Sunday 31 October 2010

L'Occitane Luxury



How lucky am I? The Boy got me the recent L'Occitane TSV,  because he says he scrubs his arse with my other nice products, so it was only fair that he replaced a few.  Who am I to argue with that logic!?!? Would you say no... hmmm thought not!

 The "warm" version of the TSV arrived this week, in the most humongous box,. which opened to reveal this...  Honestly, this box alone had me excited.   It's a hardened lacquered cardboard gift box in the most beautiful jade colour, that was so pretty and shiny, I almost forgot what was in there.  Almost!  Have a little peek inside.


.Warm option:
  • 1 x Shea Vanilla Shower Cream (500ml) - creamy, detergent-free formula to leave skin soft and delicately scented.
  • 1 x Liquid Soap Sweet Almond (500ml) - enriched with shea butter and soothing aloe vera extract; gentle enough for dry or sensitive skin.
  • 1 x Bergamot Tea Shower Gel (250ml) - delicate shower gel, infused with sparkling citrus and subtle tea.
  • 1 x Ruban D'orange Sunny Shower Gel (250ml) - cleanses softly and leaves a fresh and sparkling scent of citrus fruit on the skin.
  • 1 x Almond Shower Oil (75ml) - when in contact with water, the oil transforms into a lavish, softening foam.
  • 1 x Shea Vanilla Hand Cream (30ml) - softens the skin and leaves a soft and delicious scent of shea with a hint of vanilla.
  • 1 x Shea Milk Soap (50g) - formulated with a 100% vegetable base and enriched with nourishing shea butter.


I chose the warm selection for the 500ml Vanilla shower gel alone.  I make so secret of the fact that I am a "Vanilla Girl" so this was the first product I had a sniff of.  It actually wasn't what I expected.  It's Vanilla Flower and it has the most lovely creamy, yet understated smell.  It's a bit like mixing vanilla with a very light floral scent.  It's not the cloying cakey smell (that I love!) that my Mum would wrinkle her nose at .  There is something more grown up about it. It's such an attractive looking product. too  It's appears almost metallic in the bottle, which I am assuming has something to do with the shea butter content in the shower gel.  But I could be wrong.  They also included a Vanilla hand cream.  I use L'Occitane Shea hand cream on a daily basis, so this was always going to be a winner for me.  Again, the scent matches the shower gel.  This will have pride of place in my handbag.


I already use the Sweet Almond liquid soap and the Almond Shower Oil, so they are already firm favourites.  What I haven't tried, or smelled before, were he Ruban D'Orange Sunny Shower Gel or the Bergamot Tea Shower Gel. I'll be honest, I wasn't holding out much hope for these as they are not the usual  types of scents that I would gravitate towards. I don't like citrus fruit, unless it's in the form of a Terry's Chocolate Orange and I don't drink tea, I'm a coffee gal.  However, I am very pleasantly surprised that I like them both.  The Boy says that the Ruban D'Orange smells like "Sunny Delight" and he's not far off!!   It has a sweet, almost fizzy scent to it.  I'm not sure how they can make something smell fizzy, but they do.  It's as though you've been drinking Fanta (which coincidently, I don't like!) and all the bubbles have rushed up your nose. That's what this shower gel reminds me of.  This will be a perfect pick me up on dreary winter mornings.  


As for the Bergamot Tea shower gelI would say this is a unisex scent, however it does lean towards the masculine side of the spectrum.. It's mildly herby, but not strong enough to interfere with any perfume you choose to wear afterwards.  There is actually something quite appealing to me about this smell.  Maybe it's the slightly masculine edge to it.  I think The Boy will like this one too.

I'm probably going to refrain from using this for another few weeks.  That will give me time to finish off a few opened bottles of shower gel and truly appreciate a dash of L'Occitane luxury at bath time, when the weather gets a little colder.

Do you use L'Occitane products? Any recommendations? 

Tuesday 26 October 2010

My Change4Life & the Beauty Bloggers Christmas Weightloss Challenge: Week 2

So we are at week 2 already!  Where is the time going? After reading the updates and hearing how well everyone is doing on the BBCWC from The Bristol Beauty Blog, it was with a certain amount of trepidation that I stepped on the scales this morning.  Only to find that....

