This year’s hottest Christmas gifts…for girls.

I know this might sound scary, but Christmas is a mere 8 weeks away! Christmas will be here in no time, so it’s time to start thinking about what you want this year.  I’m not going to lie I already have a Christmas list as long as my arm, not that I will be getting most of it (a girl can dream though). But if you haven’t thought of what you would like yet, here are some of the most wanted Xmas gifts for girls this year.

 
iPhone 5
Okay so, pretty much everyone I know wants the iPhone 5 this year. I literally can’t wait for my Blackberry contract to run out so I can convert to the iPhone side of life.  Visit http://www.babysitters.net/blog/10-iphone-apps-to-use-for-christmas-shopping/ for all the latest iphone apps for Christmas.

Nikon Camera - £599
What girl doesn’t like taking pictures? Let’s be honest, we all love a girly day/night out full of picture taking, and having a sleek and stylish camera like this Nikon can only make it all the more enjoyable.







Satchel, Cambridge Satchel
Company - £105
We have all seen the advert right?  The company was founded in 2008 by Julie Deane and her mother Freda Thomas as a way to pay private school fees for Deane's children. Her colourful handmade leather satchels are all based on an original Oxford and Cambridge satchel design and aimed at school children, but met unexpectedly high demand as a fashion accessory. Now they are everywhere, you can get them from Harvey Nichols and Selfridges and they come in some amazing bold colours. I would love one myself for Christmas.






Gucci Premiere Fragrance - £64 for 50ml.
This is the new fragrance from Gucci, fronted by the gorgeous Blake Lively who just makes this perfume even more desirable. It smells divine and the bottle is really stylish. Need I say anymore?










GHD’s New Mettalic Collection - £135
I REALLY WANT THESE.  GHD have brought out a limited edition metallic range just in time for Christmas. They come in Gold, Silver or Red, along with a case that cleverly incorporates a handy heat-resistant mat.

New Kindle Fire - £129
The new Kindle Fire comes with an all new powerful processor, extra-long battery life, a huge amount of storage.  It has a "stunning HD display, and it’s been referred to as a better version of the iPad Mini.







Clinique 2012 chubby stick set - £30
I saw this gift set in Boots today and I think it’s great. It’s the perfect gift for a girly girl. You get five shades of Clinique's best-selling Chubby Sticks and they come in a beautifully designed pink box.

Nivea's Express Hydration Primer

 I had seen this product advertised quite a few times on TV and I really rate Nivea products, so I knew I had to buy it and see what it was like. The best thing about it was that, it was on half price at Superdrug, and then I had points on my beauty card, so it only cost me 99p instead of £7.99.

So, I’ve been using this product for just over a week now, and I’ve got to say, I think it’s fantastic. Never mind all these daft overpriced primer’s from MAC and other expensive brands. I’m sure they are great, but so is this Nivea Express Hydration primer, and it’s a hell of a lot cheaper.

The product is described ‘an exciting innovation that brings moisture and priming benefits together. The Daily Essentials Express Hydration Primer has a double action formula which can be used to provide a smooth base for make-up application, or can simply be used as a hard working moisturiser for long-lasting hydration.’ 

There are two times, one for Normal to Combination skin and a Dry to sensitive one. I bought the Normal to Combination and I’ve got to say, I think this is going to be something I regularly buy.  It comes in a 50ml pot, and it will last for ages, you only need to use a tiny amount for each application and it leaves your skin feeling super soft.  It absorbs beautifully into your skin, and it smells good too. It has a real fresh scent to it. 

 A lot of products never really fulfil what they say they are going to, but believe me this product does. My make-up still looks freshly done, even towards the end of the day.  Nivea’s experts say that it can also be used on its own to give ‘smooth glowy base’. Now I’m not usually the type to leave the house without any make-up on and I probably still wouldn’t, but it really does make my skin look really good on its own, without applying any make-up at all

If you’re like me and you don’t have a load of cash to spend on expensive primers and make-up products, then I urge you to buy this product! It’s still half price at Superdrug so don’t waste any time, and go out and get it.

Has anyone else tried out this product? What did you think of it?

