Soap & Glory Gloss Sticks

For me, Christmas 2013 was the year of Soap & Glory. I unwrapped ample S&G goodies and of course 'ahhhhh-ed' at the smell of every single product. Soap & Glory are one of my favourite brands, with their luxurious offerings of bath and body, and a side of humorous wit.

These Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Sticks are described as super-light, ultra-hydrating lip crayon's and I couldn't have worded it better myself. These crayons are glossy but not at all sticky, no unfortunate hair-in-mouth disasters here! There is absolutely no hint of any tingling sensation (I'm looking at you Lip Plumping Gloss) and lashings of moisturising goodness.

This nifty gift set presents 3 colours. Covering all bases we have a nude, berry and bright shade...

'Nudist' as you may expect is a nude pink shade, perfect for every day wear. Can't go wrong.

'Fushia-Ristic' is the brightest of the bunch, but I feel it has the least colour pay off. The bright orange/pink colour adds major shine to your lips but not much else.

'Plum Jam' is a deep red and my favourite of the three. The easiest product to achieve a carefree bold lip EVER, ya'know for those days where you want to flaunt a red lip but don't have the time or energy for anything fancy.

If you are looking for highly pigmented lip laquers, these aren't the thing for you. But if you want a hint of sophisticated colour in the form of a nourishing gloss then look no further chums! Unfortunately I think this particular set was a Christmas limited edition however you can certainly still buy them separately online - with more shades too!

Battle of the Christmas Nails

Christmas Day involves many decisions including the likes of, how many puddings is too many puddings? Is it acceptable to sport a cracker hat over a Santa number and maybe more importantly, what festive polish should I don?

Here's the shades that made the final cut...

as in top picture 

Maybelline color show brocades in 'knitted gold'

Essie 'mind your mittens'

Collection 60 second hot looks in 'big hair'

nails inc. in 'luminous metallic red'

Kate spade for nails inc. in 'uptown glamour'

The picture doesn't do knitted gold justice but it is the most amazing glitter ensemble of gold and dusky pink flecks, ultimately transforming any polish colour into a dazzling look. I'm currently torn between the simple metallic red or layering glitter over gold for maximum festive overload! (if you can't do it at Christmas, when can ya eh?)

Decisions, decisions...

It's Christmas Time

Here's an insight into my little flat all ready for Christmas, with festive decor galore and, of course, candles!

Merry Christmas To You All!

Easy Peasy DIY Jar Candles

Lifestyle post for you today - THE easiest yet very effective chutney jar to candle conversion DIY you'll ever see...

You will need:

• A pair of scissors (please be careful)
• A reel of decorative string/ribbon/rope
• A lighter (again be careful)
• Empty jars
• Tealight candles

Using whatever shape or size jars you wish, wash them out and remove all labels. Now take your rope (or whatever you choose to use) and loosely measure around the top of the jar enough to wrap around and tie a bow. Cut the rope to the correct length and (carefully!) use the lighter to burn the edges of the rope to avoid fraying. Then simply tie a pretty bow around the top of the jar, drop in a lit tea light and voila!

very simple but very effective - 

a cheap & easy Christmas present too!

Who's feeling the Christmas spirit yet? I know I am!

Bad Orchid

The world has gone matte crazy, buffing away that shine is definitely the big thing of AW'13 (not to mention the leather mania we are currently experiencing).

When it comes to this polish, I have been spying it up for months, holding back because do I really need another burgundy/purple polish?

Topshop Nails in 'Bad Orchid'  £6

...Most probably not but when I noticed Topshop were now leaning towards the pastel mattes, leaving only one (lonely!) bottle of this colour on the shelves, I just knew I needed to take it home - if not for my sake, for the lonesome bad orchid's!

Of course it's the perfect Autumn/Christmas colour, you can't go wrong with purple in autumn - as you can tell from this post. Two coats are needed for a good solid opaque nail, but Topshop have come up trumps again with their polish quality. I can see myself adding some gold glitter for a be-dazzling effect... but that's for another day.