Nailbox June 2015*

Hey All

Beauty boxes are a saturated market now but I still love the odd one. There is starting to be a change in the market with more variety from health snack boxes to specific boxes. Nailbox is a subscription service that offers flexible subscriptions. You can order one off boxes for £15 or pay for 3,6 and 12 month subscriptions which saves some money.

L and I are both big nail fans and love painting our nails so a nail specific box was going to be something we loved. Each box contains 3-4 polishes and a nail tool or treatment. I do like that it's not just all polish.

We were kindly sent the June box to try out and review. As I've got a ridicuoulsy large nail collection atm and I'm trying to grow my nails and not paint them too much L tested out all the colours. I couldn't resist snapping up the seche vite (£9) though as it's my favourite top coat. Nothing beats it in my opinion. You can reads my original review here.

The thing that immediately stood out to us in the box were the great brand names and the wearable colours. The Nails Inc Gel Polish in Colville Mews L put on straight away as she had a wedding to go to. Nude nails go with everything and leave a look polished and classy. L loved how smoothly it applied and the gel effect left a great glossy finish. This nail polish alone is worth the price of the box as it retails for £15.

The elegant touch cuticle nipper is worth £12.50. I think cuticles are usually something people neglect to clip. I find my cuticles need clipping every few weeks. Tools like this make it so much easier. I can't get on with scissors but this is sharp and allows precision without cutting more than is needed.

The second colour L tested out was the Tanya Burr Polish in Mischief Managed £5.99. We'd both heard a lot about these but this was one L didn't get on with. It wasn't the easiest to apply, had a thin formulation and took too long to dry. 

The final colour was Essie Roarrrrange £7.99. Essie is a brand we both love and you'll find lots of NOTDs of. They have a great colour range, great formula and a reasonable price. Roarrrange didn't disapoint with that. It's a perfect summer colour and one L will be getting lots of use from!

Overall we are both really impressed with this box. It's great value (worth over £50)  and comes with good brand names. Previous boxes have included china glaze (another favourite brand of L and I) and opi!

What's your thoughts on a nail only subscription box? I'll be treating myself to more of these! I do love that from what I've seen the colours in the boxes also reflect the season not just a random selection. It really feels like thought goes into the box. 

Love L and M

xxx

Mac Viva Glam V

Hey All

Sorry for the lack of posts from me last week. It was my birthday on the weekend and I hadn't got around to writing any as I'd been with the family and then left for a few days away with the OH and his family to celebrate his brother's graduation.

When my family were down to celebrate my birthday my brother's wife wanted to take the opportunity to visit a Mac counter. I didn't plan on buying anything as I was holding out to buy the Cool Neutral palette but was waiting for a decent beauty care offer (which there is now by the way £10 worth of points if you spend £50!) but at the counter I spotted the viva glam lipsticks and was drawn to this neutral shade. First of apologies as I've not got any swatches on the lips but the day after I bought it coldsores have taken over.

The Mac Viva Glam range comes in the normal box but the lipsticks instead of silver around the bullet and holding the lipstick it's red. I quite like this as it's the only Viva Glam one I have it'll be easy to spot in my collection. If you weren't aware Mac donate the full price of the lipstick minus VAT to charity for the Viva Glam range so you can buy a lipstick and feel like you're helping people. L has the Viva Glam Nicki Minaj which you can see here.

Mac Viva Glam V Swatch

Mac describes it as a neutral pink. I'd say it's a touch more neutral brown. I think this is the first lustre finish in my collection but I'm actually a fan. In the neutral shades it gives the lips a healthy shine of colour.

With coldsores all finally healed I can add some pictures! I've really been reaching for this lipstick lately. I love it for everyday and find my lips look plumped with it on.

Have you tried the Viva Glam range? What's your favourite Mac lipstick? 

Love M xxx 

Orla Kiely Home Fragrance Collection

Hello there!

I recently wrote a post about how I've just bought my own house - I'm still moving my stuff and still don't have broadband either (let's not even get on that conversation shall we....) but my house is feeling so much more like a home now that it doesn't smell of cleaning or paint.

ORla Kiely have some absolutely amazing products for the home.

Orla Kiely is relaunching her Home Fragrance collection by adding three new fragrances to the three pre-existing ones, each with their own statements prints.
I was kindly sent the Sicilian Lemon Reed Diffuser and Orange Rind Scented Candle for my new home and I can't have been more pleased with them!

The Sicilian Lemon reed diffuser contains a blend of lemon, mint, frankincense and lavender oils, and to be honest it smells fantastic. I'm a huge lover of citrus and mint scents so this is perfect for me.

The bottle is also beautiful, the pattern is beautiful and typical Orla Kiely. Prints with patterns please me due to their symmetry, this is the kind of bottle that you would be happy to put out on display around your house.

I can't comment as to how long the scent lasts for as they have been in my house for a week and still going strong as you would expect. The reed diffuser is in the window in my living room that over looks the garden, I can smell it every time I walk through my living room and especially when the doors are open! 

The Orange Rind Scented Candle is another amazing product. The pattern is again beautiful and symmetrical and the colours match the scent.

The candle contains orange rind, sandalwood, eucalyptus and nutmeg for a warming glow that reminds me of winter time as oranges always do - but it isn't a wintery scent at all.

I love the jar that it comes in as it was so simplistic but also comes with a matching coaster to put your candle on, it's touches like this that make a product what it is.

Here is the candle on my windowsill on the stairs, I'm slowly but surely filling my house with citrus scents and it smells wonderful!

What I love most about these products is that the fragrances are so accurate and not synthetic at all.

The Sicilian Lemon Reed Diffuser is 200ml and costs £32, the Orange Rind Scented Candle is 200g and costs £25.
I always think it pays to buy a more expensive home fragrance product, you cannot beat a genuine scent and these are really great.

Do you like Orla Kiely patterns? What's your favourite scent?

L xxx

New House

Hey all!

I've been a bit quiet on the blogging front for a few weeks and that has totally been down to the fact that I have finally got keys to my house!! Woohoo!!

Although it doesn't need a lot of major work doing to it there have been lots of jobs to be done and I've spent every hour there possible to get it done. I'm exhausted!! My muscles have certainly taken a beating and it's therefore no surprise that i have also not been to the gym in 2 weeks either - the horror.

I can't wait to show you all some pictures especially the before and after pictures; the bedroom was almost black to start with!! 

I moved all of my clothes etc in yesterday and spent my first night there last night. It was so quiet I slept the whole night without waking up even though i have a cold so I was pleased that I don't seem to have noisy neighbours even on a Saturday night.

Today is all about a second trip home to squeeze in as many bits as I can to my house as I still don't have enough furniture to store everything yet - particularly my library of books that I've accumulated over the years. I've also got my slow cooker on and meat and fish marinading in the fridge ready for a cooking session this evening. I'm slowly but surely making the place my own as it seems the couple who lived there before me barely used the house. I don't think the oven has ever been used before!

If you have any storage tips let me know, I'm also looking for interior design blogs for storage and furniture painting so if any one has any favourites please send them my way for me to browse! As you can see in the image above I have a lot of old furniture from my family and they're going to look lovely when they're all painted shabby chic style - I just need to get as many tips as possible first!

I should be getting my new broadband etc set up this week so please bear with me whilst I'm offline for another week or so - I have so many wonderful things to blog about and share with you!!

L xxx