's such a friendly environment all the way around and everyone helps everyone on the obstacles which is great. As things like the 10 feet walls (one of the hardest obstacles for me!) were fine at getting people over but without the help of other teams your last person wouldn't be able to do it.

It's definitely something that pushes you to your limits but all of us that did it totally loved it and can't wait for next years south west event to do it all over again. We've all said we'd tailor our training differently if we did it again so here is some of our advice.

• Road running isn't all that helpful. The course is very hilly, after obstacles this is especially tiring. As much as possible run on hilly routes and uneven ground. It's a lot of running through wooded areas so over rocks and twigs.
• You need the upper body strength. (We both tried hard to do this!) Think press ups and pulls up. These sort of movements help build the strength you'll need for the day especially to be able to pull yourself over some of the smaller walls. Luckily the boys helped us with this.
• A good general fitness level. There is no point focusing on one thing. The next day everything hurt including the abs. This course uses every muscle!
• You will complete. Friend of ours had previously told us it was more of mind over body and towards the end it really was. When every part of you aches and you've been going for over 3 hours it's hard to get the energy to do some of the obstacles but you will find the strength to do them.
• Have a good supportive team around you. A few tall strong men will be helpful on the day!

Have you ever done Tough Mudder? We can't wait for next year!

Love L & M

xxx

Good Things Manuka Honey Creamy Cleanser

Hello!

I cannot believe it is the end of August already, this year is flying by. and where on earth is all of the summer weather? Is it now autumn already??

Today I have a review on a facial cleanser that I saw one day in Boots and had to snap up. As I'm sure I've mentioned a zillion times already I have recently become unemployed because I hated my job so much and was made to feel so uncomfortable that I left without another job to go to. This is quite scary really and takes some explaining in interviews but basically for blog purposes it means that I am super skint!

No longer can i afford my number one cleanser in the form of Origins Checks and Balances at a cost of £17 so I've been seeking out a cheaper version with all of the same qualities that I look for:

• Removes majority of make up (I have to use eye make up remover/micellar water anyway for my super sensitive eyes so as long as its 90% removed I'm happy)
• Leaves my skin feeling clean without feeling 'squeaky clean' and tight, and ideally with a bit of hydration too
• Smells good
• Lathers well without a load of chemical nasties

Impossible?? I thought it might be. Until this one!

Good Things is a brand I've previously blogged about (link here) and I loved the ethos of the brand and also the product I previously tried, which is sadly no longer available.
All products are free from SLS (foaming agent) parabens and mineral oils which to me is a pretty good start.

I chose the Manuka Honey Creamy Cleanser as firstly I'm obsessed with manuka honey, it smells good, tastes good and has a ridicukous amount of amazing properties. I love Antipodes Aura Manuka Honey mask for this reason and was interested to see how a cleanser works out too.
My skin is also getting older, siiiiiiiigh, and tends to needs more hydration than my younger oil slick face days and so a creamy cleanser sounded like the right option.
Lastly the price of £4.99 (its currently on offer in Boots for £3.33!) was very appealing. 3 for the price of my normal cleanser?? Surely worth a try!

It also contains Royal Jelly and Beeswax which was interesting. Straight from the Boots website you can see the blurb here:

Cleansing is the key to great-looking skin and this creamy cleanser has it all.

Super-hydrating royal jelly, rich in amino acids, helps to condition and replenish skin while the antibacterial properties of manuka honey ensure skin is thoroughly clean and balanced.

Black raspberry extract and vitamin E, both full of antioxidants, helps give skin a radiant, youthful glow.

This sounds like the perfect compromise to me, this cleanser should still remove the grime and oil from the day with the help of the antibacterial properties of manuka honey but also hydrate it with the royal jelly and help it glow with antioxidants. Sounds like a miracle!

Alice Hart Davis certainly seems to know her stuff and I have really enjoyed using this cleanser the last few weeks. I've been using a dollop of it applied to damp skin and removing it with a muslin cloth.
This seems to remove almost all of my make up, though it does have a little trouble with some eye make up but this isn't an issue for me as I have to be careful with my eyes and use a separate remover anyway.

The smell reminds me of warmth, if that makes any sense whatsoever. It reminds me of warm baked goodies coming out of the oven and is quite a comforting smell which I put down to the manuka honey.

I really cannot fault this product for the job nor the price and luckily for us it's often on offer at Boots!

Also in the range is a face mask, face scrub and daily moisturiser; all of which I am sure will find their way into my handbag on my next shopping trip!

Have you tried Good Things before? Do you have a favourite product?

Have you tried any from the Manuka Honey range before?

Let me know!

L xxx

Ted Baker: That's a Wrap Nail Wraps

Good evening!

Hope you're all looking forward to the weekend, even of the weather is dreary and grey. I already posted earlier on my review of Slender Tox Tea but couldn't resist writing up another review of these beautiful nail wraps as I drink my tea and watch Harry Potter. It really is one of those wintery evening already!

We were kindly sent these super cute nail wraps to try.....as a nail wrap virgin I was apprehensive how they would work, how long they would last and if I would get on with them at all!

First off the packaging. I always love nudes and metallics and so this packaging appeals to me a lot, if I saw these on a stand I would definitely be drawn to them. We were sent two different colours to try and so I picked these, and M picked the darker version of the same floral pattern.

There are 14 nail polish strips to use and each one varies in width so you can pick the perfect size for your nails. Like the back of the packaging states; if you've no time for polish this should be perfect for those times when you need super chic nails in super fast times.

I love the floral pattern that is unique to Ted Baker, I'd love to get my hands on their kimonos in a print like this and don't even get me started on the make up bags!

You can see the variety of sizes of the nail wraps in the picture below, they even have the actual measurements on them too.

So once they are taken out of the packaging you are left with a silver foil wrap which keeps the wraps themselves clean, tidy and stops them from drying out.

The instructions are pretty simple; choose your nail size, peel from the bottom where the measurement is and apply to the base your nail in the correct position. After this all you need is to press firmly down onto the nail wrap and use a nail file to remove the excess nail wrap that you don't need. you just need to file downwards at the end of the nail and the excess seems to fall off leaving your nails perfect!

This was the first time I'd used nail wraps and although they really are easy, it does take some practice just to get the application at the base of the nail correct as once that's done the rest is easy. Also i have what some people call 'pianist fingers', which basically means my fingers and nails are really long and narrow. My nails, even when filed down REALLY short seem to be longer than anyone else's when they're fully grown! This meant that they didn't fit my nails 100% perfectly width wise but they still looked pretty good.

i loved how simple they were and they lasted a whole weekend. I doubt on me they'd last much longer with working in labs and they did start to wear. They would be absolutely perfect for a wedding or hen weekend and I'd buy them in future for this, especially the summer ones with floral patterns like this!

I really like how all of the nails are unique; i could never recreate my own version of this with nail polish so i love the flexibility nail wraps give you.

Have you tried Ted Baker nail wraps? What did you think?

You can find them at Boots for £7.50 and there are four different versions available!

L xxx