Manicure Monday: Barry M Molten Metals

Firstly, a very happy Bank Holiday Monday to you! I hope you're enjoying a relaxing morning!

I am so, so in love with the latest release from Barry M. The brand has tackled metal style polishes in the past with the foil effects polishes but these are definitely a couple of steps up! The range consists of four polishes, a copper, bronze, silver and a gold.

I just had to go for Bronze Bae and Copper Mine, which are both perfect if you want to introduce the bronze/copper trend to your nails as it's a trend that is definitely not going away anytime soon. These polishes are not just plain old metal looking shades, they come with a foil, almost speckled glittery finish, which catches the light so well.

As per usual they applied really nicely. I'm a big fan of the Barry M nail polishe brushes these days, they coat the nails so easily and you can even get away with just one coat of each shade or you can add more to build up the finish. In the photos above I used two coats of polish and I'm really happy with how they look. I found the Bronze Bae shade came out a little lighter than expected but it's still absolutely dreamy looking and don't get me started on Copper Mine, it's just the perfect copper nail polish and I absolutely love it.


The polishes dried super quickly and although they have a glittery/speckled finish, they aren't rough to the touch, which I was expecting. They have a lovely glossy finish too, you could add a top coat if you want but I found there was really no need.

What I'm most impressed with is the staying power of these polishes. I've been wearing them for just under a week and there is still only very minimal chipping. Some nails have no chipping at all. It's quite a contrast to last week's post where the £6 Topshop nail polish chipped within one day. Barry M is a fraction of the price and lasts twice as long so I know which brand I'll be sticking to in the future. You just cannot go wrong with Barry M.

Have you tried the new Barry M Molten Metals polishes? Let me know in the comments.

A little TLC for your hands... Trouva's Meraki Linen Dew Hand Cream

These past few months I've been suffering really badly with eczema on my hands, particularly on the joints of the fingers and just under. I think it's probably the changing season and from all the central heating that's been on in the first quarter of the year. Usually it clears up but it seems to be lingering for a bit longer than usual. Usually my lanolin hand cream helps to soothe it but it doesn't seem to be doing such a good job this time around.

I've been using Hydrocortisone cream recently that I picked up from the chemist, which is helping, but inbetween applications I seem to have switched to a new hand cream to help soothe the itchy skin. Step in Trouva's Meraki's Linen Dew Hand Cream.

Trouva is an online collective of independent boutiques and it recently introduced Meraki to its virtual shelves, which is a Denmark-based brand specialising in skincare products with a Scandinavian aesthetic. The products use natural perfumes, basic oils and organic vitamins and all of its products are without parabens, colorants, endocrine disrupting substances and SLS. They only contain mild preservatives and are vegan-friendly.

As you can see from the packaging this has a very simplistic feel and a slight Aesop/Antipodes look to it. I'm a big fan of the simple style and typography and I'm an even bigger fan of the product itself. I've found in the past that hand creams with perfumes irritate my hands more so the fact this is very gentle and natural is a big plus.

The hand cream itself combines sunflower and chamomile with a scent of fresh mint. It's super refreshing and you get a nice whiff of mint every time you use it. It's non-greasy and soaks into the hands nice and quickly, leaving them lovely and moisturised. The hand cream also has antibacterial properties so my hands feel super clean after use too.

I've found myself reaching for this over and over and I have even taken to popping it in my bag so I can use it on the move. It's great for keeping my dry skin well moisturised and keeping the itchiness away. At £18.95 for 50ml this is definitely more than I would usually spend on a hand cream but it will certainly last a long time and if it continues to leave my hands feeling as good as they have been recently, then it's definitely one I'll be purchasing myself.

Have you ever tried anything from Meraki? Let me know in the comments.

*This post contains a PR sample.

A mini Boots haul: NYX Cosmetics Prismatic Eye Shadows

There had been rumblings about NYX Cosmetics coming to Boots for quite a while but I never thought in a million years that my local Boots would get its own stand. If one did come to Weston-super-Mare I thought it would probably mean it would be in the store in the town centre, not the one that's near me but low and behold I saw a sign on the front doors saying it was near!

The new counter was finally 'launched' at my local store on May 3 and when I popped in it was absolutely swarming with girls checking out the latest offerings. Now I know NYX isn't a new brand but now it's much more accessible and because of this, I've finally been able to give it a try. I ummed and aahed over what to buy but finally ended up picking up two of the Prismatic eyeshadows.