I lost 3 lb!!

My running total is now 6.5lb in 2 weeks, which I am absolutely delighted with.  I  certainly don't expect it to be like this every week.  But as I keep saying, anything with a minus preceding it, is fine with me!

How has everyone's week been? Any amazing tips you want to share??


Gidders1 (via Twitter) 

Saturday 23 October 2010

To give, or not to give?


So if anyone saw, or managed to get hold of the Nails Inc one day deal last week. This is it. A total bargain for £25 (saving £85), or less if like me, you used the 20% off code.

 I intentionality purchased this a a Christmas present. But as opened the box and oooohhhhed and ahhhhhhed The Boy announced "you are never giving that to someone.  You are going to end up keeping it".  Initially, I was a little prickled, but now I think he could be right.  I don't think I will be sending this off to Father Christmas just yet. I might just keep them here... with me....in my collection. Well, for now anyway! I guess we will just have to see.


The colours are just divine.  And certainly would be a welcome addition to brighten up a winter wardrobe or to add a little party pizazz to an LBD.  

Colours shown above are Buckingham street (sparkly hot pink/silver glitter), Eden Grove (bright teal creme, although it looks more blue in this pic) and Shelton Street (festive gold glitter). I really hope the glitter polishes are densely packed. They appear so in the bottle, but you never can tell until it's on the nail.  Given that I am not sure if I will part with this yet, I'm not prepared to road test them just yet. 


Next colours are Maple Street (a gorgeous metallic chocolate) this is a really beautiful colour, probably my favourite from the set. And then there is The Vale (deep plum creme) which is not dissimilar to Paris (Nails Inc/Diet Coke polish) and Piccadilly Circus from Nails Inc regular line.   


Then comes Dean Street (classic red shimmer) which reminds me a little of Aspen. Berkeley Square (grey creme) and Duchess Street (royal purple creme).


And finally there is Montrose Place (iridescent hot pink) and Eagle Street (nude creme).  I think there is something for everyone and every occasion in this collection. 





I just thought I'd include a few close up shots of the colours that were really eye catching.  I'm still undecided if I will give this as a gift or not, but if you get this from me at Christmas, know that it was very touch and go!! 

Have you started thinking about Christmas presents yet, or are you super organised and are all sorted?

Sneaky Peek at L'Occitane TSV tomorrow

Just having a mooch on the QVC website and I noticed that they had a sneaky peek at the L'Occitane TSV tomorrow.  If you want to see the video from Alexis click here

(image from qvcuk.com)

I think I'll be going for the warm option pictured above.... I'll be in vanilla heaven!!

Friday 22 October 2010

The Scent of a Woman: Benefit So Hooked on Carmella



Benefit So Hooked on Carmella is a fairly new addition to my ever expanding perfume collection.  I got it from vouchers that the MIL and FIL gave me for my birthday. It was one of those scents that I couldn't quite decided if I liked it or not.  I sprayed it every time I went into Boots and in the end I succumbed and got it.

So hooked on Carmella features:

Top notes of lemon, grapefruit and rhubarb. 
Middle notes of cyclamen, peony and tiare flower.
Bottom notes of vanilla, sandalwood and amber. (taken from Debenhams.com). 

 Now I wouldn't have ever said that I could smell lemon or grapefruit -  I don't particularly like either of these scents.  

What it does smell like, or at least to me anyway, is a grown up and fruitier version of the infamous TBS Vanilla Musk.  Oh yes, I was one of those girls.  After a Saturday shopping with Nic, I'd come home to my Mother (aka Parental Unit #1) telling me that I "smelt like a cake", well you know what, that was just fine by me!  I think there is such a warming, comforting quality to vanilla.  I like the scent of vanilla in baking, Yankee Candles and perfume/body products. I'm just a vanilla kind of girl. So shoot me! I also happen to love the scent of sandalwood and amber, so this is a total winner for me. It is a little sweeter than the scents I usually go for. But sometimes, I fancy a sweet treat.

Have you tried So hooked on Carmella? Are you hooked?

Thursday 21 October 2010

OPI Burlesque TSV!

