Lumos Instant Impact Bottom Coat and High Speed Top Coat

I've been wanting to try Lumos for quite some time having heard a huge amount about it in professional nail forums and more recently on a few blogs. I am a Seche Vite devotee so was looking forward to seeing how this compared. To the best of my knowledge Lumos is only officially available from Sweet Squared, who only supply to professionals in the industry, but I do know that there is usually plenty to be had on Ebay with the set I have above going for about £18-£20 currently. I was looking at this with a view to using it in my business and for my personal manicures.

Anyway, this is only going to be a short review because there's only so much you can write about these products. It is my understanding that due the chemistry of the products you should only be using the two together, either the base or top coat alone won't give the expected results in terms of longevity on the nail.

Pros

• Super Fast Drying
• Unlike Seche Vite the product doesn't thicken up over time.
• It's nice and shiny.

Cons

• My manicures do not last. 

I categorically do not recommend this and I certainly won't be using again. I'm so disappointed. Polishes that will usually last me say 3 days without a top coat at all have been chipping on the first day of wear since using this stuff.

I don't know if I'm using it incorrectly, but you know it's a base and top coat, how difficult can it be? All I can say is that it's not for me.

Next stop - INM Out The Door Top Coat. Until then I'll keep going with my nearly-but-not-quite-perfect Seche Vite.

I bought these myself. Unfortunately.

EDIT: I used these last night to give them one more go, within two hours three nails were chipped :(

Aromatherapy Associates Renew Rose Massage & Body Oil

Aromatherapy Associates never fail to impress really. The Renew Rose Massage & Body Oil in an award-winning oil and on first use its not hard to see why.

It's a light oil,  made with Evening Primrose Oil, Neroli oil and Rose oil.

I have been using mine as a moisturiser but when using it's easy to see why this is also recommended as a massage oil. Alone this moisturises really well but for an extra luxurious moisturising treat it works exceptionally well over the Rose Renew Hydrating Gel.

Where the Gel is lightly scented the oil is a more heady scent, which I suppose also adds to its usefulness in massage, and in this case the Neroli is evident and as it's one of my favourite scents this oil is perfection.

It leaves my skin feeling amazing. It's perfect for protecting again stretch marks in pregnancy, is highly recommended for those whose skin is exposed to the elements and for dry skin. I'm none of the above but I'm finding in this Winter weather this is really helping and it's such a pleasure to use. It's like a ritual for me now, stepping out of the shower, using the Hydrating Gel and then following with the Oil.

Also am thinking this is a good one for Valentines? It's a real treat and certainly would help to set the mood, wink wink.

100ml in a beautiful glass bottle is £36 and available from the Aromatherapy Associates Boutique & Treatment Rooms, and www.aromatherapyassociates.com.

*Disclosure - PR Sample*

Another Blog Sale

I'm being extremely strict with myself in an effort to organise things so here's another blog sale. All items are items I bought myself, you won't find any PR samples here, and all are items I really like but I'm being so strict, if I won't use it, or rarely use it, it's going. Nearly all these items have great reviews elsewhere on my blog.

UK only I'm afraid. I'm really sorry, I've just had so many things get lost when sending overseas I daren't risk it any more.
First come First served. Leave a comment telling me what you'd like and your paypal address and I will send over an invoice.

Postage is £2 for recorded second class delivery and 25p per extra item.

Okay, so here goes.

Mac Lip Gelee in Resort Life use approx x3 £5. SOLD

Mac Pearlematte Eyeshadow Trio. Be warned, not very pigmented. £5.

Mac Cremesheen Gloss in Chillin', used x3 £4

Nars Downtown Lipgloss, used x3. £5

Mac Dazzleglass in Jingle Jangle, used x4  £5 SOLD

Mac Magically Cool Liquid Powder in Truth and light loads left, £10

Thank you!

Chanel Travel Aqualumieres

I bought this recently. Its hard to come by as it's pretty old now. I bought mine on Ebay from a reputable seller, but it goes without saying that Ebay is awash with Chanel fakes so be very careful! It was £29.50.

The palette contains four lipsticks and four glosses and there's a long story as to how I came to buy it. Actually, its not what I thought it was when I bought it, but it turns out I like anyway!

Nothing more to say, just enjoy some pictures :)

 The lipsticks are all satin finish and the glosses although highly pigmented in the swatches, are sheerer on the lips.