What really caught my eye about these was the fab range of colours available and the cute silver pots with bow shaped catch. I picked up a gorgeously pigmented bright copper colour, called Bedroom Eyes and I also opted for something a bit different for me in the super metallic green Jaded shade.




Just looking at the shades in the pot I could see they were super pigmented and at £5 each, these are great fun to mix and match. When I first plonked my brush into the pan I was really surprised at how soft the shades felt under the bristles, almost velvety. They apply like a dream too, the pigments cling onto the eyelid and stay super bright and sparkly all day long.

As you can tell I'm really impressed and these are two cute little additions to my make-up collection. The silver pots are just adorable and look much more expensive for £5. They are bargainous eyeshadows with great colour pay off and staying power, proving you don't need to spend the big bucks on a high-end name.




Have you tried anything from NYX cosmetics? Are you excited about NYX coming to your local Boots? Let me know in the comments.

Manicure Monday: Topshop Denim Nails

I've wanted to get my hands on Topshop's denim nail polish range for a little while but at £6 a bottle, it's a tad on the more expensive side. Recently I was shopping in Bath and I'd just been paid so I decided to treat myself to a couple of bottles.

Denim has been hugely popular recently and as much as I love denim hair it's just not an option for me so denim nails is a cheaper and less dramatic alternative! The range includes denim-esque shades, which are cleverly named after the brand's most popular jeans. I am a huge fan of Topshop jeans, annoyingly it's the only brand of jean that fits me both round the waist and length wise but at £40 a go I'm not exactly splashing out on them.

I picked up two polishes, in Jamie and Hayden, which I felt were the most denim looking of the shades. Jamie is a darker denim, while Hayden is slightly lighter and more blue. The remaining polishes in the range, Mom and Leigh, are quite light and pale. There's also a white shade, Joni, and a purple, Lucas, which aren't particularly denim-like if you ask me.





As I mentioned these were £6 each so pricier than the average high street ones from the likes of Boots and Superdrug. The shades I picked up are really pretty and the perfect denim match. The brush is just an average one, not fanned out like a lot of other polishes out at the moment, but they still applied really nicely. I used two coats for each shade and they dried nice and quickly too, leaving a glossy finish, but unfortunately the lovely glossy finish didn't last long at all. Only until the next day to be exact, which is really disappointing. Brands such as Barry M, whose polishes are £3 or £4, last a lot longer and are often on offer too. For £6 a bottle I was expecting something that lasted a lot longer. After one day there was a little bit of chipping but through the week it just got worse and worse, until a week after application most of the polish was completely gone.

I don't expect any polish to last a week solid with no chipping but I do expect it to last longer than one day without chipping. Although the shades are really pretty the staying power was very disappointing.

Have you tried Topshop's denim nail polish range? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Five good things #9

Another week gone, can you believe it? Can you believe it's the last full week of May, I definitely can't! Yesterday I had a super chilled Saturday complete with housework and blog photo taking. The weather hasn't been particularly good, quite a contrast to last weekend, and I'm trying hard to hold on until pay day so there's a strict no shopping rule on at the moment.

Yoga
On Monday Mum and I had another yoga class. This time I managed to do at least 15 seconds of a plank, so I'm pretty pleased. I am so awful at them but everyone else (who is much older I might add) do them with ease while I just lye on my stomach after collapsing. It looks like I'm getting better so I best keep practicing. I have another class tomorrow but then we skip a week because of the Bank Holiday, boo!

Crochet
I've been getting on well with my star blanket this week. I've been trying to do more crochet in the evenings instead of spending them infront of my laptop. The blanket has definitely got bigger and I'm starting to make my way through my wool stash now. I had a class on Thursday, which is our last until July (boo!) and it was good to have two hours completely dedicated to getting on with it. It'll be finished in no time, hopefully!

Bike
Last week I mentioned I got a new exercise bike and yesterday I finally got around to getting a workout in. I thought I was starting out on a pretty easy program but it turned out it was a bit tougher than I thought, I did power through though and managed 13.02km. I really love the bike, it's so easy to use and has lots more options than the one I had before. You'll be happy to know the old one finally got picked up, hurrah!

