Spring is Here!

Over the weekend we had some bright and sunny weather here in London, which I enjoyed so much :)

On Sunday afternoon after a lazy morning, on a whim I asked Mon Bel Homme if he minded helping me finally paint the decrepid fence at the front the flat. I was going to go for a nice greeny-blue colour, but ended up deciding on "Country Cream."

So we set to work, and what a time consuming job it turned into! We also ended up running out of paint, so the fence only got one coat (I have bought some more and have Friday off work to complete it. Fingers crossed for good weather!) Nevertheless I am so pleased with the result! It looks so fresh and "spring-like." I also bought pots for either side of the door which add a nice touch. How are you getting ready for Spring/Summer?

Country Cream paint, from Homebase £19.99 for 2.5L.
Pots, £20 each from Homebase (half price from £40)

Cuticle Balms

Hello chéris! Have you all had a nice weekend?

As I am currently trying to grow my nails properly, I thought I'd test some cuticle balms I have.

First up is Jessica's Nourish Cuticle Cream, which I bought not long ago. I like Jessica's stuff and some of thier nail varnishes are fab. This comes in a cute see through tub and smells lovely. The consistency is quite liqiud-y, and also slightly greasy. It takes a while to rub in properly and can leave you feeling like you need to wash your hands. So, I usually only put this on at night. I must say though, my nails feel quite strong and look healthier. They have also grown quicker.

I have also tried the Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream. Again, I do love Burts Bees products as they are just good quality guaranteed. This cuticle cream does not dissapoint. It is quite hard, but once you rub it in your nails and cuticles it vanishes so quickly and leaves them smooth and supple, with no greasiness. It also smells divine, and left my nails shiny, and my cuticles conditioned and supple. I love this and would recommend!

Verdict: Burts Bees wins.

I Love OPI!

I don't paint my nails often as they are usually short. But when they are long and luscious, I like to use OPI nail polish as I think they are the best. They give great coverage, they last for ages, they are high shine, and they stay fresh for years without going thick and gloopy or 'separating'. They also have a wide range of colours which they are always updating. I tend to go for more neutral and pinky shades and my old favourites include Samoan Sand, Malaysian Mist, and Pink-a-Doodle.

For 2011 OPI have released a new range named "Texas" which I love. Two of my favourites from this collection include "I Vant to be A- Lone Star" which is a gorgeous grey blue (great for spring with a nice pair of beige chinos) and San Tan-Tonio which is a rich, gorgeous dark tan colour.

San Tan-Tonio

I Vant to be A-Lone Star

For more OPI go to www.opi.com
 

Camden Sunshine

As the sun has been shining brightly everyday this week, I decided to take a wander around Camden at lunch and snap some pictures (only on my phone so not the best). As Camden is so quirky and different, I thought it would add to the effect to make them retro. I think they came out pretty well. What do you think?

The Highroad

The highroad again

Lots of yummy food in the lock

Such a cute shop :)

The bridge

The lock (outside)

Westyard

A gorgeous little tea shop (best choc fudge cake EVER)

The lock

Converse Kids All Stars

Hi lovelies! How have you been? Missed me? :P

It's my gorgeous niece's birthday coming up very soon and she will be 2 years old. I was trying to think of buying a present for (as Ariel would say) "the girl who has everything." I thought of toys, then I thought of clothes but she has so much of both. So then I thought of trainers as she doesn't own a pair. And what is cuter than mini pink Converse?! I added my own little personalisations to these with UHU glitter fabric pens. How cute are they!

Shoes: £22 from JD Sports

Glitter Pens: £10 from Argos

Hummingbird Bakery Vanilla Cupcakes

Yesterday I took a wander after work in the Harrods Food Hall. I found Lola's Cupcakes but was on the hunt for Hummingbird, which is my fav. Turns out they don't sell Hummingbird in Harrods. So I settled for a mini Lola's Strawberry Cupcake- it was pretty delish, and inspired me to take once again to my kitchen and bake up a storm! Today I made Hummingbird plain vanilla cupcakes. And damn they are good ;-) As I have mentioned before, the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook is brilliant and the cakes come out so yummy as long as you follow the instructions carefully. The sponge is possibly the most delicious I have ever tasted! (Aren't I modest?!)

Unruly Studio Hair Salon London

Hi Loves! The weekend is upon us!

As promised here is my review on Unruly Studio hair salon in Portobello Road, London...

