Wednesday 18 December 2013

Easy Christmas Nails #8

Hello Lovelies,

Today I have number 8 in my Easy Christmas Nails series, I have to admit though I didn't actually come up with this design, I saw it on the Instagram account of China Glaze and thought it was different and also thought you might like it so I can't take the credit for the design of today's look.

As I have done throughout this series, I will include links for all the looks in this series at the end of this post.

Easy Christmas Nails Number 8 

What I used ~



L-R Orly Bonder Base Coat, Essie Blanc, Barry M Black, OPI All Sparkly & Gold, Orly Glosser Top Coat 

The Finished Look ~


How To Get The Look ~

First of all I applied a coat of my base coat, then 2 coats of the Essie Blanc polish allowing each coat to dry fully in-between coats. I then painted half the nail with All Sparkly And Gold again using 2 coats. Finally I used a dotting tool and the Barry M Black to place black dots down the centre of the nail and finished with my Orly glosser top coat. 

Products & Where To Buy ~ 

Orly Bonder & Glosser - I reviewed both of these products in part one of this series so won't bore you again now, if you haven't been following the series and haven't read that review, you can find it Here.

Essie Blanc ~ I love Essie polishes, they are my most owned brand of nail polish, I have been using Essie for many years and was so pleased when they launched in Boots and Superdrug. I have always loved the polishes but I really like the brush on the line in Boots and Superdrug it is much wider and I feel it is easier to use. Blanc is a really handy polish to have as it can be used for many things, I use it for french manicures mainly but I have used it in quite a few nail art looks too, some of which are coming up in this series as numbers 9 and 10, I also used it in my snowman tutorial. It applies well and after 2 coats is lovely and opaque, I definitely recommend it.

Barry M Nail Paint In Black ~ Again I have already reviewed this polish in this series so I won't repeat myself, but if you haven't yet read the review, you can find it Here.

OPI All Sparkly & Gold ~ I reviewed this in number 6 of this series, you can find that review Here if you haven't already read it. 

Dotting Tools ~ I buy my dotting tools from ebay.

I hope you enjoyed this look, it is different and looks lovely as an accent nail or on every nail. 

If you re create any of the looks in my series please tweet me a picture of your look or you can email me or tag me on Instagram or Facebook, all my social media links are at the top right hand side of my blog. And thank you so much to everyone who has already sent me or tweeted me photographs, I have really enjoyed seeing them all.

If you have missed any of the looks in this series you can find them all here, 


Thank you for reading, much love as always, 

Zoe x





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Friday 13 December 2013

Easy Christmas Nail Ideas #7

Hello Lovelies,

Today's post is number 7 in my 'Easy Christmas Nail Ideas', and is Snowman Nail art. As I mentioned in a previous post in the series a couple of the looks will be uploaded to my You Tube Channel and this is the first look to be uploaded. 

The look isn't very difficult to do and as I have said previously throughout this series if I can do it, anyone can do it, I am not the best when it comes to nail art and have never filmed a nail art tutorial before so I was very nervous doing this and I really hope you like it. 

Christmas Nail Ideas Number 7 


If you would like to create this look yourself and follow the tutorial you will find the tutorial video Here I hope you like it and find it easy to follow. 

As always if you do recreate any of the nail looks from my 'Easy Christmas Nail Idea's' series please tweet me a picture or tag me on Instagram or Facebook, I've been loving getting your photographs and it's so lovely to see so many people re creating the looks I have posted here on my blog and now on my channel. 

If you haven't already checked out the other posts in the series you can find them here, 


Thank you for reading, much love as always,

Zoe x

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Thursday 12 December 2013

Easy Christmas Nail Ideas #6

Hello Lovelies

Today I have a very easy, easy Christmas nail ideas post. I recently bought the Mariah Carey 4 piece mini holiday collection containing 4 mini bottles of nail polish and when I swatched them on my plastic nail sticks I realised that they were all perfect colours for Christmas so this post should really be titled Extremely easy nail ideas number 6 because it is just polish pure and simple. But the polishes are so lovely I couldn't not show you.




First of all I have to apologise for this first photograph as it isn't mine, Cole threw my box away by accident before I had photographed it, so I have pinched this one from the John Lewis website. 


L-R (Above & Below) Visions Of Love, Warm Me Up, All Sparkly And Gold, Wonderous Star

All swatches are 3 coats

Visions Of Love ~ This is a beautiful deep burgundy red colour, really rich and creamy, I do have a couple of colours similar to this but this is so lovely, it applies well and looks really rich. It is described as a deep and majestic burgundy polish, and I have to agree, it is a lovely deep burgundy, a very classy colour too if you can have a classy nail polish. A gorgeous colour lovely for the Christmas season, and a perfect toe colour too. 

