Lush The Sacred Truth

I've been eyeing Lush up for a while as I was drawn in by the promise of all natural goodness for my skin and finally took the plunge with one of their "so fresh you have to keep it in the fridge" face masks.

Faced (pun fully intended) with an array of interesting looking and smelling pots in the little Lush shop in Southampton I wasn't sure which one to try but the ever-so-helpful lady suggested The Sacred Truth might be a good place to start as I adore exfoliating masks. This one uses enzymes from fresh papaya to dissolve dead skin with added wheatgrass to feed up the skin beneath.

Let's be honest, this looks revolting - not unlike congealed mushy peas - and is one of those masks you can only use when you know no-one is going to be knocking on your door! Fortunately it smells better than it looks. It's not too lumpy to apply and I go for a good thick layer as this only has a fridge life of 3 weeks so it'll only go to waste if I don't use it. It dries on the skin after 10-15mins but isn't uncomfortable and doesn't require lots of scrubbing with a flannel to remove.

I can't quite put my finger on exactly what this does for my skin but it seems to rather like it. It doesn't exfoliate as thoroughly as my favourite REN Glycolatic Radiance Renewal mask but my skin definitely looked brighter and just, well, happier after this mask. Often I'll double up on masks, using one after the other to maximise the benefits, but I didn't want to with this one. I was happy just to round off with the rest of usual routine and go to bed, waking to really quite nice skin the following morning.

As a targeted treatment mask I don't think this would cut the mustard but as a treat once or twice a week it's rather nice. Will I repurchase it when my little pot runs out? Possibly, but then I'm a fickle beast so I'll probably have my eye on something else by then!

Have you tried any of Lush's super fresh face masks?

New Collection Eyeshadow Palette

I admit I am a sucker for eyeshadow palettes but being on a limited budget means I haven't gotten my hands on many of the high end ones we've seen released recently (Naked 3, you will be mine one day!). However, on a recent trip to Superdrug I picked up a new dinky 8 shadow plus highlighter palette from Collection 2000 which is more than enough to satisfy my eyeshadow cravings (for now at least). It's so good, in fact, that I may need to pick up the other three from the range, just to be sure it's not a fluke you understand. I'm talking of course about the Collection Eyeshadow Palettes and I plumped for the purple version.

Each palette comprises 8 dinky shadows, each about the size of a 10p piece, and one highlighter. The shadows are a mix of shimmer and matte and range from light to dark. They're also cleverly numbered with instructions on the reverse of the packaging to make any look you're aiming for as easy as 1-2-3. Although some of the shadows are a little dusty and some have less pigment than others they all give good colour payoff, apply and blend easily and have impressive staying power even without primer.

Purple is ideal for green eyed gals as it makes our eye colour really pop. The colours are a mix of pinks and purples including the most beautiful shimmer rose gold which was an instant favourite of mine. My favourite multi-shadow look is a combination of top left, middle and middle right as the shades seem to blend together the best without overpowering each other too much.

The Collection Eyeshadow Palettes are available in Superdrug for the special offer price of £2.99 (usually £3.99). Given the quality of these shadows I think that's terrific value for money!

Have you tried any of these palettes yet? Which is your favourite?

What's on my nails #8

I really loved the spotty lilac manicure I did last week - I got so many compliments on it! This week I thought I'd do something similar but I was feeling a little princessy so I had to get some glitter in there. Anyway, its so miserable at the moment (take a look at Monday's flood post) I'm game for anything that might cheer me up!

The base colour is Maybelline Forever Strong in Ceramic Blue (MIA from Boots and Superdrug but freely available on Amazon or eBay). It's a lovely pale grey blue with a "porcelain" finish which dries semi matte or lightly glossy with a top coat. The glitter dots are a mix of Barry M Aqua Glitter and Ciaté Serendipity, which I think was only available with the Mini Mani Month advent calendar. Both are clear bases packed with turquoise and dark pink glitter respectively and required a fairly thick splodge to get decent glitter coverage.

Add a top coat once everything is thoroughly dry et voila - one pretty jewel-esque manicure!

Do you do glitter or would you opt for genuine nail jewels?

Wet 'n' Wild Weather

Do you remember that Kevin Costner film Waterworld where the whole world was covered with water and people basically lived on ships? Well we're not quite there yet in Hampshire but we're not far off!