OPI/Nicki Minaj - Metallic 4 Life

I'm no Nicki Minaj fan. I am however a huge fan of OPI and this latest collection really catches my eye. The colours are amazing and just look at this promo image.

I find that incredibly inspirational! It makes me want to get out my kit and try to recreate them all. I just think its amazing.

So I was sent one shade from the collection to try out, Metallic 4 Life.

 Its small silver glitter and larger silver glitter in a black base. It is absolutely rammed with glitter which makes it quite gloopy, but that's just how heavily glittered polishes are, it's how it applies that matters and it applies perfectly.

I would say for perfection you need three coats, I noticed one nail was a little sheer after taking the photographs, but I've done two anyway. It's gorgeous. Sparkly and different. Love it!

 Each shade is £11 and available from www.lenawhite.co.uk NOW!

*Disclosure - PR Sample*

Yes to Carrots C Me Blush Lip Tints

Ooh here's something lovely! Yes to Carrots would very much like it if you could say Yes to kisses this valentines day and to get your lips perfectly kissable they've created the C Me Blush Lip Tints.

There are six shades and I have Ready Red to show you today. The lip tints provide you with a touch of colour and promises to soothe, conditioner and moisturise. 99% certified organic ingredients, no carmine and no parabens, phenols, petroleum or phthalates. It's also highly worth mentioning that each Lip tint contains beeswax sourced from the Tung Teya community in Africa and all proceeds from the sale of their beeswax go back into the community to build schools and improve healthcare. So I think you'll find these are a truly worthy product.

Here are some pictures, hopefully self explanatory!

 This is quite a pigmented product on my lips, but they are designed to work with the natural colour of your lips and my lips are quite pigmented so I suppose that shows. I also find this to be a quite coppery/orangey red, but it's lovely. There's a light mint tingle thing going on and it's definitely soothing. Not sure this product can do any wrong really, even the price is reasonable at £5.99.

The other shades available are Natural Smile (neutral), Cotton Candy (pale pink), Sunset Pink (sheer pink), Coral Sunshine (coral) and Chocolate Kiss (taupe).

These are available from www.victoriahealth.com.

*Disclosure - PR sample*

Babyliss Big Hair Changed my Life.

I asked for and received the Babyliss Big Hair for Christmas and I just have to blog about it because I absolutely love it. It has revolutionised my hair styling.

I got that Babyliss Root Boost thing a year or so ago and although at first I loved it, I rapidly went off it. It seemed a lot of effort to use and it was hard to cover the crimping at the back of my head, so I wasn't sure what to expect from this, was it going to be another gadget that went unused. Absolutely not! I use this every hair wash now.

Basically it's a brush that blows hot air to dry and style with. The barrel rotates so you can put the barrel right up close to the roots and give them a lift and the pull against the rotation to style your hair quickly. It's absolutely magnificent. I'm trying to rein myself in a bit here but I am virtually evangelical about this. The barrel rotates in both directions according to the button you press which makes it easy to take all round your head.

You need to get your hair 80% dry by other methods first, either let it dry naturally or blow dry then finish off using the Big Hair. The amount of volume you can achieve is amazing and is totally adjustable depending on whether you've used styling products, dried your hair upside down or how much attention you give your roots with the tool.

I've just been using a bit of hair oil, as per usual, letting my hair dry naturally (in most cases) and then finishing up with the Big Hair.

Here's my hair left to dry naturally... I'm sorry about the lack of make up... I'd just showered.

And here's my hair after styling with the Big Hair...

 It's not just the volume that makes it a saviour though its the fact that you can achieve a properly blow dried style in next to no time, something I have always totally failed at with a hair brush and hair dryer, this makes my life so easy. I must add that because I have short layers around the front it does give them too much curl in the fringe/front layers so I tend to go over the bottom of those tiny bits with the straighteners just to lose the curl. This is a very tiny amount of work though taking about 30 seconds and I am careful to go nowhere near the top three inches or so, so as not to lose the volume put in.

These are on offer in various places at the moment. The full price is £45.99 but I hear Curry's are selling them for £29.99.

This is not a sponsored post and no PR samples are included, I just love it!

