Things that make me happy ....

I've been a little bit lazy on the blogging front lately. I was flying along, all super organised in February and then March hit and I hit a mental wall. There are so many beauty blogs out there and so many people writing blasé reviews and for a while I lost the love of it.

I've decided to get back to basics. The reason I started blogging in the first place was to have an outlet to tell people about the products that I love. So here are some things that are making me happy right now. Plain and simple.

Stila cheek palette - i'm embracing the powder blush and it feels good. Part of my Sephora haul from last week, this slim blush palette features 5 shades, all of which are a little bit different to my standard pink-toned blush that I use daily. You can find it here for $16 USD / £10.14.

Mavala Nail Polish in Ivory Beige. In case you hadn't noticed, nude nails are all the rage right now. This one is the perfect nude without being too white as I fear some of these new nudes have a tip-ex effect which i'm not that into. The mini bottle and price also means I won't feel guilty when the trend swings back to dark nails again - £3.40 at here. 

Aromatherapy Associates bath oil gift set - I have finally delved into my Christmas present. These really are the rolls royce of bath oils. While I find the price a little hard to swallow (£39 for the standard sized bottle ... ouch), they are far superior to any others on the market. The set is £32 here.

The CND 1 Week Top Coat Review

I have had some really bad experiences getting Shellac manicures in the past. I love the fact that it stays chip-free for 2 weeks, but it does something strange to my nails and they proceed to break consistently for about 3 months afterwards. The last normal manicure I got chipped in the first 48 hours. I was not impressed.

Fresh out of the salon and looking pretty damn perfect ...

The CND Vinylux Weekly Topcoat sounded too good to be true when I saw at at my local nail salon. I was pretty sceptical, but since it costs the same as a normal manicure I thought I would give it a go. I opted for a medium grey shade called Rubble (you can view the other colour options here although not all colours are available in the UK yet) which is uncannily similar to my Prada handbag. It took about the same length of time to be touch dry as a regular polish. I did do a few minor dents later that afternoon when the polish was still soft, but nothing major. 

The polish seems to get harder as the days progressed. I gave my hands a proper workout during the week with a photo shoot, bathing my two children, going to the gym and more. I made it through to day 6 with only a very minor chip on my thumb and was so impressed it had my grey removed and a red put on.  The other aspect I love is that it is removed with normal nail polish remover, so there is no hidden costs of having to go back to the nail salon to get it taken off professionally. 

I had a colour change on day 6 but the grey could have easily stayed on another day or so.

This may be a dream-come-true product for people like me who can't tolerate the damage shellac inflicts on your nails! I had my nails done at Tip To Toe nail salon on Northcote Road which you can find here. I paid £17 for the original manicure, and £9 when I went back for a shape and polish change.