Birthday Treats - What I got for my Birthday!

Hi everyone! I feel like I have completely neglected my blog over the last few days, but I have a good enough reason…It was my BIRTHDAY on Thursday!! So as you can imagine, I’ve been out and about, celebrating…or rather drowning my sorrows over the fact I’m now 22! Arghh.

So anyways, I thought I would share with you all the cool stuff I got for my birthday.

Firstly, my parents got me THE most AMAZING Juicy Couture bag from Harrods. I absolutely adore it, I like the fact that it’s not in your face like some Juicy bags are. I think it’s one of their more ‘classy’ bags, and it looks good with everything. I loveeee it.

I got some gorgeous stuff from my brothers too. My eldest brother got me this dark purple studded biker jacket from River Island. I’d actually been eyeing up this jacket for a while but didn’t have the money to buy it, so I was so excited when I got it.

My other brother Daniel got me a Hollister Jumper. I love all things Hollister, but the closest store it’s about an hour’s drive away so I never get the opportunity to shop there. 

My brother’s girlfriends always get me amazing gifts.  This year I got some Shu Uemura Make-up which is fantastic. I will have to review it at some point for you all. I also got a cute little top from Topshop, along with a necklace.

All my friends got me some lovely stuff as well. I got a Mac Giftcard, which is perfect as I’m in great need of some new Studio Fix Foundation. I also got a Topshop giftcard, which I can’t wait to spend. They have recently opened a huge Topshop in Leeds, it is massive, and there is literally so much stuff I want. 






And finally, my lovely friend Naomi, knows how obsessed I am with bright nail polishes, and got me some lovely Barry M, colours that are so yummy, I almost want to eat them. Can’t wait to try them.


So as you can see, I did really well. I got some lovely stuff and I had an amazing birthday.
Sorry for not posting anything new for a while,  But I will be writing a review on Nivea’s Hydrating Primer later on in the week,  so look out for that.

Thanks xo

What's Inside My Make-up Bag?

Rimmel Lasting Finish Foundation. £6.99 I usually like to get MAC foundation, however I seem to go through foundation like there’s no tomorrow, so for a cheap alternative I go for Rimmel Lasting finish foundation in ivory, as I’m naturally really fair skinned. I like it because it’s nice and thick and gives you really good coverage when you’re having a bad skin day. I apply it with my MAC foundation brush which helps give an even application. I always find that if you apply foundation with your hands, you tend to waste a lot and you don’t get it so even, so it’s always best to use a foundation brush.

 

L'oreal Lumi Pen. £8.49
I adore the Lumi pen, if you have read my blog before; you will have seen the post I did about it a few weeks ago along with how to get the best results and where to apply it. It’s so easy to use and really does make your skin look amazing.

L’oreal The touché Magique pen. £7.19 This is a Highlighting concealer pen much like the Lumi pen, except in my opinion, it’s not as good.  I bought it simply because highlighting pens tend to run out really quickly, they didn’t have the Lumi pen in the colour I wanted at the time, so I decided to try this out instead and soon realised it’s not half as good as the trusted Lumi Pen.

MAC Mineralize bronzer.  £19.95
I bought this recently and I love it, it’s the best bronzer I have ever bought. I got quite a dark shade, so I have to be careful when I’m applying it, but it looks amazing on. 

Rimmel Professional Eyebrow Pencil. £2.99
I only started to pencil my eyebrows on about 5 or 6 months ago, and now I can’t get out of the habit. I got it in Hazel as I didn’t want ridiculously dark eyebrows that stand out a mile. I pencil it on lightly, and it just finishes my make-up off nicely, giving my eyebrows a fuller shape to them.

Rimmel Spicy Bronze Eye Shadow. £4.49I have literally been using this eye shadow for years. I, just can’t get enough of it. I have dark green/brown eyes, and it compliments them so well. I also apply it underneath my eyes instead of using eyeliner and it gives you a really nice smokey looking eye.