Warm Me Up ~ This was the surprise polish of the set for me because it was the polish I thought I would least like but when I swatched it, I loved it. It is described as a deep coffee brown which it is to a  point but it is more than that, it has a lovely subtle shimmer running through it and can look a deep charcoal grey in some lights too, it is a beautiful colour and really different to anything I own or have seen before. 

All Sparkly And Gold ~ This is a definite 'does exactly what it says on the tin' moment it is very sparkly and gold as the name suggests and is described as a timeless golden shimmer. It is beautiful, usually I don't go for golds and am more of a silver kind of girl but something drew me to this, it's lovely and could be worn alone as I have swatched it or over another polish, Cole currently has it over a black polish and it looks lovely. It would make a nice accent nail colour too or used for a gradient glitter look over the visions of love colour, it would also look lovely used as a tip in an alternative french manicure as shown in number 1 of this series. 

Wonderous Star ~ Out of all the polishes in the set this is my least favourite and only because the glitter doesn't apply evenly, I had to fiddle about to get the bigger specs of glitter spread evenly over the nail or plastic nail as is. I hate having to faff around trying to get glitter even on a nail and considering OPI's prices this isn't something I should have to do, after all a full size 15ml bottle of this polish is around £12-£13 and when I don't have to faff about with a £2.99 Barry M polish I shouldn't have to do it with an OPI polish either. But that said it is a lovely polish and if you take the faffing about out of the equation it looks lovely, this too would be lovely over visions of love or warm me up either over the full nail or a gradient look. 

Overall Thoughts ~ My overall thoughts on this set of mini polishes are great, I would definitely recommend buying it, all 4 polishes are beautiful and wearable, the only gripe I have is with having to faff about spreading the glitter polish evenly but I can get past that and for the sake of lovely festive nails it isn't too much of a problem at all. I love the look of all 4 polishes on my nails they are all lovely colours and perfect for this time of year, the only problem I have is choosing which one to wear! 

If you haven't yet read all the posts in my 'Easy Christmas Nails' series, you can find them here; 


If you do recreate any of the looks in my easy Christmas nails series, please tweet me a picture or tag me in one on Instagram or Facebook, I have loved seeing the looks my blog readers have recreated so far. 

Thank you for reading, much love as always,

Zoe x 








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Saturday 7 December 2013

Easy Christmas Nail Ideas #5

Hello Lovelies,

Today I have number 5 for you in my easy Christmas nail ideas series, today's look is red with sparkle and diamonds and is the most tricky of the nail looks so far in this series but it wasn't very complicated to do, and as I always say, if I can do it, you can do it.

As always I shall show you the products used, the finished look, how I created the look and then a mini review of each product used with where to buy links. I won't be including the Orly Bonder Base Coat and Orly Glosser Top Coat in my review and where to buy section as it is the same base and top coat used in each post and as I reviewed them in number 1 of this series which will be linked below, I didn't want to repeat myself in each post by reviewing them in every post in this series.

Easy Christmas Nail Ideas Number 5 

Products Used ~

 L-R Orly Bonder Base Coat, Orly Haute Red, Barry M Red Glitter, Andrea Fulerton Gems, Orly Glosser Top Coat

 A close up of the gems I used

The Finished Look ~




How To Get The Look ~

First of all I applied 1 coat of my Orly bonder base coat to my nails, I then applied 2 coats of the Orly Haute Red polish allowing each coat to dry in-between, I could have used only 1 coat of this polish as 1 coat did give a nice finish but I preferred the look of 2 coats. I then took the Barry M red glitter and painted it down half of my ring finger, I decided to paint the outer half of the nail but you could do which ever suits you. I then applied a layer of Orly glosser top coat, and then placed the diamond type gems in a line down my nail, the gems I have came with a little rubber tipped stick that enables me to pick up the gems but you could use tweezers to do this as I have previously done, it works just as well. Once my gems were where I wanted them I finished the look off with another coat of my Orly glosser top coat to finish the look and also hold the gems in place. 

Products Used & Where To Buy  ~

Orly Haute Red ~ I love this polish, it is a recent addition to my collection but one I am so glad I bought, it is a beautiful true red with a creamy finish, I love it. I bought mine using a 20% discount code but I would happily pay full price for this or any Orly polish, they come in 18ml bottles which is slightly more than an average polish of 15ml and Orly polishes don't contain any nasties such as DBP, Toluene and Formaldehyde, most polishes free from these things usually sell for at least £14/£15 so Orly are cheaper than most "free from" polishes. Orly polishes apply beautifully and Haute Red is no exception it is lovely, 1 coat and I had beautiful opaque red nails, I did apply 2 coats as I preferred the look as it was more opaque and I liked it better than just 1 but if you were in a rush you could use just 1 coat. I highly recommend this polish, I have been on the look out for a true red polish for a while now and I'm so pleased I picked this up. 