(Picture taken from QVCUK.COM)

Morning all! Just a quick heads up that today's OPI TSV is from the Burlesque collection. The set includes Nail Envy and Avoplex hand cream as well as 3 lacquers in Bring on the Bling Nail Lacquer (gold glitter), Tease-y does it lacquer (chocolate burgundy shimmer) and Let Me Entertain You (fuchsia glimmer)

All for the bargain price of £30.36. 

Happy Shopping!

Wednesday 20 October 2010

And the winners are...


nicoletta (#11)  and WelshBeautyBlog (#3)!! 

Congratulations ladies and thanks to everyone that entered.  Nicoletta and WBB, I have your email address so I will be in touch ;o)

Tuesday 19 October 2010

My Change4Life & the Beauty Bloggers Christmas Weightloss Challenge: Week 1

Well, today is my first weigh in after a week of Weight Watchers and.....

I lost 3.5lb!!! 

I'm delighted as I really didn't expect that in the first week and I am loving the routine of tracking my points online.  I imagine it should *fingers crossed* steady out to about a lb a week - I'd be very happy with that.  Anything with a minus preceding it, is a step in the right direction as far as I am concerned.


Ladies, how goes the BBCWC?? How did everyone's first week go?


Gidders1 (via Twitter) 

Sunday 17 October 2010

I'm trying something Nouba, thanks to Chicky Spouts!


No one was more surprised that I was, that I won Chicky Spouts fantastic Nouba giveaway.  Having not tried any Nouba products before I was excited to give them a try.  So on Friday after a long and dreary week at work,  I arrived home to a little red card from Royal Mail, telling me that a parcel was safely stored in my neighbours (god bless Mavis and Brian). All thoughts of tea went out the window and a hurried over to retrieve my parcel.  Swathed in pink tissue paper the Nouba goodies emerged.


Thanks to Nic (aka Chicky Spouts) I received this stash of gorgeous Autumnal inspired Nouba goodies. I love the packaging, it has a feeling of NARS about it. Very classy!


The two eye shadows I received were Number 30 (top) which is a lovely taupe shade that is shot through with a gold shimmer to make your eyes pop.  I'll be test driving this on Monday at work. The other colour is Number 18 which is the most amazing bronze. I cannot wait to give this one a try, probably on Tuesday. I wont be able to wait!!!  Both colours are creamy, blendable and pigmented, although I would say the Number 18 shade is slightly more more pigmented. But with a colour like that, it needs to be! Each single shadow comes with its own mirror, which is really useful for makeup touch ups on the go. Consider me impressed.


Onto the Rainbow Eyeliner's I have Number 11 (left) which is a deep, rich chocolatey brown and I think (!) Number 56 which is a glitzy bronze shade.  Both a incredibly easy to apply and the brush lends itself to creating the perfect flick, well, it makes my amateur flick's look better anyway!! I'm even debating layering these two up. I think they would look great together.



Finally, I have the Lipstick in Number 55 which is a very creamy, buttery rust colour with a bit of shimmer. Initially, I was a little scared by the intensity of this colour, but having a play around with it, I've noticed it can be worn fairly shear or built up for a more dramatic lip. It really is super creamy and has a gorgeous vanilla scent to it.. Yum!


So here are the final swatches of the Nouba products. Left to right we have Number 30 and Number 18 (eyeshadows) Number 11 and Number 56 (Rainbow Eyeliners) and Number 55 (Lipstick). 

Thank you so much Nic (aka Chicky Spouts ) for the lovely goodies.  I have a feeling I will be placing a Nouba order very soon!

Saturday 16 October 2010

Barry M Lust-Have's Giveaway! CLOSED



Have you been trying to get your mitts on the latest offerings from Barry M?  If  so, then why not enter the first Obsessive Cosmetics Disorder Giveaway?


I have struggled, as have many others, to lay sight on these Barry M Nail Paint's.  They have been so incredibly popular, there have been nothing more than empty shelves when I have gone in search of them.