Clarins Colour Breeze Spring Make Up Collection

What a deliciously understated collection and one I fully intend to buy more pieces from as I've totally fallen in love! This is a collection for those that want a fresh Spring look with hints of candy colours but who want to avoid the brights in other Spring Collections (which I also love!). I have to admit that the collection wasn't on my radar at all until I ended up at the Clarins counter paying for something else (hello Dior - post coming soon) and whilst I was waiting for service this little stand caught my eye and I was totally drawn in.

The star product of this collection is the beautiful Colour Breeze Face and Blush Palette, £30 (Limited Edition).

This is the product that first caught my eye, a face powder with three delicate shades embossed into it. I think if you were very patient you could use those individual colours as blushers, I'm not and attacked the whole thing with a big fluffy brush for all over application as a setting powder. What a beauty! For me the colour is perfect but it's the finish that's just so beautiful, it's matte, really matte but adds just the subtlest hint of radiance and somehow over my foundation (in the pictures its Mac Studio Finish) I felt absolutely flawless and its the powder that gave me that amazing finish. Scroll down for pictures of it in use.

Also Limited Edition are the Vitamin Pink and Coral Tonic Instant Light Blushes, £19.

I have Vitamin Pink although you could be forgiven for thinking it's coral from the above picture. It's not, it's the pink and its my most favourite product from the collection. So much so I will be without question be going back for the Coral Tonic version. It's not cheap but the formula is to die for, blends like a dream and does what it promises, instantly lights. The colour is also really buildable which is great. I hope you can see that the following pictures are a blob of the Blush and then blended out a little.

 And this picture I'm so happy with, it really shows the colour and radiance of the blush combined with the perfect finish of that powder. Never has my skin looked so good! You can also see here the Joli Rouge Sheer Lipstick. See below for details.

So the final item from this collection I have to show you is the Pink Coral Joli Rouge Sheer Lipstick. £16.50. I swatched this in store and fell in love. It is obviously, given the name, sheer and for this collection is also available in Pink Magnolia.

 There are two swatches there because this lipstick is a bit chameleon-like, in the first swatch you see just a apricot tone and the sheerness and gloss shows, whereas the second shot looks a bit more pigmented and there's a little shimmer. I know it doesn't make sense but both are accurate. It's extremely moisturising, perhaps due to the mango butter and I love this! I've done just a few swatches to show you how different it looks in different light. They all came out a little out of focus I'm afraid :(

Oh and all of them on my miserable wide angled face with huge nose?

So that's all the things I have to show you but also available are Poppy Red and Baby Pink Joli Rouge Lipsticks, 8 New Glosses, Gloss Prodige Intense Colour and Shine Lip Gloss and beautiful Eye Palette with greys, turquoise and teal.

I think I'll go back and get the Eye Quartet, the Coral Tonic Instant Light Blush, A couple of the glosses, (Candy and Raspberry in particular look amazing) and I have a hankering for the Baby Pink Joli Rouge... I'm not sure my budget can stretch to all of those as well as the Chanel bits I want and all the Dior I just bought but I'm going to do my best! I've spotted it all on Special Offer over at Escentual.

This stunning collection is available and on counters now.

*Disclosure - PR Samples*

Just look at this insanity!

I don't even know where to start sorting this lot out? If anyone has suggestions I'd truly appreciate it. I have the large drawer in the table and four Muji drawers and not much more room.

Perfumes, Oils, Perfume Samples...

Lipsticks...

Lipglosses and balms...

Primers, Foundations, Concealers, Powders...

Single/double eyeshadows, a few liners and lashes too...

Then there's the things waiting to be blogged about, candles and a couple of other things...

Four drawers of Nail polish...

Then there's this drawer....

Which breaks down like this. Skincare odds and sods...

Palettes...

Eyeshadow duos pain pots...blushers...

Blushers, bronzers, highlighters...

And then there's the Hair stuff

And the draw of stuff I don't know what to do with. Either waiting to be used, or used and won't use again, or samples from sample boxes.

I wish I could tell you that was all of it, but there's stuff in my handbags, stuff on my desk, stuff on my bedside table, stuff on the head of the bed, and lets not even think about the bathrooms. Re the make up though... I don't want to get rid of it, I love it, but I'd love to be more organised but am just not sure how to go about it... does anyone have any practical suggestions? In particular for the big massive drawer?

Thanks in advance!