You can't fail to have seen on the news how badly southern England has been affected by the relentless rain and storms we've had since before Christmas. I can certainly vouch for the fact that it's rained almost every day and some of the winds we've had have been so strong my poor little car has been blown all over the road. Near where Mr P and I live the New Forest has taken some serious hits with large areas flooding repeatedly and loads of trees coming down meaning closed roads dangerous driving conditions.

 Fortunately Mr P owns a Land Rover Defender (recently dubbed man's answer to Mother Nature's bullsh*t) which he's been using to rescue flooded vehicles, clear roads and generally help the emergency services. I'm going to sing his praises for a sec because he does this without being asked, without being paid and in some of the worst weather conditions purely because he wants to help. With over twenty cars recovered (some of which he managed to restart and get the drivers on their way), half a dozen trees cleared from roads, many stranded people helped and countless drivers redirected it's safe to say I'm seriously proud of him. He even took one couple Christmas shopping 3 days before Christmas after their car was drowned by a thoughtless truck driver.

I'm pretty impressed with the truck too. OK it might not be a sleek looking sports car and yet it's noisy and drinks diesel by the gallon but it's taken everything Mother Nature has thrown at us. It even waded us to safety through 3ft of flood water (that's right up over the headlights!) in complete darkness at 2am when a tree came down behind us blocking our escape on a deserted road. 'Twas very scary let me tell you!

If it's flooded near you then please, please take care if you're driving anywhere. Use a bit of common sense and don't plow your car into water on the road. Take it slowly and carefully and if you're not sure you can make it don't try. Watch out for the wash caused by large vehicles

If you happen to be down our way and get stuck out in the New Forest keep your eye open for a bloke with long blonde hair and a big black 4x4. If he offers you some help, be sure to say thanks 'cos that's my man!    

4 Steps to Straight Hair

A month ago almost to the day I had a whopping 10 inches cut off my locks, taking me from a hip skimming lady of length to a boob skimming long layered bob. Check out the before and after, complete with the world's worst selfie, here. Do I regret it? Not a bit of it! Honestly, it was the best thing I've done in a long time as now not only can I rock a pony tail without developing a killer headache but it takes literally half the time to wash and style. Hurrah!

So how am I managing with my shorter locks? I have to admit I've never been all that adventurous with my hair - it's almost always been long and way too thick to do anything with other than drag a brush through. Between that and being ridiculously busy at work recently it's meant I haven't had the opportunity to play with it as much as I'd hoped but one thing I have managed to do is truly master straightening it.

Step One: Get Product-ed up!
These are the products I use, starting with pretty damp hair to almost dry:

• 4-5 pumps of Tresemmé Oil Elixir Colour to soften, nourish and protect my raven colour
• A little dollop of Tresemmé Texture Style Velvet Cream to separate out the layers and give a slightly piece-y look 
• A generous helping of Tresemmé Heat Defence Spray to protect from the ravages of my straighteners 
• Sometimes if I'm going out I'll add a squirt of volumising mousse to really lift my roots, but I haven't found one I'm truly happy with so no recommendations as yet.

Step Two: Rough Dry
I won't straighten my hair unless it's bone dry as if it's at all wet it tends to singe and snap so I flip my hair upside down and blast it with my hair dryer on a medium heat. This helps to add a little volume too, especially if I'm using mousse as well, but also makes me look like I've been dragged through a henge backwards. Mr P thinks it's the funniest thing!

Step Three: Straighten
The key to getting a really slinky poker straight finish for me is to work with small sections and use a comb in combination with my Babyliss Pro Elegance straighteners (I have the navy blue version). I slowly work on each section lifting it up and away from my head slightly to prevent my hair being completely flat. It takes a bit of practice to coordinate running the comb through my hair directly ahead of the irons but this technique gives much better, longer lasting results than using the straighteners alone. Once I've gone through all of one side of my hair I run the straighteners over the whole of each side of my hair to bring it together and iron out any last little kinks.

Step Four: Finishing
The final touch is simply to comb backwards through my hair while it's still warm to stop it falling into my face too much. Depending on what I'm up to I might add a spritz of shine spray or muss up my roots some with a few strategic sprays of Umberto Giannini Backcomb in a Bottle. And that's my everyday straightening routine! On non-washing days a quick run over with my straighteners usually revives my style and gets rid of sleep-induced sticky out bits. 

