Andrea Fulerton Mock Croc Nail Varnish

So you may remember the blog post I did a while back about the Andrea Fulerton Nail Salon Kit Box I received as a Christmas present? Then again, if your memory's as bad as mine you probably won't, so you can find said post here if you need a little refresher!

Anyways, I am going to start off with showing you the Mock Croc nail varnishes I received in the box, in the two shades Mi Mi and Chi Chi.

(L-R) Mi Mi and Chi Chi

To be perfectly honest, I really wasn't overly excited to see these in the box; the whole crackled nail trend seemed to lead a very brief existence a good few months ago. Having said that, I'm really surprised to say that I actually do like these nail varnishes a lot.

The metallic base shades are a lot nicer and more eye catching than any of the other metallic polishes I have in my collection, so I will definitely also be using these separately from the croc top coat as they are so pretty!

Chi Chi

The crackle coats themselves have come in really useful when I'm in a bit of a rush, as you can totally get away with a couple of smudges whilst looking like you've spent ages on your nails and no one would be any the wiser. Result! They're a great addition to my collection and something I'm positive I will get full use out of.

Mi Mi

Andrea Fulerton mock croc nail varnishes can be bought from Superdrug here, and are currently reduced from £7.99 to £5.99 each.

What do you think of these?

Are you still a fan of the crackled nail trend?

Jo xx

Ojon Restorative Leave-in Treatment for Brunettes

I've never had much of a problem at all with the condition of my hair. Having never coloured it before (I'm just not brave enough!) it's never really been in too bad a condition.

Because of this, it's never had the love and attention it so rightfully deserves (sob). It gets washed and conditioned but that's about as far as it goes, so I thought it was about time it got a bit of a treat!

Cue Ojon's Restorative Leave-in Treatment for brunettes.

This product claims to "add shine and hydration to brown hair", which is just what I was after. The idea is to apply this evenly throughout damp hair before either blow-drying or leaving it to dry.
As I usually leave my hair to dry overnight I decided to stick to that same routine.

The consistency of the product seems pretty damn spot on; not too runny and not too thick, and I found it really easy to spread evenly throughout my thick hair. I even applied it through my roots (brave in hindsight!), so I was delighted (and pretty relieved) to find my roots were not left at all greasy by the morning.

I was also happy to see it was deep brown and shimmery in colour; I'm not sure why this is, but I just tend to trust hair products that little bit more if they match my hair colour...please tell me I'm not the only one?

Although my hair felt quite a bit softer once dry, I have actually seen a much bigger difference in the results after washing my hair a second time as normal without reapplying the treatment. The packaging doesn't mention a second wash being necessary, but I would recommend it as my hair felt so lovely and soft and actually looked a hell of a lot healthier and more hydrated afterwards. It felt a lot sleeker and was much more manageable, with a lot less crazy and uncooperative flyaways and a noticeable shine, even though I hadn't noticed a lack of shine beforehand.
It's actually kind of made me realise the need to thoroughly condition even 'healthy' hair!

Although I am delighted with the results I was left wondering whether the same result could have been achieved with a much cheaper product...the price tag really is pretty hefty to be quite honest.

Has anyone reviewed any similar, much cheaper leave-in hair treatments?

I purchased my Ojon Restorative Leave-in Treatment for brunettes at a reduced price from QVC where it is no longer available.
Ojon restorative treatments can be purchased from Boots here from £16 for 50ml.

Have you tried any Ojon products before?
What did you think?

Jo xx

Farewell Google Reader...

So I'm sure you all know the deal with Google Reader by now. It's really annoying to say the least and I'm not a big fan of change, boo hoo.

 

 

Anyway the last thing I want to do is lose any of my lovely followers! So this is just a quick post to remind you of all the other ways you can follow me...

 

Now, as I'm a little bit thick, I can't actually find all of the links for these following methods (there's most probably a very simple way to find said links, but I haven't a clue).

 

So please be a little gem and take a peek on my sidebar to the right. You'll find a few buttons where you can follow me on either Bloglovin', Google +, GFC, Hello Cotton or Twitter.

 

I do suggest following me by another method if you're a GFC follower, just in case that goes walkies at the same time as Google Reader!

 

Thank you!

 

Much love,

Jo xx

Illustration | Courtesy of Sparrow Mint!

If you're observant like me (ahem) you may have noticed the new little illustration on my blog sidebar! A few days ago, after spotting Kimberley's version I hastily got in touch with Sparrow Mint to ask if she could do one for me.

I sent her a picture and voila, just a day later I received the illustration in my inbox, courtesy of her amazingly talented boyfriend!