Having had curly hair all my life (inherited from my father who was blessed with a Jewfro), I have always wanted to have my hair cut properly by a hairdresser who knows curly hair and how to cut and style it. There are not many hairdressers around who know how to work with curly hair, unfortunately.

So I done some online research and found (what seems to be) the only specialist curly hair salon in London- Unruly Studio. I read very mixed reviews about this salon from many people with curly hair who had tried it. Some very scathing, and others full of praise. So I thought I'd give it a go and make my own judgement. Located on Portobello Road in Notting Hill, it is pretty nondescript from the outside. Some stairs lead you down to the salon in the basement. It is quite modern and swanky but also quite small. My hairdresser was Charlotte and she was pleasant enough though not over friendly. There was a bit of an arrogance in the air too, which I find at most salons.

I had my hair washed which was lovely, the sink was comfortable and he gave me a lovely massage.
Charlotte cut my hair wet which I wasn't too impressed with as you are supposed to cut curly hair dry. She put in some layers, etc to give me bouncier curls. Then she applied Curls Rock curl amplifier cream by Tigi and blow dried it with a diffuser.



I could tell by how she dried it that it wouldn't come out too well as she barely scrunched the curls. She just plopped my hair into the diffuser. And I was right. It came out ok, but not as curly and soft as I can get it! (I also prefer serum to creams for my hair). But here is the horror bit...She then started HACKING at random bits of hair quite haphazardly. She took off quite long bits of hair and lovely curly bits which I wasn't too happy about. But hey, maybe she knew what she was doing.

Anyway, today I am not overly pleased with my hair though it is not terrible- just not as good as I'd expected. I'm hoping that later when I wash it I will be able to style it more to my taste. The cut cost £50 total, so not too bad price wise.

Overall verdict: Meh.

Has anyone else been here? Did you have a good experience?

L'oreal Sublime Mousse

I have always chopped and changed my hair colour, much to it's dismay. Usually from a blondey-brown to dark brown- and back again. I have never really experimented with red, but did once go ultra blonde in an attempt to emmulate Britney Spears in her heyday- Big, BIG mistake resulting in my hair camouflaging with my yellowish skin, resulting in a rather bald appearance (or as my Father kindly put it "you look like your hair is a big heap of cotton wool with custard poured over it").
So in more recent years, I tend to go slightly lighter in summer, and dark in winter. Around Christmas time 2010 I dyed my hair brown again, but this quickly faded exposing the underneath blonde highlights. Out of laziness I have just left my hair be for a few months, but after hearing about the new L'oreal Sublime Mousse colourants I thought I'd freshen up my brown tresses before the inevitable blond highlights make their return in a few months. I bought the permanent colour in Delicious Light Brown.

This product is easier to apply than traditional hair colourants and is "moussey" but the mousse soon frazzles out and leaves a head of liquid.

But most disappointing was the eventual finished colour- it was NOT light brown at all, in fact more of a dark, reddy brown. Though, luckily, I do still like it. My hair is also quite shiny.

The end result (it is actually darker than this)

In conclusion- nothing special or different from the norm.

To follow up with the new colour, I am also getting my hair cut tomorrow evening at a specialist curly hair salon in Portobello Road. Will let you know how I get on....

Have a nice day!

Urban Outfitters Homeware

I do love Urban Outfitters, especially the sale section as it tends to be pretty damn good. As well as clothes and accessories they also do a funky home-ware range. I just love this mug (£9) and think I will get endless amounts of laughs out of it:

Yes my sense of humour is pretty damn sad, or would you find this hilarious too!? (Comfort me...) Other items which took my fancy include these gorgeous canvases by Atlanta based artist, Michelle Armas

"Elka" £100

"Secret Garden" £100

Check out Urban Outfitters online at: http://www.urbanoutfitters.co.uk/page/home/

Topshop Petite High Waisted Skinny Jeans

I'm only 'ickle (5.1" to be precise) so buying jeans can be a pain. I find that Topshop Petites jeans always fit me very well, even better than any designer brands. I love these new jeans from Topshop Petites named "Kristen." They are high waisted and skinny and a lovely deep indigo blue. I think these are lovely for spring/summer and would look fab with a tucked in summer blouse and tan sandals. Priced at £40.
http://www.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=0&viewAllFlag=&catalogId=33057&storeId=12556&productId=2246317&langId=-1&sort_field=Relevance&categoryId=208527&parent_categoryId=203984&sort_field=Relevance&pageSize=20

Cadbury's Cocoa House

Hello people and Happy Friday! :-)


As I mentioned before, I do love me a hot chocolate/tea/biscuits/cakes/chocolates, etc, etc. So imagine my delight when I spotted the new and gorgeous Cadbury's Cocoa House in Bluewater Shopping Centre while on a shopping trip with mon cher frère. 