Rimmel Exaggerate liquid eyeliner in black. £4.49
I love this eyeliner, I have tried so many other liquid eyeliners and they have never been as good. I apply it on the top of my eyes rather than the bottom and the brush is the perfect size to work with. People often compliment me on how well I do my eyeliner, and it’s really because the brush is designed to the perfect size and isn’t too thick. It’s only a small product, but it lasts absolutely ages. If you use liquid eyeliner, but haven’t tried Rimmel, I strongly recommend you try it.

Max Factor False Lash Effect 24 Hour Mascara. £11.99.
This mascara really does give you a false lash effect. I am lucky enough to have quite long eyelashes anyway, but this mascara really does make them look amazing. Its Smudge and water resistant as well, perfect.


MAC lipstick in Crème D’ Nude. £14
I bought this at the same time as I bought my bronzer, I usually wear a quite a bright shade of pink on my lips, but fancied a change and wanted to go for a more neutral colour.
 The women behind the counter recommended Crème D Nude;
it’s a neutral colour that still gives a glossy finish. It’s really nice to have a change from the usual pink lipstick I wear, and it’s a colour I will definitely buy again.

How To Repair Damaged Nails.

I love having my nails done, and almost always have acrylic nails, but after a while of having them on, my nails always feel really badly damaged. As a way of trying to keep my nails in better condition I researched ways to repair damaged nails and here are some of the top tips I found. 
 

Firstly, if you are like me, and have acrylic nails, remove them the right way. Soak them in acetone nail polish to soften them and remove using clippers. Better yet, have them professionally removed, but whatever you do don't crack them or peel them off. I have been guilty of not removing my acrylics properly before, and caused my nails a lot of damage, so always remove them properly.

 

Once you have removed your acrylics, start with the basics; file your nails back into a normal shape using an emery board.

Next, improve the surface of your nails by buffing them. You can do this using a 4-sided buffer. Your buffer will have numbers on each side, telling you the order in which to use each side.

Apply a drop of cuticle oil to each nail. Use the thumb of your opposite hand, and a circular motion to massage the oil into nails and cuticles. If you have had acrylics on, it is not recommended to push down your cuticles, as your nails will be too fragile, wait at least a week for your nails to recover before you do this.

Wipe your nails dry and then you can paint your nails with a clear or tinted polish with a nail strengthener. Leave your nails at least a few weeks if you are thinking about getting acrylics done again, otherwise your nails don’t have time to recover and they will just get weaker and become even more damaged.

If you are sick of the damage acrylics do to your nails, try Gellish or Shellac, they are much less harsh on your own nails, but still leave your nails looking gorgeous.

Recommended Products.

1. Stylfile by Tom Pellereau.
2. Opi Avoplex Nail & Cuticle Replenishing Oil.
3) Opi Natural Nail Strengthener

Essie Nail Polish.

I recently came across Essie Nail Polish whilst having a browse around boots a few weeks ago. I heard two girls about the same age as me talking about how fantastic it was and as I LOVE to try out different nail polishes; I thought I would give Essie a shot.

They have some gorgeous colours, and they all look so thick and creamy, and although the design on the bottle is quite simple, I like that about it, it looks simple and elegant. Each colour has also been given a really fun playful name, I really like that about Essie, I feel like it adds something extra to the brand and gives it a unique quality.

They aren’t cheap at £7.95 a bottle, but neither are all the other high end quality brands like O.P.I and Rococo. The Essie brand has over 200 different shades, but thankfully boots onlly had about 50. It took me ages to decide which to buy, but I eventually decided on two. 'Sand Tropez' and 'Pink a boo'.

 

The first colour I decided to use was 'Sand Tropez' as I was going for classy look. Although the colour looked gorgeous in the bottle, I did have to use more than one coat to get my nails looking the colour in the bottle. However, after the second coat, my nails looked fantastic and even though I had applied two coats, my nails didn’t seem to take too long to dry, which is always good for when you’re in a rush.

Once dry my nails looked super glossy and I was really pleased, I kept the colour on for about 4 days, and thoughout this period I never had to re-apply the colour. It didn't chip or scratch, and my nails stayed looking glossy.

If you’re like me and you already have a huge collection of Nail apparel, then you should definitely give Essie a try, their collection of colours is huge, and if you’re looking for something a bit more subtle for autumn and winter, they have just launched a collection especially for this season.

