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Friday 29 March 2013

Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover (What A God Send)...

This is going to be a small post about a product I acquired recently that I feel is definitely worth sharing with you all!

Picture courtesy of Asos.

This little beauty (Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover) has been an absolute god send recently. I say recently, because I've only had it about a month and a bit. It's from Asos and is currently £4.99, which I feel is really reasonable. Sometimes, god send products can be a rip off, but this price was definitely a pleasant surprise :).

The nourishing formula is enriched with sweet almond oil, red fruit and vanilla fragrance. Trust me, the smell on your nails after you have removed any polish is absolutely gorgeous, not like the usual strong kinds of polish remover than can trigger a headache!

I can honestly say I have enjoyed removing my nail polish as and when I've had to recently, because this product means I can literally swirl each finger around in the pot a couple of times and all traces of nail polish is removed. It takes less than 30 seconds to do all ten nails, so then you can paint your nails with a fresh colour quicker, rather than having to sit there with normal polish remover and cotton pads trying to get into every nook and cranny of your nails to remove all traces of polish.

This is definitely a product that I'd recommend!

Do any of you lovelies have this?

Thanks for reading!
Gem XxOo

Monday 25 March 2013

Beau Choix Ltd (Beauty Products Containing Gold!)...

Ever since I have started using beauty products, I have tried out a lot of moisturisers, but I have never tried a moisturiser that contains gold particles. I recently had the opportunity to do so...

Picture courtesy of Beau Choix Ltd.

Philomena Ward has recently started a new online luxury skincare company that sells products with 24k nano gold particles in them for women. The company is called Beau Choix Ltd and the products they sell are manufactured in Korea, which is now a leader in skincare. These products are already well established in Korea and Beau Choix Ltd have sole exclusivity for Europe.

The nano particles of gold are non toxic even if digested (although of course, this isn't recommended!). Within a beauty product, it is good for healing and rejuvenating, aswell as restoring the skin's elasticity, therefore reducing sagging, tired skin. I love the fact that gold also acts as a powerful anti-oxidant with anti-inflammatory properties, so it provides your skin with nutrients, aswell as calming it down if needs be. The gold particles in Beau Choix's skincare range is made by the eco-friendly process of electrolysis. This process creates microscopic particles that at 1.5mm in size make them easily able to penetrate the skin at a deeper level creating longer lasting results. It is also interesting to know that all Beau Choix Ltd products are hypo-allergenic and not tested on animals!


I have been using the Pure Repair Moisturising Lotion which is oil based and good for the rehydration and purification of dry skin... which I have. My skin type is normal to dry, but with a bit of good moisturiser the dryness usually subsides, so I don't have to deal with it all the time. The moisturiser is light, rather than thick and heavy, so it sinks into the skin quickly. It also has a cooling, refreshing feel, which is always lovely in a moisturiser, especially when applied first thing in a morning...it helps to wake you up! It does have a fragrance, but it is very light and fresh, so won't aggravate the skin. It does feel a little oily after rubbing it in, but this isn't in excess and you have to remember that this moisturiser is suited more to dry skin. It also doesn't leave the skin looking shiny, but glowing and radiant.

Aswell as the gold, this moisturiser has organic green tea and squalane in it, which promotes the reduction of large pores resulting in nourished and radiant looking skin. I am yet to see a major difference in my pores, but they aren't ridiculously large, I probably just feel that they are visible because I look at my face close up every day. It is considered to be an anti-ageing moisturiser, but I don't think this hurts for anyone who is old enough to buy moisturiser for themselves. Olibanum oil within the moisturiser also creates younger looking, flawless skin by promoting cell growth and wrinkle removal. I have been using the moisturiser for just over a month and am pleased to say it has agreed with my skin. I usually opt for moisturisers without oil in if I can help it just because I don't like the feel of it on my skin, but this one isn't too heavy, so it doesn't feel like it's clogging up my skin. It does give off a radiant, glowing look which I love from a moisturiser aswell as a foundation, so this just adds to what I like my skin to look like without looking greasy/oily...bonus! I am looking forward to continuing using this product and hopefully seeing more benefits!

The only down side to this product and Beau Choix's product range is the price range. If like me you don't have much of a budget, this may shock you. However, as a sample, it was lovely to be sent this to try out because this would be out of my price range if I were looking for a new moisturiser. The moisturiser I have talked about above is £157.00. I am aware that some people may have this budget though, or may want to really treat a loved one, so I felt it was still worth a mention for its unique gold properties! Beau Choix Ltd also sell Pure Repair Gel Toner, Pure Repair Gold Essence, Pure Repair Waterdrop Cream and Nahbi Sheet Mask Sets (gold and platinum face masks). The prices all differ, but the cheapest option on their website is the set of face masks at £25. They are also looking to include a range for men shortly...always good when companies think of those men that like to groom themselves :).