Barry M Red Glitter ~ I love this polish it is amazing and especially at this time of year, it looks lovely over red polish or on its own as a sparkly red nail look. Barry M glitters are brilliant and they apply so well and the glitter distributes evenly on the nail which is something some glitter polished don't do, and there is nothing worse then applying a glitter polish and having a big blob of glitter on one part of the nail and none in another part. Glitter polishes can be expensive too but the price of Barry M polishes is brilliant, I recently re purchased the red glitter as my current bottle is almost empty but I have had it for around 2-3 years and it hasn't gone gloopy at all, it really is a lovely polish and one I highly recommend. 

Andrea Fulerton Nail Boutique Gorgeous Nails ~ I actually bought my little diamond 
 gems in a set from Superdrug, in the set were the gems, a clear topcoat and a little plastic stick with a rubberised tip for picking up the gems, I don't like the top coat that came with the set and never use it so I didn't see the point in photographing something I don't rate, it chips easily and doesn't hold the gems in place. The kit was around £7 when I bought it 3 years ago but it is now more expensive at £10 but you do get over 1000 gems, they are very sparkly and do look lovely, however I found my nail gems on ebay for £1.35 including postage and there are 3000 gems, so a much cheaper option than the Andrea Fulerton there is also a tool to pick up the gems and some glue included. I do like the gems I have and will use them up but next time I think I'll be heading to ebay before Superdrug! 

If you do re create any of the looks in this series please send me a picture, I'd love to see, you can email me at mammaful@gmail.com or feel free to tweet me @mammafulzo. 

Thank you for reading, much love as always

Zoe x




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Thursday 5 December 2013

Easy Christmas Nail Ideas #4

Hello Lovelies,

Today I have number 4 in my easy Christmas nail ideas series, a series of ideas for Christmas nail looks that won't take hours or be extremely complicated but will look great over the festive period.

Today's look is a french manicure with a difference, the nail is black and I will show you a couple of different choices for the tips however you can use whatever you have if you don't own the polishes shown.

As always I will show you the products used, how I achieved the look and a quick review of the products I used and where to buy them should you want to. I will also have the links for the other nail looks in the series linked below for you too.

Easy Christmas Nail Ideas Number 4

Products used ~


L-R Orly Bonder Base Coat, Barry M Nail Paint Black, Barry M Nail Paint Red Glitter, Orly Glosser Top Coat

The Finished Look ~

L - Using Essie Beyond Cozy ~ R - Using Barry M Red Glitter 

How to get the look ~

First of all I applied 1 coat of my Orly Bonder Base Coat then 2 coats of the Barry M nail paint in Black, letting each coat dry in-between, I then took the glitter polish and applied 2 coats to the tip of the nail, this is a lot easier than you'd imagine, I just put the brush where I wanted to start the colour from and applied it, and once the first coat was dry I then applied the second coat. Once the glitter was dry I applied a coat of my favourite top coat Orly Glosser Top Coat. 

Products Used ~ 

Orly Bonder Base Coat & Orly Glosser Top Coat - I have a full review of both the base and top coat in the first of this series so don't want to repeat myself in each part by explaining my love for these products, but they are my favourite top and base coat and I find they help my polish to last without chipping. You can find reviews and where to buy in part one of this series linked below. 

Barry M Nail Paint In Black - Barry M are a great brand for nail polish, they have so many colours and different effects to choose from and at a great price, they're not the most long lasting polish I own but I find with using my base and top coat I get around 3-5 days out of them, which is perfect for Christmas nails. 

Barry M Nail Paint In Red Glitter - This red glitter is gorgeous and distributes evenly on the nail, I hate glitters where you get a great big patch of glitter in one area and none in another, theres nothing worse, but I don't find that with the Barry M glitters, they distribute the glitter evenly on the nail, they are super glittery and look great and for a great price too, I highly recommend them. 

Essie Beyond Cozy - Although I totally forgot to include a photograph of this polish, bad blogger that I am, it is featured in number 1 in this series if you'd like to see a photograph of it, it is the colour on the left nail shown in the photograph. Beyond cozy was part of Essie's Christmas 2012 collection and is a lovely not too silver and not too gold colour that is perfect for the festive season, Essie is one of my favourite nail polish brands and I always find something I love in their collections, and this is no exception. It looks lovely with the black and was easy to apply, especially with the bigger flat brushes the Essie polishes have. 

If you haven't yet seen the other easy Christmas nail ideas in my series you can find them here -


I hope you liked number 4 in my series, if you do re create any of the ideas in my series please Tweet me a picture or email me your pictures at mammaful@gmail.com, I'd love to see them. 

Thank you for reading, much love as always

Zoe x









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Tuesday 3 December 2013

Easy Christmas Nail Ideas #3

Hello Lovelies,

Today I have number 3 in my easy Christmas nail ideas series, Gradient Glitter. Todays look shows how you can completely change a look by changing 1 polish, so I have 2 looks for you today. As always I will show you the products I used to create the look then tell you how I created it and then finally I will explain a little about each product used and show you a link to where you can buy the products if you wish.