Even the stars have been talking about Essie, Rochelle Humes (The Saturdays) recently tweeted a picture of her nails with a bright yellow Essie shade on.  

Rochelle Humes‏@RochelleTheSats  ‘My new fav nail colour. Inspired by @millybymichelle show yesterday #nyfw love the lime xxx’

Thanks for reading. Hope you like my blog. xo

The Perfect Pampering Products

We all have days where we are completely stressed out and in need of some pampering time to ourselves. These products are perfect for helping us girls unwind and relax after a hard day.


1. Brazened Honey Fresh Face mask – Lush £5.95.
Every girl loves face masks, and this mask is perfect if you are over-worked and stressed out. This is a detox mask for when you have slightly overdone things and haven’t been taking much care of your skin. It will get tired and dull skin back to being radiant and glowing and will leave your skin feeling soft and smooth.


2. Dirty Works Buttery Salt Scrub. £4.99
I absolutely love the Dirty Works range, I came across it a few weeks ago and I’ve bought several of their products now, but my favourite has to be the buttery salt scrub. Massage it into damp skin in circular motions and then rinse thoroughly off and pat dry. It exfoliates your skin and literally leaves it feeling so soft and silky. It comes in a big tub and will last you ages. I think it’s a brilliant product for pampering your skin, and it’s something I will definitely be buying again once I run out.  As far as I’m aware, you can only get the Dirty Works range in Sainsbury’s, and if you haven’t already checked them out, you have too.They have some truly amazing products on offer.


3. The Righteous Butter - Soap & Glory £10.50.
This body butter was voted best in beauty 2012 by Woman & Home and I’m not surprised, it’s gorgeous. It’s made with softening shea butter and aloe vera and is perfect for getting soft velvety skin. Use it after you’ve been in the shower or bath, and massage it lightly into your skin. This product not only leaves your skin feeling super soft, it also smells amazing too!

4. Rainforest Moisture Hair Butter – The Body Shop. £8.00 (200ml)
As well as our skin, our hair sometimes need a bit of pampering too, especially as most of us use a lot of heat on our hair every day. This Luxuriously rich and intensive deep-conditioning treatment will leave you with soft, glossy and tangle-free hair. It’s specifically designed for dry or damaged hair and works best when it’s left on for around 30 minutes.  

40 and Fabulous.

Cameron Diaz is 40!

Can you believe it? She looks amazing, and according to an interview she did with Esquire Magazine, she feels it too.

She told the mag that she ‘feels better at 40 than she did at 25’ and that she believes life starts at 40.
So this got me thinking, what other celebs are looking fabulous at 40.


Jennifer Anniston - 43.
I still can't believe shes in her forties, she looks way too good for her age, AND, she just got engaged and seems to be the happiest she has been in a long time.

Mariah Carey - 42.
She had her gorgeous twins at 40, and shes just bagged an amazing new TV role. She got paid an estimated $15million to be one of the judges on this seasons American Idol.

JLO - 43
She's drop dead gorgeous, recently started a new relationship with a guy almost half her age and to top it all of, shes about to embark on a world tour. She literally has it all.

Sarah Jessica Parker is one of my favorite fashion icons. She has so much style and I refuse to believe she's 47!

Courtney Cox - 48
It doesn't seem like two minutes ago since she was on all our TV screens playing Monica Geller.
She was gorgeous then, but I think she's got even better with age and her figure is better than most 20 year olds!

These lot literally make forty look like thirty, and they dont even look fake or plastic. I don't know how they are doing it but, they should keep up the good work. They look amazing.

Thanks for reading, feel free to comment if you can think of anymore celebs that look great at 40+

xo

Zara Winter Collection.

 In the past I haven’t been a huge fan of Zara, and I very rarely used to shop in there, but recently, there stuff is amazing!

I went in the other day and they have so much gorgeous stuff for winter. They have a fabulous range of knitwear and cardigans, and a huge range of coats and jackets.

