Slatkin Candles

I have coveted the Slatkin Candles from Bath & Body works for years now, they get such amazing write ups online and are always top of people's lists as things which you have to check out when you visit the US, those things combined with my current obsession for beautifully scented products for my home mean they are very high up on my list of must have items.

 

Unfortunately they are almost impossible to get hold of in the UK unless you are willing to pay a huge premium for them and choose from a very limited selection.

 

So imagine my delight when included in a Christmas gift from my boyfriend's lovely parents were these little beauties:

 

 

4 mini Slatkins!  I was so excited when I opened them, they were a total surprise as I'd asked for some Yankee Tarts to be sent over and wasn't expecting anything else so these were a properly lovely surprise.

 

The four scents are Fresh Balsam, Twisted Peppermint, Frosted Cranberry and Chestnut and Clove.

 

Fresh Balsam is a lovely herby, pine sort of scent.  Twisted Peppermint is a sweet creamy mint scent.  Frosted Cranberry is a sharp fruity scent and Chestnut and Clove is a lovely warm spicy sort of scent.  They are all absolutely delicious and very well chosen.

 

So far I've only burned one, Chestnut and clove, and it's beautiful.  It's also surprisingly strong considering the size of the candle, they are only mini so the fact it can scent a whole room is pretty impressive!

 

Have you tried any of the Slatkin candles?  If so which ones should I look out for, any favourites?  Also, have any of you tracked down a decent UK supplier, or do I have to add them to my ever expanding list of things ti import when I win the lottery and start a 'hard to find in the UK things' shop? ;)

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine - Blueberry

Today I have one of the Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine polishes to show you, I love these polishes for stamping but I'm also finding them good go to polishes when I just want a really quick manicure. 

 

They apply beautifully, really smooth and totally opaque in two coats.  I also love the 'gelly' / jelly type finish, they look like the sort of squishy effect you get from lots and lots of layers of a much thinner polish with the simplicity of only 2 coats.

 

This is blueberry:

 

The polish is a beautiful cornflower blue.

 

I really love this polish, it's such a pretty shade and so easy to apply, another winner from Barry M!

British Nail Bloggers - Weekly Round Up.

Lyndsay at Pie's Eyes has created a Houndstooth Manicure this week, head over and check it out.

Over at Emma's Little Corner the 31day challenge is still going strong, saran wrap, geometric and this splatter mani have been in amongst this weeks challenges.

Kerrie from PishPosh and Polish is still juggling the 31 Day Challenge with her Digit-al Does does Art week. She has done Pop Art, Street Art, Banksy inspired but her favourite is Tribal Nails!

Alyssia from Rose Tint My Nails brings you the second Sister Saturdaythis week the girls take on flocking powder. Also Alyssia finally sorts out her collection and finds some decent nail polish storage!So check it out!

Futurama's Bender Nails were attempted by Enigmatic Rambles this week.

Fancy 10% Off at Born Pretty? Then head over to Wendy's Delights for the code!

Anna of Anna's Polish Addiction has entered The Crumpet's Amateur Nail Art Contest, to see her entry and details about voting see here. She's also posted OPI Liquid Sand polish Stay the Night.

Lou has her one of the Christmas Polishes to show you over on Painted Nails and Baking Scales. What polishes did Father Christmas put in your stocking?

Boots Voucher Bargains

It's that time again, Boots are doing their No7 voucher which means £5 off skincare and £3 off make up with each one you receive.  Annoyingly you can't use both in the one transaction for some reason although you can use both separately one transaction after another, who knows the logic behind that rule!

I'm a big fan of the No7 vouchers and although I was disappointed when they changed from £5 off make up I have started using a few No7 skin care items so that sort of make us for it, plus I can't avoid a money off coupon, even on principal! 

I thought I'd show you what I have used my voucher so far this time round and also link to some other items which I think are a good deal just in case you are looking for some ideas for how to put your own vouchers to use.

 

This time round I used the make up vouchers for Stay Perfect Top Coat and the skin care vouchers for Cleansing Water and Eye Makeup Remover.  I've got a bottle of the eye makeup remover already and I really like it, it's quite oily which means it really cuts through my liner and mascara and removes them easily without scrubbing.  I'm hoping the cleansing water will be similar to a lot of the more expensive Micellar cleansers that are about at the moment, at £4 it would be quite the bargain if it was.

 

In the past I have bought Micro-dermabrasion Face Exfoliator which I really like and I also like the look of the Hot Cloth Cleanser. The £5 off skincare puts everything down to a really good, competitive price so I always find it's a good time to try out something new.