Since I will be using the same base and top coat in each look I won't be reviewing them in each post otherwise it would be very repetitive, but if you would like to read my opinions on them you can find it in THIS POST. I will also have links for all the other looks in this series at the end of each blog post.

Easy Christmas Nail Ideas Number 3 

Products Used ~
 
L-R Orly Bonder Base Coat, Barry M Black, Barry M Silver Glitter, Barry M Amethyst Glitter, Orly Glosser Top Coat 

L-R Barry M Silver Glitter & Barry M Amethyst Glitter

The Finished Look ~



How To Get The Look ~

As always I apply 1 coat of my Orly Bonder Base Coat to my nails,  I then applied 2 coats of Barry M Black letting each coat dry in between, then I used the glitter polish and applied a thin layer from around two thirds of the way down my nail to the tip, I built the glitter up from the centre building it up more towards the tip of my nail, so it gave a gradient type look with the glitter. Once the glitter had dried, I applied 1 coat of my Orly Glosser Top Coat to finish the look. 

I used the silver glitter on every other nail and the amethyst glitter on every other nail to show you how to create different looks using glitter, I wouldn't go out with my nails like this but it shows you how you can achieve different looks using a different colour glitter polish. You could use any base colour and any glitter but I find black is a great base for any glitter as it shows it up well, red or gold glitter would also look amazing. 

Products Used, My Thoughts & Where To Buy ~

Barry M Nail Paint In Black - I love Barry M polishes for their range of colours and glitters and other effect type polishes too, there really is something for everyone, they aren't the longest lasting of all my polishes but I find if I use a base and top coat I can get around 3-5 days wear time out of a Barry M polish, and often things like a Christmas nail look can often be something you only need to last for a day/evening out or a few days so there is no point me spending £7.99 on an Essie polish when I can buy Barry M for £2.99. 

Barry M Nail Paint In Silver Glitter - This is a lovely quite fine silver glitter, I'm not a big fan of big chunky glitters or the glitters with those little stick type pieces in them so this is perfect for me, I find the Barry M glitters easy to remove too which is always a bonus. This is a lovely sparkly polish and looks great over the black, it does also look beautiful over a silver polish and applied all over the nail. 

Barry M Nail Paint In Amethyst Glitter - This is a beautiful colour, it has lots of different colours in it, greens, pinks, purples, gold, silver and more it is the perfect glitter to layer over black as it shows the colours in the glitter beautifully, it would also look lovely over lots of colour nail polishes. As I said I'm not too keen on chunky glitter but again this is perfect for me, and I think it looks lovely. It would also look lovely as an accent nail colour. As with the silver glitter this is easy to remove which is great as some glitter polishes can be a nightmare to remove. I would definitely recommend this glitter or any of the glitters in the Barry M range and for the price they are fantastic. 

I hope you enjoyed number 3 in my easy Christmas nail series, I also have some Christmas nail art coming up in the series too so keep an eye out for that as well as number 4 in the series. If you re create any of the looks from this series I'd love it if you sent me a picture, you can TWEET me or send it via INSTAGRAM or email me if you don't have access to twitter or instagram, my email address is mammaful@gmail.com. 

If you have missed the first 2 parts of this series you can find number 1 HERE and number 2 HERE

Thank you for reading, much love as always 

Zoe x 









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Saturday 30 November 2013

Easy Christmas Nail Ideas #2

Hello Lovelies,

Today I have number 2 in my Christmas Nail Idea's series, I had the idea for a Christmas Nail Idea's series because I always seem to paint my nails with the same sparkly polish every year and it made me wonder if anyone else got stuck in a nail polish rut. All the ideas in this series will be simple and easy to  follow and re create should you wish. If you haven't seen part 1 in my series you can find it HERE.

In each post I show the things needed to create the look, the finished look and then a mini review on the products used and where to buy them. So here's number 2 an easy red sparkly nail.

Christmas Nail Ideas Number 2 


L-R Orly Bonder Base Coat ~ Essie Leading Lady ~ Orly Glosser Top Coat 

The Finished Look ~




How To Get The Look ~ 

First of all I applied a coat of my Orly Bonder base coat, then I applied 2 coats of the Essie Leading Lady nail polish, allowing each coat to dry in between. I finished the look off by applying a coat of my Orly Glosser top coat.

A Quick Review Of Products & Where To Buy ~ 

Orly Bonder Base Coat & Orly Glosser Top Coat ~ I reviewed both these products in my Christmas Nail Ideas number 1 post and don't want to repeat myself to the people following this series, so if you haven't yet read number 1 you can find it HERE where you will also find a review of the base and top coat. 

Essie Leading Lady ~ I got this polish as part of a set of 3 last year, Leading Lady was part of Essie's Christmas 2012 collection, it is a beautiful polish and looks amazing, I am often asked if I am wearing gel nails when I wear this polish, it is so sparkly and with my Glosser top coat it looks amazing. I highly recommend it, especially at this time of year. It is easy to apply and with 2 coats it looks fabulous. 