Cherry Pie plot
A little while ago I mentioned that I got some lettuce, tomato and runner bean plants, well yesterday I was able to cut the lettuce as it has grown loads over the past two weeks or so. I ended up with three bags full of lettuce leaves, I can't believe it. I also can't believe how easy it was to grow, I wish I'd done it sooner. Now I'm just waiting for the runner beans and tomatos to grow!

Day off with Vince
So Vince has the day off together, which will be nice. I'm not really sure what we're going to do, if we're going to do anything at all really but it's nice to have the day off together. I have the Bank Holiday off as well so am hoping Vince can book it off too!

What five good things have happened in your week? Let me know in the comments.

Sainsbury's stationery haul

Last weekend I caught wind that there was some rather lovely stationery being stocked in Sainsbury's of all places, so off I went, fully expecting that my local store wouldn't have any of the lovely goodies I'd been seeing online. Low and behold they actually had some and I swiped it all off the shelves immediately and headed to the checkout.

I have to admit I didn't need any stationery at all but as I was discussing with Vince recently, there's just something about stationery that gives you inspiration and the motivation you need to get on with writing/drawing etc. Pretty notebookes, clean notepads, pencils that all look new and perfect just have something about them - it gives me a bit of a back to school feeling as I always loved buying new stationery for the new term but instead of stuffing all of this in a backpack and in a pencil case, in stead it's sitting proudly on my 'blogging desk' looking pretty as a picture. They also make fab blog photo props so that was my excuse for purchasing everything!

The range of stationery I picked up is called The Impressionist range and is full of pretty patterned/green and pink bits and pieces. I got myself the notecards and envelope set, which are seriously cute. I also got a pack of three exercise books in pink, purple and mint green with gorgeous gold detailing and a set of three super pretty washi tape rolls in a gorgeous flowery pattern, a glittery gold and pink.

I think my ultimate favourite item is the box of pencils. They're just so pretty in white and pink and each one with Daydreamer written on the end. Gorgeous! The dreams and wishes notebook is so pretty I almost don't want to write in it and ruin it!

There's a few other bits and pieces in the range such as desk planners and files, but unfortunately I couldn't find them, I may need another trip to see if the shelves have been restocked.

Have you checked out the Impressionist stationery range at Sainsburys yet? Let me know in the comments!

Manicure Monday: Barry M Lolly Gloss

This past week has been an explosion of new Barry M releases and one that caught my eye in particular was the new Limited Edition Lolly Gloss range. The range includes four berry bright translucent and scented polishes in Cherry Drop, Orange Fizz, Pink Candy and Purple Pop. I picked up Purple Pop and Pink Candy as I thought they might be a nice contrast next to eachother on the nails.

Barry M describes these polishes as having a 'sheer jelly gloss' finish and I have to say they've really hit the nail on the head. The polishes are translucent and I was initially worried this would mean they need lots of coats but I managed to get away with two coats of each as they may be translucent but the colour pay off is really good and you can barely see the nail underneath.

I thought the finish might be a lot like the Gelly Nails range, which it is in some aspects, ie the glossy finish but these finish way more jelly-like on the nail. They also have a fruity scent once they've been applied, which I found lasted a good few days. The only problem with the jelly finish was I managed to accidentally dent some of the polish on the nails, but nothing too noticeable unless you're looking seriously closely.

They dried relatively quickly and have lasted really well. I've had them on exactly a week and these is chipping on some nails but on others there's barely any. They do last a good two or three days without any chipping at all, which is pretty much the norm with most polishes.

I love it when Barry M knock out a fun new range of polishes. I immediately want to go to Boots and get my hands on them and I've really enjoyed the fruity scent of these ones over the past few days. The colours are super fun and bright, perfect for summer!

Have you tried the new Barry M Lolly Gloss polishes? Let me know what you thought in the comments.

Five good things #8

Just a note to say the weather has been super good this weekend! Charlie has really enjoyed it as you can see from his posey photo!

Comp win
So this time last week I was happily minding my own business and getting on with writing some blog posts when I received a message to say I'd won a blogger competition where the prize was an iPad mini! With all the rubbish luck we've had this year this was a bit of a surprise, mainly because I'd just entered the comp without really thinking I'd win so it was a really nice surprise. The blogger offered me the iPad mini or the monetary alternative. I went for the money just because I have an overdraft to pay off and because I had a tablet before and it didn't really get much use. So that really perked up my week!