They currently deliver within the UK only as it states on their website that all orders will be delivered by Royal Mail 'Recorded Signed For' or Royal Mail 'Special Delivery'. For orders that are £50 or over, delivery is free. Otherwise it is £3.65.

Have any of you tried any of Beau Choix's range yet or any other gold infused beauty products?

Thanks for reading!
Gem XxOo
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Friday 15 March 2013

Let Your Imagination Run Wild With...SpreadShirt!

There have been many times that I have gone shopping or looked online in the hope of finding something specific to wear. For example, I recently had an obsession with bird print. I wasn't sure what I wanted, whether it be a dress, shirt or jumper, but I wanted a nice bird print all over it. Do you think I could find anything that suited my taste and actually suited me when I put it on? No! To be honest I don't think I found that many choices and anything I did find that was anywhere near to what I was looking for, was way out of my price range! Anyway, I didn't think anything of it, as shops on the high street and online are always bringing out new items, so I just thought I would have another look another time.

A while ago, I was introduced to an online company called: 'Spreadshirt'. They are a company that offer their users the chance to design their own clothing items, such as t-shirts, hoodies, accessories and gifts. I designed a t-shirt myself and experienced the whole service of the website, so I thought I would do a review of each part of the service for you:

Choice
Spreadshirt have over 100 base items on their website for you to choose from. They have many categories from men, women, kids and babies to accessories and fashion brands. Each category has lots of items to choose from in which you can adapt the size and colour to suit you. I chose a long sleeved black v-neck top/t-shirt, as I am always looking for tops with longer sleeves and I knew I would get a lot of use out of it.

Design
When designing your item you can search for a specific design that you might have in mind or you can browse their categories to find something that you like. They have many categories from funny, sports and vehicles to animals, nature, computers, baby and family. You don't have to use their designs though, you can upload your own design or photo and also add custom text/slogans if you want to :-). Whatever design you choose, you can customise it by changing the colour, effects, place the design on the item wherever you want and flip the design. You can also use different designs on one item if you wish and if your item has more than one side you can place designs on the front, back and side of such item. The designing process is really easy and everything is on screen, presented simply so you can play around until you are happy :-). As stated above, I have wanted a bird print item of clothing for a while and I did eventually find a dress I liked in Primark that had little blue birds all over it but I wanted a t-shirt aswell. So as you can guess, I went for a bird design! They had quite a few to choose from on the website so I used some of their designs. I used two different designs, one for the front and one for the back, as I wanted it to look like the birds were flying around on the top. I changed the colour to a gorgeous blue, positioned the designs where I wanted them and changed the size.


Prices and Payment Methods
The price can differ depending on which base item and design you choose. Other aspects may also affect the price, such as: if you have the design in more than one place. My black v-neck top had a base price of £18.90 and shipping to my country (based on where I live and how much my order was) was £4.00. My total price after design and shipping cost was £28.29. So with the shipping cost being £4.00 (see shipping costs to where you live), the actual designing of my top cost £5.39. Not bad to get a top that I really wanted and love! Like I said, the prices differ but when you are choosing your base item from the Spreadshirt designer you can find out base costs etc there. Otherwise you can just design your perfect item and see if the total price suits your budget :-). In terms of payment methods, you can pay via credit/debit card, Paypal, bank transfer or you can use your commission from your account (if you have enough), if you are a shop owner or a marketplace contributor for the site.

Confirmation and Shipping
You will receive a confirmation email shortly after you have made your order on the website. It will basically just confirm what you have ordered along with the price and tell you to let them know of any errors straight away. It also provides you with a link to check the status of your order, so you will be able to see where about it is on the production line in terms of being produced, completed and dispatched. You will then receive an email when your item has been dispatched, which doesn't take long at all. Within the dispatched email it will also tell you approx how long it should take to get to you. As I live in the UK, this is normally 5-7 days using standard delivery (see approx delivery times to where you live). My item took 9 working days to get to me. I don't mind waiting a few extra days from the delivery date I am given when ordering from a company online because you can't always rely on mail order firms to deliver on time, unfortunately! When I received my item it came in a plastic enveloped bag and was secured shut. The plastic was quite strong, I didn't use scissors, I just pulled it apart and it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, which is a good thing! A receipt came within the package with all the details of my order on and a little note/stamp to say that my item had been quality tested and 7 people produced my item :-). That shocked me, I was like '7!', what were they all doing ha ha, but who am I to question this, it's probably why the orders don't take that long to be produced and are dispatched so quickly, so good on em! The actual top came within another plastic bag which had care instructions on, which I will tell you about further on.