I absolutely adore it, I literally could not be more delighted with how it's turned out! I know you've nothing to compare it to but what do you think?

I think it looks amazing on my sidebar and fits in so well with my blog design, I'm absolutely chuffed!

At the moment Sparrow Mint is offering free illustrations, so if you fancy one of your own just pop her a message, I'm sure she wouldn't mind.

Please also check out Sparrow Mint's blog, she's such a lovely girl and her blog really is worth a peek.

Let me know if you decide to get your own, I'd love to see yours!

Jo xx

Collective Haul | Includes Zara, Boots and Mally

Wow, what a busy year third year is! I have been working hard at placement whilst also juggling uni lectures and my dissertation, but lets face it, us girls can always find the time to do a spot of shopping. So I thought I'd show you what I've been buying of late. Hope you enjoy!

First up, I mentioned a while back that I won a £25 Zara voucher from Twitter. Well, having my nearest Zara store quite far away I have only just broken into the voucher, so here are my first couple of purchases with it. Thankfully I still have a tenner of it left after a nice surprise at the checkout!

Baggy t-shirt* | Zara | £15.99 £5.99

I'm in desperate need of some new t-shirts so this is great and really comfy for lazier days, and is long enough to cover your bum and wear with leggings.

Dark blue trousers* | Zara | £35.99 £9.99

These were marked as £22.99 but were £9.99 at the till, don't you just love it when that happens?! They were really hard to photograph and they do just look like jeans on here, but they are lovely dark blue skinny trousers that give a smarter look than jeans. I especially love the gold zips on the legs!

Jumper | Oasis at Debenhams | £40 £15

Another bargain, this is actually a nice deep aubergine purple (again difficult to photograph) and has sparkly thread intertwined. It also has a dipped hem at the back.

M. Asam Aqua Intense Face Toner | TK Maxx | £11.35 £3.99

Max Factor Kohl Eye Liner Pencil | Boots| £4.99 £2.49

Max Factor False Lash Effect Mascara | Boots | £10.99

I bought the Max Factor products when there was an offer for buy one get one half price. I have repurchased the mascara about four times now and it is my absolute favourite.

17 lipstick in Belle | this eBay seller | £2.40

This was recommended to me by Mollie a while back after I mentioned I was looking for a 'your-lips-but-better' lippy shade. So far so good!

Last but certainly not least is this amazing selection of Mally makeup my auntie gave to me! I am SO excited to try all this out, as I've never tried anything from Mally before!

The selection includes:

3 x cute metallic Mally gift bags and the gorgeous box

1 x 24/7 Illuminating Blush in Deep

3 x High-Shine Liquid Lipstick Pens in (top-bottom) Punch, Raspberry and Peach Sorbet

3 x Age Rebel Eyeshadow stick in Jade, Sugar and Burnished Violet

1 x Shaded Liquid Face Defender Foundation in Tan

1 x Face Defender Blush in Pink Perfection

1 x Double Ended Concealer Brush

1 x Champneys Ultra Shine Lip Gloss in Rose

Amazing selection! If there's any particular product you'd like me to review please let me know in the comments. As you probably know, I'm so busy at the moment so I'm not sure how long it will take me to start getting some of these reviews done (sorryyy!).

Have you tried any Mally products before?

What have you been buying recently?

Jo xx

DIY project | Small Drawers

A long while ago now, in a haul post I showed you some pretty paper and promised you a DIY post...

...well, this is that DIY post my friends.

My mum has had this set of drawers in the utility room (ooo, posh) for a long time now. She knew they were boring (I had told her countless times) but to be quite honest they were practical, so they stayed put.

That was until she got the utility room done, and I offered to decorate them for her.

Well, they actually turned out a bit nicer than I expected them to be so I am trying to make room for them somewhere in my bedroom instead!

(They will fit)

So, in case you were wondering, here's how I did it (it was literally the easiest thing ever):

1. I started by sanding it all down to make it a bit rougher, giving the paint something to grip onto

2. I then painted the drawers with two coats of off-white, satin finish paint

3. I drew around the front of the drawers onto the pretty paper and cut it to size, also cutting out a middle piece for the label holders to stick through

4. Lastly, I stuck the paper onto the front of the drawers using double sided sticky tape

Simples.

I have to admit I had a massive facepalm moment when I realised that there wasn't enough paper to fill the front of all four drawers, so instead I left two of the drawers with a white border.

I know it would look better with the full drawers covered, so next time I pop into the range I think I'll see if I can find some more of the paper to finish it off properly. But for now, it'll do.

The sheets of pretty paper can be bought from The Range for 49p each (I used two sheets)

What do you think?
Have you done a similar DIY jobby recently?

Jo xx