Naturally after shopping we paid a visit. This shop is just gorgeous with lovely decor and ambience, and the menu is tantalising for your tastebuds (but slightly pricey). We opted for the standard Hot Chocolate and it was scrumptious. They also do icecreams, afternoon tea and sandwiches, choc'tails and of course chocolate. This store is the first of 50 to open in the UK and was launched in October last year. Check out my pictures below and the weblink: http://www.cadburycocoahouse.com/home.aspx Have you visited? What are your thoughts?

Yankee Candles

So today I have a day off work, and am relaxing at home :-)

A surefire way to help me relax are scented candles. But alas, as I'm sure you may have experienced, most scented candles smell nice if you sniff them but don't actually fragrance a room. Annoying, especially when you spend a lot on them! Jo Malone candles are always yummy and a different class but cost waaaaay too much for my candle budget. For years now I have been buying Yankee Candles which is an American brand, though you can find some stockists in the UK.  I think their range of scents are lovely and they regularly bring out new flavours (so to speak). Some of my favs include Black Cherry, Midnight Jasmine, Juicy Peach, and Egyptian Cotton.  These candles last a long time (they generally come in small, medium and large jars) and do really scent the whole room. Some new flavours this year include Country Lemonade, Garden Hideaway, Pink Lady Slipper, and Vanilla Lime which are all fresh and summery scents.

Check out their UK Shop at http://www.yankee.co.uk/

Bourjois Effect 3D Volume and Shine Gloss

Hello Lovelies.

Seeing as it is still very cold and dreary in London I thought I'd treat myself to one of the new Bourjois Lipglosses to brighten my Sunday afternoon :)

Bourjois have been making these glosses for a while now, but have recently brought out a whole new collection of gorgeous colours. I bought "Rose Romantic" which is a dusky pink with gold glitter sparkles. It is a lovely (if a little sticky) lipgloss with the signature sweet Bourjois scent. The colour is very nice and warm and the gold accents add a nice touch. This gloss is supposed to last 8 hours but, of course, it doesn't. I don't know of any gloss (yet) that lasts more than an hour without reapplication!

Overall this is a nice product and I must say the new collection of colours are gorgeous. Currently priced at £4.99 in Superdrug (ususally retail at £7.99). Try it and let me know what you think! :)

http://www.bourjois.co.uk/catalog/make_up/lips/gloss/nouveau_gloss_effet_3d

Curly Girls

Hello Poppits! Are you having a nice weekend?

Today I popped out shopping in search of some shampoo and conditioner. My hair is naturally curly and also quite dry and fine. I find that the most popular hair products weigh my hair down and almost leave it greasy (I find the Elvive range is the worst for this). I am quite fussy when it comes to haircare, especially since reading a book that changed my life; "Curly Girl" by Lorraine Massey (if you have curly hair I highly recommend!)

I like to buy products which aren't too harsh on my hair, so have to look carefully at the ingredients in both the shampoo and conditioner. Today I thought I'd try L'oreal Professionnel "Nature" Shampoo. Apparently 99% of the ingredients are from natural sources with no added parabens or silicones. At £9 it wasn't cheap but I am pretty impressed so far. My hair feels very fresh and properly cleansed (and not weighed down) and also soft.

I have been using it along side the Body Shop's (new-ish) range of haircare, namely the Rainforest Moisture Conditioner (again no silicones, colourants, parabens), and the hair butter. Again, I like these products as they are not too heavy on my fine hair but do the job of a good conditioner, and leave it soft and curly. What are your favourite hair products? Any recommendations? :-)

Swarovski Sparkles

Swarovski have some gorgeously sparkling goodies at the moment that might just brighten your cold, wintery days! I particularly like their rings which are quite chunky to say the least, but b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l! Some of my favorites are below:

Top (black) Athena Ring £72 , Middle, Nirvana "Emerald" Ring £130, Bottom "Night Time" Ring £125

They are not particularly cheap especially seeing as they are not silver or gold. Also, you have to be careful with these rings as the crystal (particularly on the chunkier rings) can smash quite easily! Apart from that I think they are lovely and with nails painted a nice shiny nude colour, will look pretty fierce with any outfit :-)