What's your every day hair routine?

Balm Barmy

It's official, I love a good balm. I must have dozens of lip balms in various tubs, pots tubes and sticks and a good few non-lip offerings too. Here are three of my favourites...

Botanics Super Balm (Boots, £4.99)
This is a bit of does everything product with a host of skin friendly goodies including rosehip, sweet almond and jojoba oils and shea butter. It's also 93% organic, fragrance and paraben free and the little pot is the perfect handbag size. This is great for dry skin patches, especially on the elbows, knees and feet, and makes a super nourishing hand balm although it's a bit greasy for use during the day. I've also used it to protect a cold-ravaged nose (see this post) and a slightly weird tasting lip balm but recently it's been doing its best work on my eyes. My undereyes are incredibly dehydrated at the moment and nothing seems to moisturising enough for them but a thin coat of this over night seems to be really helping. I'm also rubbing it into my eyelashes and have noticed a definite improvement in them with less lash fall when taking my mascara off.

Badger Sleep Balm (FeelUnique.com, £3.99 and £6.99)
I lead a pretty stressful life which makes it really difficult to switch off at night. I lie awake thinking about work, blog ideas, house stuff I need to do - there's always chatter going through my head! I was a bit sceptical about so-called sleep balms but I picked this up in the sale anyway to see if it would help. Certified organic and scented with calming lavender and bergamot I actually don't care if this helps clear my mind or not - it smells divine! Happily, and to my surprise, a smear on each wrist and a little on my temples or behind my ears actually does a pretty good job of  helping me to switch off and drift off. I know the various sleep potions by ThisWorks are world famous in the blogosphere but I actually prefer the smell of the Badger balm and my mini version is dinky enough to take travelling with me. I'd still love to try that pillow spray though.

Rêve de Miel Baume Lèvres (Nuxe, £9.50)
No post on balms would be complete without the queen bee of lip balms (geddit?). Rêve de Miele is without doubt the best lip balm I have ever used. I'm sure most of you will be no stranger to it but for the uninitiated this is an ultra nourishing, non-greasy balm which is capable of working miracles on even the most chapped and dry lips. As the name suggest this contains honey, along with shea butter, plant oils and grapefruit essence, and smells like a fruity honey cocktail. Apply a little before bed and it will still be there working its soothing and smoothing magic in the morning. As it's a matte formula you can also wear this under lipstick or gloss to keep lips nourished all day. I haven't found it to negatively affect wear much either. Currently FeelUnique.com are offering a sample sized Nuxellence Jeunesse Yourh and Radiance Revealing Fluid if you spend £20 on Nuxe products.

A final word also has to go to The Body Shop Lip Butters which, at a mere £4 each, are great for. Quick lip pick me up during the day. My favourite is the coconut one but I also have my eye on the chocomania and charity dragon fruit flavoured foundation varieties.

Which balms have you going balm-y?

What's on my nails #7

After last week's reasonably successful but very messy attempt at water marbling I thought I'd stick to something simpler in the nail ark stakes this week. I love polka dots (as you may have noticed in this post) as they're a simple easy to do design and paired with an inverse accent nail in can be quite eye catching.

I know it's all about Valentines Day this week with reds and pinks everywhere but I really wasn't feeling a full pink manicure so I opted for this pretty soft lilac instead. It's actually the lighter of the two L'Oréal ones that I used for my marbling last week - I liked it so much I decided to give it a chance to shine on its own. The colour is called Riviera Lilac and I can only find it online from Direct Cosmetics but I'm sure I've seen it in store in Boots too. The white I've used for my accent nail and the dots on my thumb is Barry M Nail Paint Matt White which, for a fairly liquid white polish, is reasonably opaque but the brush could be a bit chunkier for ease of use.

Polka dot nails really are quite easy to do. All you need is a dotting tool of some sort but you don't need to rush out and buy a proper one - I used the end of a hairpin which I'd straightened out and it worked just as well. Using a scrap of paper and a dollop of polish as a makeshift palette simply dip your tool and dot onto your nails gently in whatever pattern you fancy. You must let the dots dry completely before you apply a top coat though or you risk smudging them.

Have you gone for Valentines nails or something a little bit different this week?