I hope you enjoyed part 2 of my Christmas Nail Ideas series, it was a super simple look and a look which is easy to re create too, without the need for a lot of products. I will be uploading some simple Christmas nail art tutorials on my You Tube Channel soon too so if that's something you're interested in, keep an eye out for those. 

If you do re create this look or any of the looks in my Christmas Nail Idea's series please either tweet me a picture or tag me in your picture on Instagram, my links to twitter are HERE and my Instagram link is HERE, if you don't have twitter or instagram please feel free to email me your picture at mammaful@gmail.com. 

I'll see you soon with number 3 :) 

Thank you for reading, much love as always, 

Zoe x 


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Thursday 28 November 2013

Easy Christmas Nail Ideas #1

Hello Lovelies,

I have decided to run a little series here on my blog, and that series is easy Christmas nail ideas, every year I get stuck in a rut and always paint my nails with the same sparkly polish and it got me thinking "I wonder if anyone else does that" so I am going to have a series of different ideas for you of how to have Christmassy nails without going to a lot of effort. I am also going to have some nail tutorials over on my You Tube Channel of Christmas nail art so keep an eye out for that if it's something you're interested in.

Todays post is number 1 and is a french manicure with a difference. I will first of all show you the products I have used, then the finished look and then I'll tell you a little bit about each product and where you can buy them should you wish.

I do always file my nails and use my Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover before I paint my nails but I haven't included photographs of those products.

Christmas Nail Ideas Number 1 

    L-R Orly Bonder Base Coat, Rimmel Pro French Rose, Essie Beyond Cozy, Orly Glosser Top Coat

The Finished Look ~






How to get the look ~ 

First of all I applied 1 coat of my Orly base coat, then I applied 2 coats of the Rimmel French Rose polish allowing each coat to dry fully in-between, I then took the Essie Beyond Cozy polish and applied 2 coats to the tips of my nail, because the brush on the Essie polishes are wide this is super easy to do. To finish the look off I used my Orly Glosser top coat to give a lovely high shine finish. 

A Quick Review Of The Products & Where To Buy Them ~

Orly Bonder Base Coat ~  I have used this base coat for a years and love it, it is a rubberised base coat so it has an almost sticky feel to it and doesn't completely dry. I love Orly, their polishes are fantastic too, they come in 18ml bottles and the best thing is, all Orly polishes and nail care products are DBP, Toluene and Formaldehyde free.

Rimmel Pro French Rose (445) ~ I have been using this Rimmel polish for my DIY french manicures for many years, I think it gives the perfect base for a french manicure, not too pink or too peach and not too opaque either. I always use 2 coats of this for a french manicure, I feel 1 is a little streaky and doesn't look as nice.

Essie Beyond Cozy ~ I got this polish in a set of 3 last Christmas from Boots, it was part of Essie's 2012 Christmas collection and it is beautiful, it's not too gold and is a kind of silvery/gold if that makes sense? It's a lovely polish and I would definitely recommend it. You could use any gold or silver sparkly polish.

Orly Glosser Top Coat ~ Again I have used this top coats for years, I have used the Polished top coat too and like both but the Glosser just tips it for me, it leaves my nails with a high gloss finish and I am often asked what top coat I use when I post pictures of my nails on Instagram. I usually get at least 7 days wear time out of a nail polish and I do put it down to using this top coat.

I hope you enjoyed the first in my Christmas Nail Ideas posts, if you re create the look please tweet me a picture, my twitter link is HERE or tag me in an Instagram picture, I'd love to see :)

Thanks for reading, much love as always,

Zoe x






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Wednesday 27 November 2013

Superga Cotu Classic - A Review

Hello Lovelies,

Today I have a review of some lovely pumps from All Sole, the pumps are the Superga 2750 Cotu Classic in White.

The pumps are a size 3.5 and I am a size 6 so Lissy was my reviewing assistant for this post and Cole modelled the pumps for my photographs, so this post is somewhat a family affair.

*

The pumps came in their own branded box which was easy to get into and the pumps were wrapped in tissue paper inside the box. 


As you can see from the photographs the pumps are lace up and have a label on the side with their logo on, they also have a rubber sole. I think they look lovely on and could be worn with lots of different things, for example skirts, shorts, jeans, leggings or joggers, they are really versatile and go with a lot of different outfit choices. 