Yoga
Yoga was back this week after the previous week's Bank Holiday break. It seems that just as I'm getting into it a Bank Holiday pops up and it's not on. Anyway there were quite a few people in the class this week and I feel like I'm getting more and more used to some of the stretches, I even managed about 30 seconds of a plank! It's really nice after a busy Monday at work to go somewhere with the sole aim of relaxing!

Car
My car is finally completely fixed! I hit it back in March/April and had to have the whole bumper replaced. It was replaced last weekend but I had to order a few little bits that clip into it and we finally got these fitted yesterday so now it's looking as good as new again, you'd never know I hit it at all. Now it just needs a clean!

Bike
So I mentioned that my spin bike stopped working a little while ago and I am still enduring an absolute nightmare with Very/Yodel to get them to come and pick it up. It's been sat in its box in my garage for nearly two weeks while I am promised delivery drivers are coming, then they don't turn up. So while this has all been happening I haven't been able to do any exercising. Just before the bike broke I was getting right on it and really enjoying it so Vince and I went and got another bike in Argos yesterday and it's SO much better! I need Vince to properly show me how to work it then I can get back into spinning again! I also got some dumbells to work out the old bingo wings too!

Vince weekend off
If you didn't know Vince is a courier driver. He's technically self employed and had Thursday this week off, then yesterday he got a call to say did he want the day off as there weren't many routes. Obviously he said yes and we had a nice little day doing odd bits and pieces and wolfing down a cooked breakfast, yum yum! He actually received a call this morning but then they called him in again as someone didn't turn up, boo!

How has your week been? Have you got much planned for next week? Let me know in the comments.

Summer lovin' at Prezzo

I do love eating out, but my bank account won't let me do it as often as I like, so when I was contacted by Prezzo and asked if I'd like to try its new summer menu in order to review it for the blog, I absolutely couldn't turn it down.

On arriving we were given a comfy booth right infront of the kitchen. We could see the chefs working hard, preparing all the delicious looking meals. The inside of the restaurant is full of super moody lighting and dark furniture, very sophisticated and intimate.


I've never actually eaten in Prezzo before. My nearest one is in Bristol, which is where Vince and I travelled to for our meal. Bristol's Prezzo is situated right opposite @Bristol in Anchor Square, which is an ideal location for people who have spent the day in @Bristol and want a bite to eat after or for those who want to stay near the harbourside and don't want to venture into the busy main town centre.

Prezzo has recently released its new summer-inspired menu as well as a range of gluten-free dishes. The new menu consists of authentic Italian flavours, expertly sourced by Executive Chef, Paul Lewis. The star of the show is the Roquito pearls, little red chillis packed full of sweetness and heat. They're peppered on pizzas, sprinkled on salads, such as the Crispy Crab and Citrus Salad, and they're completely exclusive to Prezzo.


We started off our meal with some olives and cheesy garlic bread. I have to admit we weren't big fans of olives, but we did give them a try. I was more than into the garlic bread though, a great portion size for two people to share and full of garlic and cheesy goodness. I definitely filled up on it a bit too much!


For starters I ordered the calamari, which came with a pesto and mayo dip and was absolutely delicious. It was super light and tasty and a perfect portion for starters. It wasn't too chewy either, which calamari can be sometimes. Vince ordered the king prawns, which came in a tomatoey sauce. He said they were packed full of chillies, parsley and fresh garlic. The garlic was cut into pretty big chunks, which is usually not what you'd want to see but he was super impressed as it wasn't overpowering at all, just fresh and delicious. I even sneaked a prawn myself and it was so good!


It was equally as tricky to choose what we'd have for our main courses. There was plenty of pizza and pasta to choose from as well as salads, burgers, chicken and fish dishes. The new summer menu is also packed full of superfoods and gluten-free and vegetarian options including the Superfood Brushcetta, which is a light sourdough with creamy goat’s cheese and an energy-loaded mix of five super beans and peas, and the Asparagus and Mascarponi Panciotti with peas, mint, spinach and lemon. Prezzo is big on its asparagus as it's packed with vitamins A, B, C, E and K, plus an array of minerals.