 

Hopefully before the vouchers run out this time round I can bag another couple of top coats and maybe another skin care product.  What are you going to use your vouchers for?  Are there any must have No7 products that I should try out while the voucher offer is running?

Stamped Trees!

Today I did a manicure which I was hoping would make my nails look like wood, I think it turned out fairly successful...

 

I used GALS GA12 stamped in Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine in Watermelon over a base of Kiko 329, a sort of pale grey green shade.

 

I'm pleased with how this turned out although I think if I were to do it again I would try brown shades or maybe just a more green green for the base as this Kiko tends to lean quite grey and almost blue in some lights, I do love the stamp though!

US Yankee Tarts

I was very lucky that my lovely boyfriend's equally lovely parents sent me a little package of US goodies over as a treat for Christmas, included in the package were some US Yankee Tarts, all fragrances which aren't available in the UK.  I am so excited to try them out!

 

 

So far I've burned Fireside which is a lovely woody, herby scent with hints of firewood and smoke about it - nice smoke though, not just regular smoke!  It's quite a masculine fragrance but it was perfect for a cosy evening in.  I'm hesitant to use them too quickly though as I know I can't get anymore easily, silly I know but I don't want to waste their deliciousness!

 

Apparently there are some places which sell the US only scents in the UK but I am yet to track any of them down, so if you know of anywhere that sells the harder to find, US released scents please comment below, otherwise I'll have to start pestering my almost MIL to go shopping for me again!

Double Stamping

Another double stamping attempt today, this time I used a Cheeky plate and a GALS plate: 

 

 

Polish wise I used Kiko 372 and then Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Grapefruit and Plum for the stamping

 

Unfortunately this look didn't turn out quite how I was hoping, instead of looking like nice layers it turned out a bit cluttered.  I think in part because the second image I used wasn't very clear so you can't really make out the heart design.

 

You'll also have to excuse the horrible gash I have on my ring finger, I have no idea how it happened but it's not the most photogenic of things!

New Kiko

My parents were over visiting from Spain for Christmas and they brought me three of the new Kiko glitter polishes from the Dashing Holiday collection, unfortunately I only managed to get one very rubbish bottle shot:

 

 

The online swatches give a good idea of the colours:

 

 

So far I have only used Starry Indigo for a Christmas manicure:

 

 

I can't wait to try out the other two, and possible add the rest of the set to my collection, they're available here on the website, with 30% off!

 

The polish applied beautifully and was fully opaque in just two coats which for a glitter is brilliant, I think.  Although not quite so smooth to apply as Kiko's gorgeous creams it did go on fairly nicely and lasted really well.  I am hoping the other two are just as fantastic when I get around to trying them out.

 

 

 



Houndstooth

Here is a quick manicure I did with one of my new GALS stamping plates, I used GA2 for this one along with Lucky Lilac by No7 and Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine in Plum for the stamping.

 

 

 

I'm a little annoyed at how smudged these look in the photos, the stamping wasn't perfect but you really can't tell in person whereas in the pictures they look very messy.

 

 

Overall I was pleased with this look, they looked almost like nail foils or stickers as the pattern covered the whole nail so well.

British Nail Bloggers - Weekly Round Up!

Emma shows leather and holo finishes together for a rocking new year's eve mani and is currently taking on the 31 day challenge and particularly proud of day 5 over at Emma's Little Corner.

Nada tried her hands at the magnetic gradient effect. What do you think!?

Over at Pie's Eyes, Lyndsay has some new stamping plates to show off the Princess collection and the Fairy collection , both from GALS.

Q themed manicure? Q is for Quackers! Hardest ABC Challenge yet!  Beccy's been making the most of the christmas holidays and has nails in Blue and Pink at Two Days Slow.

Alyssia has made some New Years Resolutions for her blog Rose Tint My Nails! As well as swatching Miss Sporty Metal Flip Polish! Check it out!

Kerry at JustTalkNails is really loving this new Garden Green from Avon, a lovely forest type green.

Lou was busy this week, playing with a new glitter polishe that will have stars in your eyes as well as on your nails.

Anna of Anna's Polish Addiction has been enjoying Debbie Crumpet's 31 Day Challenge, her favourite mani so far being her first attempt at using microbeads on the purple day. She's also posted Revlon Facets of Fuschia.

Just a heads up , Jo at Northern Nails hasn't gone AWOL. her nails are super nibbins and not good for swatching , so shes hasn't been much with the posts this week , But Happy New Year and Welcome 2013 and here's hoping has a fantastic year!

Wendy at Wendy's Delights is showing us her fave nail polish effect Pink Magnetic with Circular Magnet go check it out!

The Crumpet began another 31 Day Challenge this month. Click here to see her amazing pink splatterfest for Day 4.