O.P.I MANICURE

As a beautician, I like to really know my stuff about all products/ranges.

Despite it hurting my bank balance, I like to try out as much as I can. Mainly to be able to offer the best, but also to be able to give my opinion on it.

Recently I brought the O.P.I Manicure Range and I am so impressed by it I just had to blog!

Due to constantly having my hands in water or acetone, my skin gets very dry. Especially round my cuticles which can become quite stiff and sore. 

This is the Lemon Tonic range and I bought mine from Sally's Hair & Beauty Ltd.

These smell unbelievable and really remind me of old fashioned sweeties. (I think its cola cubes..)

They don't smell particularly lemony but very sweet with a citrus undertone. 

They are infused with Yuzu (a Japanese citrus fruit), hints of Vanilla, Ginger and White tea essences and a unique blend of botanical fruits.

Lemon Tonic Mask - £8.99

Lemon Tonic Scrub - £8.99

Lemon Tonic Massage - £8.99

(I get these at discount price, I think they are normally about £12.99 each)

You can purchase here at Amazon

As well as the Lemon Tonic, I bought the Avoplex range to.

This range is more targeted to the nails and cuticles. These smell beautiful to, very different scent. 

They contain a blend of Shea, Cocoa, Avocado, Almond Butters & Deep penetrating protein peptides to 'Revitalise skin at cellular level for optimum results'

High Intensity Hand and Nail cream - £5.99

Exfoliating Cuticle Treatment - £6.39

Cuticle Oil To Go - £4.89

(Again, these are trade price and are more expensive normally)

You can purchase here at O.P.I

My hands were looking very sorry for themselves after i'd finished work yesterday so thought i'd treat myself to a manicure with all these treats and did a little before and after.

You can really see a massive difference! 

First, I massaged in my Exfoliating Cuticle Treatment and cut them back. 

Second I used the Lemon Tonic Scrub to remove dry/dead skin cells.

Next was the Lemon Tonic Mask which I left on for 5 minutes then gently removed with a wet towel.

Finally I massaged in my Lemon Tonic Massage with added Avoplex High Intensity and finished with Avoplex Cuticle Oil.

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COCOWHITE

So today i've caved and purchased the highly raved about, CocoWhite.

Their products originated from the well known practice 'Oil Pulling'.

I have researched the life out of this technique and actually it seems to be really popular, not to mention successful. 

Oil Pulling works by swishing the oil around your mouth for 5-10 minutes. 

CocoWhite have basically created the perfect dosage, packaged it nicely with yummy flavours to make it  (hopefully) a more bearable technique! Oil Pulling works to reduce the amount of harmful bacteria in your mouth. To put it simply, as you swish the oil around your mouth the bacteria 'gets stuck' in it and dissolves in the liquid oil. 

Oil Pulling has all sorts of health benefits linked to it such as ; Brighter, whiter teeth, Healthier gums, Prevents bad breath, Increased energy, Decreased headaches, Clearer sinuses, Alleviated allergies and even clearer skin. Personally all I'm after is whiter, cleaner teeth. Im skeptical about the rest of those apparent benefits but if it works then bonus!

So I've bought mine in the flavour 'Vanilla Swirl'.

They also offer 'Minty Fresh' & 'Light Lemon'. 

They cost 19.99 for 14 Sachets and you can purchase them here, at CocoWhite.UK.

I'm trying these as they are a slightly more luxurious way to perform Oil Pulling. You can also use good old fashioned Coconut Oil. It is the most popular because of its sweet flavour. 

I actually use coconut oil all the time as a replacement for cooking oils. There are so many health benefits linked with coconuts. I myself am a massive fan. Ive replaced nearly everything I can with the healthy coconut alternative! Hair oil, Cooking oil, Coconut Milk, Coconut Cream, etc. 

So if your looking for a cheaper alternative, you can buy jars of it from most supermarkets. My favourite being Lucy Bee, 9.95 for 500ml. You can purchase it here, at LucyBee.UK.

I will be posting my results once I receive my delivery and am looking forward to trying it out!

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SMASH BOX COLOUR & CONTOUR PALETTE

So last weekend as you know we went to Liverpool for a little break.

Sunday the weather was pretty miserable but we wanted to make the most of it so we went to Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet. For people outside of the UK, Its basically a retail park which has designer labels at discount prices. Its has shops such as Armani, Mulberry, French Connection, Jaeger, Juicy Couture, Michael Kors... You get the picture.

As we were walking round I had actually said how great it would be if there was a makeup shop somewhere among all the brands and just as we were walking to the car, there it was!

As you can imagine I was in my element. It had Mac, Bobbi Brown, Smashbox, Clinique, Estee Lauder and lots of perfumes. 

I didn't go mad as we had definitely spent enough and we were rushed for time. 

Anyway, on to the fun stuff. I bought my Mac Face And Body foundation in C3 and my Mac Mineralise Concealer in NC25. Not much to say about those, just repurchases! However I'm really excited by my new Smashbox Colour & Contour Palette!

It retails at £80.00 but I bought mine for £56.00 (I know, bargain!)

It comes like a book and you can remove each palette. They both have a hard plastic cover that clicks on top to so they are super handy for makeup artists as you can travel easily with them.

If your interested in buying this, you can get it here at SmashBox

So you get 32 eyeshadows, 3 Blushes, a Contour, Bronze and Highlight powder.

I am SO impressed with this palette. Has a nice mix of Matte and Metallic shades. 

Each shadow is incredibly pigmented, soft and finely milled. Even better with a primer. 

From left to right we have; Naked, Nectar, Flirt, Vanilla, Drizzle, Ambient, Pebble & Golden Orchid.

Topaz, Sienna, Cinder, Nude, Royal, Blackout, Smoke & Sumatra.

Oyster, Sky, Lavender, Snow, Zoom, Steel, Lilac & Rose Petal.

Ivy, Cerulean, Violet, Papaya, Serpent, Nocturnal, Blacktop & Peony.

Contour, Bronze, Highlight, Carnation, Flush & Rosy.

These face powders are exceptional. Lasted all day and I didn't get any fading for at least 8 hours.

I would definitely recommend this palette. I love it and for the quality and amount of product you get, It's well worth the money. 

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