This is what All Sole say about the Superga Pumps 

These classic trainers by Superga showcase timeless design. Made from canvas and cotton with a rubber sole, these trainers are both comfortable and practical. A durable and versatile shoe that can be dressed up or down to suit any occasion, the 2750 is a wardrobe staple.
  • Premium Canvas Uppers
  • Vulcanised Rubber Sole
  • Superga Tab on Side and Heel
  • Superga Embossed Metal Eyelets
  • Lace Up Design

I totally agree with their description, the design won't date, they are very practical and are a definite staple in a wardrobe, I have a couple of pairs of Converse pumps and to be honest had never heard of this brand but they are lovely and I have checked out the Superga Pumps on the All Sole website since and they have some lovely colours and some nice studded ones too. Like I said at the start of the post,  Lissy reviewed the pumps for this post,  she said they felt comfortable, were true to size, and she was able to wear them for long periods of time without any discomfort, they are lightweight too which is great and they also looked really nice.

Given the time of year I think these would make a lovely Christmas gift, they are versatile in the way they can go with so many outfit choices but I also think they can be worn by women of many age groups too, Lissy is 16 but I would wear these too and I'm 40 so they are a great idea if you're stuck for an idea for a Christmas present. 

The Superga Pumps are available HERE on the All Sole website and they are currently down from £45 to £30 so even more of a reason to buy them :) and delivery is free. 

Have you tried the Superga Pumps? Which ones are your favourites? 

Thank you for reading, much love as always,

Zoe x



*PR Sample -  All opinions and words are mine and Lissy's. 


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Friday 22 November 2013

A Funky Christmas Gift Idea

Hello Lovelies,

Today I want to tell you about a really cool and pretty funky (well I think so anyway) idea for a Christmas gift. It's a memo board with a difference and it comes from the website IWOOT or I Want One Of Those as you may know it, they have some amazing gift ideas for Christmas and at really reasonable prices too, I definitely recommend checking their site out, it is easy to use and they have different categories such as gifts for her, gifts for him, stocking fillers, and they have a brilliant 3 for £20 deal on absolutely loads of items too so it really is easy to find some great gifts for your loved ones, but before you go and start hunting I have something to show you which you might want to add to your gift buying list or even your wish list.



The Big Head Re Usable Memo Pad is a memo pad but with a difference, I love it, I think it's a really cool idea for a gift for Christmas and one which would suit so many different people, this is something that would come in really handy for me, I forget everything and have about a million notes and reminders in my phone and I have often thought of getting a white board for the kitchen but don't like the look of them but this is so cute and different I don't mind using it. 


The memo pad comes in two colours, red and black, it stands up on any flat surface and the pen clips into either hand, the pen has it's own sponge type material on the lid so you can erase things easily without having to reach for some tissue or a cloth. 


The pen writes with black ink and the ink rubs out really easily when you want to change the memo or if you make a mistake. 


I really like this idea and think it would make an ideal gift for a lot of different people, it's great for people like me who are forgetful, for teenagers in their rooms, on a desk either at home or the office, or you could leave it in the kitchen and write your shopping list on it, I think it's a great all round gift idea and reasonably priced too. 

If you would like to buy one of these for a gift they are available HERE for £13.99 and as I said earlier they come in a choice of red or black. To check out all the other fabulous gift ideas IWOOT has click HERE to be taken straight to their site. 

Have you started or finished your Christmas shopping? I'm behind, but why change the habit of a lifetime? 

Thank you for reading, much love as always

Zoe x







*pr sample - All words and opinions are my own.





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Tuesday 12 November 2013

Thundershirt - A Review

 Hello Lovelies,

Today I have something a little different for you all, but something that you may find useful especially if you or someone you know has a dog. Last week I was contacted by a lovely lady called Charlotte on behalf of Pets At Home asking if I would like to review a product called Thundershirt* an anti anxiety dog coat.

As you know I have a dog, a Blue Roan Cocker Spaniel called Oscar, I was intrigued by the product after reading up about it via the link Charlotte sent me and I said yes please, I'd love to, well Oscar would love to review the Thundershirt.

The Thundershirt box front and back and the Thundershirt as it was packaged in the box.

As soon as the Thundershirt arrived I put it on Oscar, he wasn't bothered by it at all and it was very easy to put on him, there were clear instructions both on the box and in a leaflet included in the box. 

The Thundershirt is sold as "The best solution for dog anxiety" and can be used for - 

Any Noise Anxiety
Barking Problems
Separation Anxiety
Car/Travel Anxiety
Crate Anxiety
Leash Pulling
General Fearfulness
Bonfire Night

Oscar is going to be 14 in March so he is an old man bless him, he has been suffering from doggy dementia for the last couple of years and he gets very confused and often cries a lot and wanders around the house crying for no reason other than he gets very confused and sometimes we don't think he realises we are there, he is almost blind and deaf but does still react to noise as apparently dogs can "hear" via vibrations and as we have wooden floor he often gets upset at loud noises. So I was looking forward to putting the Thundershirt to the test.