I’ve found it hard in the past to find a coat that’s both warm, and fashionable. I used to spend the winter months freezing my butt off because I didn’t want a big unflattering coat spoiling the rest of my outfit (sounds stupid, I know!) Anyways…I went into Zara, and I was spoilt for choice. I must have tried on about four or five coats that I absolutely loved and I spent ages in there mulling over which one to buy, before I eventually picked one.

I think that unlike a lot of high street stores, you do get very good quality clothes at Zara, all their coats and jackets look expensive, and most of them come in at around £60 - £70 which I don’t think is bad at all, especially when you will probably get so much wear out of it.


So I thought I would share my findings, heres some of the great fashion on offer there at the moment.

If you don't have a Zara store near you, you can shop online at www.zara.com and orders over £50 come with free delivery.


xo

Lee Stafford Products Reviewed

I don’t know about everyone else, but my hair is an absolute nightmare to keep straight during the autumn and winter months. My hair just turns to one big frizzy mess at the first sign of moisture in the air, so I looked around for some products to help keep my hair straight during the winter.

I’ve always known about Lee Stafford’s products and I have tried his brunette range before, but I had never tried his poker straight, and climate control ranges, so I thought I would give them a try.

I bought the Poker straight shampoo and conditioner that promise straighten hair, along with the climate control hairspray that is said to be an ‘umbrella for the hair’ in all weather conditions, and protects the hair from frizz.


The idea was that by combining the two, I would end up with poker straight hair that would last all day long, regardless of the weather conditions.

When I first used the Poker straight shampoo, I wasn’t expecting the glue-like texture and at first I was a bit worried about using it, but once I had massaged it into my hair, it lathered up nicely and it smells lovely, it has a really salon smell about it and as weird as that sounds, it made me feel more confident in the product. After I rinsed out the shampoo and I used the conditioner, which is gorgeous! You can tell as your rubbing it into your scalp that it’s going to leave you with super shiny/glossy looking hair and that’s exactly what it did.

One thing I really like about the poker straight shampoo and conditioner is that they have P2FIFTY Complex in which helps to protect your hair from heat damage. The bottom of my hair is quite damaged from dying too much, so I’m always looking for products that prevent my hair from further damage, so I love that my hair is getting extra heat protection from my shampoo and conditioner.

After I had blow-dried and straightened my hair, I sprayed my hair with the‘Climate control’ hair spray. The bottle says that ‘like water off a ducks back, this little hair m8 keeps hair looking gr8, when the climate wants to go Haywire’. If I’m being really honest, I didn’t expect a lot from this product, I’ve used so many other sprays to help tame my hair during the autumn and winter, and none seem to have worked, BUT, this climate control spray, is amazing! It doesn’t make your hair go sticky and hard like some ‘extra hold’hair sprays do, it’s just a light mist that falls nicely on your hair.

I go to uni in Huddersfield, but I live in Leeds, so I do a lot of travelling and walking, so I knew the trip to uni would be a great test for these products. I usually start the morning with my hair looking straight and by the time I’ve got to uni, my hair has kinks and has started to curl round my face and flick out. However, I noticed a real difference once I’d started using the Poker straight shampoo and conditioner along with the spray. I’m not going to lie, my hair didn’t stay perfectly straight, but it wasn’t far off. On a normal day I will go over my hair with the straighteners maybe two or three times, but since I’ve been using the Lee Stafford products, I haven’t felt the need to.

I would completely recommend these products to anyone who has the same hair troubles as me. I was extremely impressed by them, and although they aren’t the cheapest of hair products, they are certainly, in my opinion, worth the money and a lot of the time they are on 3 for 2 at Boots.

As far as I’m aware, Lee Stafford products are ONLY available in Boots. The poker straight Shampoo and Conditioner were £5.49 each and the climate control spray was £5.99.

The poker straight range is huge, and you can get a number of other different products, such as a dehumidifier (which I really want to try) a flat iron protect, shine serum and a conditioning treatment.

Lee Stafford does a number of other hair care ranges such as the ‘Bleach blonde’ range, ‘My big fat healthy hair’ and a range for hair growth.

Thanks for reading. I hope you like my blog. Xo