I knew I wanted either pizza or pasta and in the end I went for the Penne Con Salmone, which in simple terms boils down to oak-roasted salmon, brocolli and red chilli in pomodoro and pesto sauce. It seems like a super simple dish but it tasted amazing. It was full of flavour thanks to the oak-roasted Salmon, which was succulent and juicy with every mouthful and there was just a hint of a chilli kick too. The pasta was covered in delicious, herby sauce and the portion size was very generous, in fact it was so generous that I had to get Vince to help me polish it off. Not that he minded!

As usual Vince couldn't decide what we wanted. Luckily Prezzo have catered for the indecisive and offer two smaller portions of pasta instead of one main meal. Vince went for the Spaghetti with Meatballs and the Pappardelle Gorgonzola, which was seasoned chicken with pancetta, leeks, brocolli and parsley in a Gorgonzola sauce.

Vince really enjoyed his spaghetti and meatballs, which was super traditional and loaded with mushrooms, his only critisicm was the slightly watery sauce. The Papparedelle Gorgonzola was incredibly creamy and absolutely packed full of meat and both portion sizes were really generous. I think just one of the plates would have been more than enough as a main but it really felt like a generous size and we would definitely have felt like we'd received our money's worth if we had paid.


Although I was absolutely about to burst there was of course room for pudding. Once again there was so much to choose from, such as cheesecake, fudge cake, ice cream and the newly introduced three mini panacottas with summer-inspired berry compote. I decided to go for something light for a change and opted for a simple scoop of vanilla Gelato. It came served in a cold frosted bowl and although pretty basic, it was deliciously creamy. Vince went for the sticky toffee pudding with hot butterscotch sauce and vanilla ice cream. It was superbly sticky and the cold vanilla ice cream gave a nice contrast against the hot sticky toffee.

We really enjoyed our meal at Prezzo. The restaurant itself is the perfect setting for people looking for lunch or dinner with friends and family and works equally well for a date night with your other half. The staff are super friendly and helpful and the food itself is absolutely packed full of flavour.I'll definitely be going back as the prices were really reasonable and you know you're going to get traditional/classic Italian food with a slight twist or a kick of chilli or herb.

Have you tried Prezzo's new summer menu? Let me know in the comments. If not, and you want to find out more then head over to Prezzorestaurants.co.uk.


*I received the meal at Prezzo free of charge for review purposes!

The battle of the pores with Bioré

For the past few months I've been waging a war against pores. I'm not sure when they appeared on my face, more specifically on my nose and chin, but they're quite visible and not very nice to look at when you get close. No matter what fancy skincare I've used, they haven't reduced in size or really cleared so it was time to bring the big guns out.

One day I was busy browsing my local Boots when I thought it was about time I picked up some Bioré products as they're specifically made to target pores. I've seen this brand on the shelves SO many times but always bypassed it in favour of something else. It doesn't help that it doesn't have a prime place on the shelf at eye level so probably often gets forgotten about. This time though I stopped and had a thorough look through. I decided on the deep cleansing pore strips and the Baking Soda Pore Cleanser.

The strips were £3.99 and the cleanser £3.49 so not too pricey that I'd be annoyed if they didn't work. I've been using the cleanser every other day and the pore strips once a week for the past three weeks or so and I'm already seeing improvements. When I used my first pore strip it managed to catch quite a lot of dirt and grime from my pores. If you know what a used pore strip looks like then you'll know how gross but intriguing it is! Having used three of the pore strips, I can already see that the pores on my nose are much clearer as there were a couple of blackheads there too, which have now disappeared. I feel like they're not as visible when I look in the mirror too. I'm going to keep going with the strips and make them a regular thing, which will hopefully help stop dirt building up.

As I mentioned I've been using the cleanser every other day in the mornings. I just wet my nose and chin areas and use a small amount, working it into the skin in circles. The inclusion of baking soda is pretty interesting. I actually thought it would be a lot like a harsh exfoliating scrub but it's actually really, really gentle and it washes away really easy. The pores on my chin have definitely cleared and aren't so visible anymore so I'm super impressed.

It just goes to show that the cheapest, sometimes more unknown products are definitely worth giving a try as they could work just as well, if not better, than something more pricey. I'm now really interested to try the Charcoal cleanser and pore strips as well as the all over face mask from the brand.

Have you tried anything from Bioré? What did you think? Let me know in the comments.