When I opened the box I was surprised at how soft the material was, it felt lovely, a nice soft jersey type material, it is a charcoal grey colour and looks lovely against Oscar's coat which is also grey/black. I ordered a medium for Oscar which is the perfect size for him, he is big for a Cocker Spaniel but it fits perfectly, there was an easy to follow size guide on the Pets At Home Website, there were 5 sizes to choose from on the website, when the box came it showed 7 sizes from a XXS to a XXL where as on the Pets At Home site it showed sizes from XS to XL which is still a great range and would suit almost all breeds of dog I imagine.  The coat works by applying a constant, gentle pressure on the dogs torso, the pressure is said to have a calming effect on most dogs, similar to mothers swaddling their infants.

Oscar normally hates wearing coats or clothing of any kind, he really hates them! We bought him a Christmas jumper last year and he hated it so much that we had to take it off him, so I was so surprised when he just sat there and let me put the Thundershirt on him, he kept it on all day and throughout the evening and we removed it before we went to bed, he has worn it 3 times since without any problems at all. I have taken various photographs of him wearing the Thundershirt since I got it which I will share with you later in the post, I think they will make you smile, they made me smile a lot when I uploaded them. And the best thing is he has been quieter, don't get me wrong he hasn't totally stopped crying but he has been a lot better, but to be fair the coat doesn't claim to cure Canine Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome or doggy dementia as I call it, he is much calmer though when he wears it and we have tested him with and without it and there is a definite difference, he was quiet at the weekend when people were having bonfires and fireworks too. Here's some photographs of Oscar modelling his Thundershirt.


Strike a pose Oscar! 

From the side 

Clearly comfortable enough to snooze in!

Possibly the most relaxed dog in the world. 

An now for my favourite, it isn't the best quality as I snapped it on my iPhone and it was dark but I had to share it with you, 

Flat on his back without a care in the world!

So as you can see, Oscar didn't have any trouble wearing the Thundershirt at all, he slept in it, ate in it, went to the loo in it (sorry Oscar for embarrassing you online) he basically carried on as normal and was a very happy dog, which for Oscar is nothing short of a miracle as I said earlier he hates any sort of doggy fashion, but I think he rocked his Thundershirt though, don't you? 

If you have a nervous pooch or your doggy hates bonfire night or new years eve because of the fireworks this is definitely for you, well for your dog, I honestly wasn't holding out much hope and didn't think for 1 minute that Oscar would be quieter when he wore the coat but we were so shocked, I would definitely recommend the Thundershirt to anyone with a nervous dog or dog who gets anxious in certain situations. The Thundershirt is machine washable, and can be used whenever you feel your dog needs it. If you have any queries, as well as the Pets At Home Website, there is also a Thundershirt website with lots of information including an FAQ section, testimonials and video's amongst other things. 

The Thundershirt retails at £35.00 from Pets At Home including free delivery, there is also a 10% off deal on at the moment. It is also available on Amazon for £29.95 including free delivery. 

Have you tried the Thundershirt? What did you think of it?

If you didn't already know I am holding a giveaway to win a Herschel iPad sleeve here on my blog, there is only a few days left to enter so hurry scurry, if you'd like the chance to win click HERE

Thank you for reading, much love as always

Zoe and Oscar xxxx




* This post contains a pr sample, all words and opinions are my own 















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Saturday 9 November 2013

NOTD A French Manicure

Hello Lovelies,

Today I have a Nail Of The Day post for you or a NOTD as they are known in the blogging world. My NOTD is a french manicure. I love french manicures, I think they look really classy and elegant and they go with everything, so there's no need for me to worry about my nails not looking right with my outfit.

All the polishes I used for my french manicure are from the brand Jacava. I hadn't heard of this brand up until a few weeks ago when they kindly sent me a lovely dark red polish and top coat, I loved the polish and have a full review of it including photographs, where to buy, and all the information you need about the brand and their amazing 8 free policy HERE. I was thrilled when Jacava contacted me again and asked me to choose some more of their amazing polishes and I knew straight away I wanted to try their french manicure set, as I said I love the look of a french manicure and it is one of my most worn nail looks.

            Jacava UV Top Coat*                     Jacava Pink Whisper*                  Jacava Mont Blanc*


First of all I applied Pink Whisper all over the nail, I applied 2 coats of this and then applied 2 coats of Mont Blanc to the tips of my nails and finished the look off with a coat of the UV Top Coat.




I love the finished look. Pink whisper is a lovely colour and ideal for a french manicure but I do think it would look really nice as a pale pink polish on it's own too. I loved the finished look of my french manicure, the polishes apply well, like I said in my previous post about the brand I really like the way the brush goes to the bottom of the bottle, it will be brilliant when the polish is running low as I hate having to tip the polish up and try to get some polish out of the bottom. 

My french manicure lasted 7 days without chipping, the only reason I removed it after the 7 days was because I wanted to use another new polish I had there was nothing wrong with the look of my nails. 

Jacava polishes are available via their website or from Amazon or Feel Unique I found them to be cheapest on Amazon where I found them for around £11 including delivery. If you would like to try the french manicure kit is available here for £43.00. 