 With this prize, there is a very long and laborious story that involves me putting the frightners on a Superdrug employee called Matt this morning.  These were the last bottles in the shop and unfortunately their card terminals had gone down and I was sans cash (so that's me and the Queen then!).  I was not about to let Barry M Instant Nail Effects and Dusky Mauve slip through my fingers and poor Matt was a little scared by me and my high pitched wailing.  Needless to say, he kept is word and didn't sell them to anyone else while I stalked off in search of a cash machine. 


 So I now have them for my own collection and wanted to share this with 2 lucky followers of the OCD blog.




I'm going to let the blogging masters tell you about these polishes and show you exactly what they are capable of!  Big Fashionista  gave manicures to any Tom, Dick and Harry with her Instant Nail Effects.  You can read about her exploits here.   Lipglossiping also loved her bottle and has chosen some fantastic colour combinations. to show off the nail art effect to full advantage.   Read about them here.  Just this morning, she has also investigated the comparison between Barry M Dusky Mauve V Chanel Paradoxal  You can check out that post here.  



Just look at how gorgeous this polish is!!?!?!?


Sadly, now it's time for the boring bit:-


The Rules
  • You must be a follower of this blog.and leave a comment telling Nic and I what limited edition/highly sought after product do you regret NOT getting your hands on? ( For example, mine would be a limited edition Clarasonic from Sephora.  It was on special offer when I was in New York in June. I often wish I had gotten it, but perhaps it was for the best... I spent enough as it was!!)
  • This giveaway will close at 11pm (UK time) on Tuesday 19th October.
  • Two winners (winning a Barry M Nail Effects/Dusty Mauve polish each) will be picked at random on Wednesday 20th October.
  • Open worldwide
Good Luck everyone from Leanne and Nic.
X

Friday 15 October 2010

Nail Inc Bargain for ONE DAY ONLY!!

Just a quicke from me...

The awesome Lipglossiping posted about a fabulous Nails Inc deal that is available for today only! She also gave a code that gives a 20% discount off your order.  So naturally, I snapped up this for a Christmas pressie and the code works!

Just thought I'd mention it in case anyone else wanted to get orgainised for Christmas.

Happy Shopping!

Wednesday 13 October 2010

Want!

Nails Inc have collaborated with Cadburys to make some delicious looking nail polishes sneak peeks of these two colours are on Facebook.

Could this be the perfect brown?


and another yummy looking nude. That's all I've seen so far but I'm looking forward to see if there are any more in the collection and what they've named them?

What do you think?


Monday 11 October 2010

My Change4Life & the Beauty Bloggers Christmas Weightloss Challenge


Today was the day, when I finally got a kick up the bum and decided to make a Change4Life.

  I've been really inspired by reading blogs and tweets about Bloggers weight loss.  Lipglossiping, Big Fashionista and BeautyMaze are all having AMAZING results on their respective programmes and I have really wanted to get in on the action.

  However, it wasn't until this morning when The Bristol Beauty Blog tweeted and blogged about the "Beauty Bloggers Christmas Weightloss Challenge" that it really caught my attention.  The premise is to loose half a stone (ie 7lbs) in 8 weeks before Christmas.  I instantly thought "I can do that!". It's a sensible, achievable amount of weight over a set period and if done right, it's likely to stay off. To be honest, I'm hoping I might loose more. But half a stone is a realistic goal!

I have to say, I'm loathe to use the word "diet".  It just conjure's up images of failure in my mind.  So I am not going on a diet, I am making a Change4Life.  The NHS website for Change4Life is packed with really useful information on making positive life choices and increasing exercise. It has tips for families and adults alike. Their by-line is Eat Well. Move More. Live Longer, so here I am.  I am signing up to the "Beauty Bloggers Christmas Weightloss Challenge".  I am going to make healthier food choices and aim to increase my activity levels and see what happens. 

 I dont own scales, so I am taking myself off to Boots tomorrow to weigh myself.   I wont be sharing that dreaded number with you all.  Sorry, but I am super self conscious at the best of times.  What I will do is update you on is my progress and any fantastic tips I pick up along the way. Feel free to join in and offer any tips or recipes that I can try.

Besides The Bristol Beauty Blog, other bloggers signed up to this virtual weight loss support group are:

Gidders1 (via Twitter) 


Here's to a brighter, lighter future!  

Ladies, best of luck :)
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