Do you like french manicures? Have you checked out the Jacava site, what's your favourite colour? 

I am holding a giveaway on my blog, if you'd like to enter click here.

Thank you for reading, much love as always, 

Zoe x




*This post contains pr samples, all opinions and words are my own. 




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Thursday 24 October 2013

Jacava Nail Polish - A Review

Hello Lovelies,

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you'll know I absolutely love nail polish and painting my nails, and every week without fail I file my nails, attend to my cuticles and then paint my nails, it is usually my Sunday ritual but sometimes something I do midweek. I have a lot of nail polish and more often than not, if I'm out shopping I will pick up a new bottle of nail polish, I think I have a little problem, non?

So when a lovely lady from the company Jacava London contacted me and asked me if I'd like to choose one of their nail polishes to review, I was thrilled. To be honest before I received the email I hadn't heard of the brand which made me even more intrigued to find out more about them and their nail polish.

Jacava London is a UK based company and all their polishes are made in the UK, they are a cruelty free and vegan friendly brand and all their polishes are non toxic and "8 free" which means they are free from DBP, Camphor, Formaldehyde, Toluene, Cellophane, Parabens, Phthalates and Animal Ingredients. Jacava claims their polishes are long lasting, high gloss and help your nails stay stronger and grow longer. I was very interested to see if their claims were true, so using the websites fantastic try it on - colour selector tool I chose the colour Damson Delight, a gorgeous deep burgundy colour, which I thought would be perfect for Autumn and Winter and I don't have a colour like that in my collection. When my polish arrived I was thrilled to find Jacava had also sent me their Top Coat with UV inhibitor to try also.


Jacava Damson Delight* and Top Coat UV Inhibitor*

The first thing I noticed about the polishes apart from the gorgeous colour of Damson Delight was that the brush went right to the bottom of the bottle on the top coat, I thought this was fantastic because using a polish that's running low is a nightmare when trying to tip the bottle to reach for the product, but with the brush reaching the bottom of the bottle I won't have to do that when I'm running low on this. 

I painted my nails as always on the Sunday afternoon, I used my Orly Bonder base coat as always and then applied 3 coats of Damson Delight and then 1 coat of top coat, to be honest I only needed 2 coats of Damson Delight but to test the polish out against other polishes I have used I applied 3 coats as that is what I would normally do, and as I would normally use my base coat I used that too so it was a fair review. 


The above photograph shows my nails immediately after painting them, the colour is amazing, a rich deep burgundy colour which looked exactly as it did when I used the Try It On colour selector on the Jacava website. The colour selector is brilliant, all the colours of the polishes are at the right hand side of the page and then there is a bottle of polish which changes colour as you select the colour of polish you require and there's also a hand and if you click on the hand you can select the skin tone and nail length and then as you select each colour it shows you how the polish would look on the nail. It is fabulous and made choosing a colour so much easier, this is something I think should be available on all sites that sell nail polish. I think the way you can choose your skin tone and nail length is genius. 

The polish applied well and the brush was easy to use, like I said I applied 3 coats so it would be a fair review as all the other polishes I have reviewed for you I have used 3 coats but I could easily have just used 2 coats to achieve a gorgeous and very glossy finish, the top coat also applied well and was easy to use and I had no problems at all with either polish. Now it was time for the chip test. 

I have to say I was absolutely amazed that after 9 days, yes NINE days, I had no chips at all, ZERO, nada, nothing, I did have a little wear at the ends of my nails and obvious re growth at the base of my nails but as for chipping, there wasn't a chip in sight. 


After 9 days wear 

After 9 days wear

As you can see from the above photographs there are no chips on my nails at all just some wearing on the edges and re growth at the base of my nail. I am super impressed with Jacava, and to be honest I could easily have left this polish on as it wasn't chipped but I needed to try out some other brands for a favourite Autumn/Winter nail polish blog post/video I have coming up, I can promise you already that Damson Delight will feature in it! To remove the polish I used acetone free nail polish remover as I always do and it removed easily without leaving red colouring all over my hands which I do sometimes get after removing red coloured polish. I think I can safely say that the polish definitely lived up to the claims on the Jacava website, the polish was super glossy, my nails were strong and as you can see from the re growth in the photographs above, my nails did grow a lot in 9 days so my Jacava polish did exactly what it said on the tin, well website. 

Overall I am very very impressed, the polish applied beautifully, didn't chip at all for the duration I wore it and had a lovely glossy finish and I can rest easily in the fact it doesn't contain any nasties either, I would love to try some of the other colours in the range as to be honest I was spoilt for choice when I chose Damson delight, there really is a colour for everyone. I highly recommend the Jacava nail polish and top coat, I never thought I would find a polish to rival my beloved Essie or Orly polishes but  I have done so with Jacava, it is fantastic. 

Have you tried Jacava? What's your favourite colour? 

Thank you for reading, much love as always,

Zoe x


*This post includes pr samples 









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