Fit, Quality and Care
I always feel apprehensive trying things on that I have bought online, as it's not quite the same as seeing and trying things on in high street stores, so I always worry it's not going to suit me or fit me properly. I was sooo pleased when I tried my item on, it fitted perfectly. It wasn't too tight and wasn't too loose, considering I had ordered a large. I didn't want a tight top, I wanted one that was a comfy, loungy kind of top, but something that was still suitable enough to go out during the day in. I am a size 12 so I ordered large and it fits perfectly (you can see in the pictures above how it fits), so keep this in mind if you are ordering similar items and are the same size as me. Obviously, doing a review I wanted to check out all aspects of the top and design, so I thoroughly inspected (look at me!) the bird motif and they were perfectly placed on the top, you couldn't see any of it peeling or lifting off in places, I was really pleased! I also washed the top to be able to tell you about how it looks after a wash. On the care instructions that come on the bag it comes in, it said to wash the top inside out at a maximum of 30 degrees, which is what I did. The top turned out exactly the same as it did when I first received it, which I was really relieved about to be honest as I love the top. I am not sure how long it will stay pristine for as there are other motif tops and pyjama tops that I have and over time during wear and tear and more washing the motif has become a bit lifted or crackled, so I will have to see how it goes with this top. I will probably wash the top at a lower temp in the future just to keep it in pristine condition for longer, but I wanted to do it at the maximum temp it said the first time so I could test it for this review. My top is also 98% cotton and 2% spandex, so it is really soft and cosy! On the care instructions, it advises not to tumble dry or dry clean my item and to iron inside out, at medium heat, without steam. It also advises against ironing shirts with multiple designs to prevent them sticking together. When I washed my top, luckily it was a nice day, so I put it on the line outside to dry. To be honest, I doubt I will ever dry clean this top or iron it because from the line the other day it looked ready to wear straight away and it was hung up straight away so there really wasn't or isn't any need to iron it. This might differ with other items and there may be different care instructions for other items aswell.

If you are a budding designer or just want to design something you have always been looking for then design your own t-shirt and/or other items and let your imagination run wild! Not only is it fun but when you have your item and are wearing it, knowing you designed it feels great :-).

If there is anything else you want to know regarding my experience with Spreadshirt then feel free to ask me or check out the website for more information.

Let me know if you go ahead and design anything of your own, it will be cool to see what you come up with!

Gem XxOo
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Wednesday 13 March 2013

Jolly Good Studio...

If you have always followed my blog and YouTube channels you will know that I love hand made, hand crafted items. I love the individuality of such items and the fact that someone has sat there and lovingly made them with their own hands.

I especially love giving hand made jewellery companies coverage as sometimes I don't feel enough people know about them and honestly you can get some really unique, original jewellery from such companies and not as many people will have or be wearing such items than if you were to purchase jewellery from say Primark for example.

I want to introduce you to a hand made jewellery company called...Jolly Good Studio. Jolly Good is a small craft and design business set up by Helen Macdonald in 2008. She started the business after leaving university and started to make jewellery from unloved bits and bobs. She has now progressed with the business and creates jewellery aswell as illustrations, card designs, screen printing and more. I love the fact that she designs her pieces from the corner of her bedroom and doesn't have a massive studio or work place to create her items. It just goes to show that you don't necessarily need a massive space and lots of equipment/tools to start your own business (of course this depends on what you are making/selling), it is possible to make the most of what you have.

I have a few pieces made by Helen...

 

 

From the above items the teacup necklace and the scrabble letter necklace are still available but everything else has sold out. Helen likes to keep her jewellery on trend and fresh and tends to make new items rather than keep making old items to keep up with this. You can contact her though if you see an item she has made previously that you like the look of or if you have a specific design in mind that you would like her to create for you.

You can check out Helen's current pieces here in her Etsy store. She also has her own website which includes her blog, where you can read about her new designs, jewellery she loves etc. There is also more information about her on her website, ways to contact her and a link to her Etsy store. You can even sign up to her newsletter to receive previews and special offers.

My favourites of Helen's current pieces are...

                                   Coal Necklace                                      Coal Earrings
Pictures courtesy of Jolly Good Studio.

I love having some matching items amongst my jewellery, earrings and necklaces especially. You can also get coal rings to match these items.

Her prices are reasonable, nothing will shock you and she delivers worldwide which is always a bonus :).

Do you lovelies like hand made jewellery as much as I do?

What are your favourite pieces from Helen's collection?

Gem XxOo

Monday 11 March 2013

25 Facts About Me...

Hey lovelies! I've seen a few of these '25 facts about me' posts recently and decided that I wanted to do one of my own :). I like reading posts like this and getting to know a bit more about fellow bloggers. So, here goes...


1. My favourite music artists are: The Script, Take That, Katy Perry, Jessie J, Example and Calvin Harris. I also love 90's club tunes!

2. I played the violin in high school. I think I started in year 8 and carried on until I was in year 10/11. I passed my grade 1 during this time.

3. I have one sibling, a younger sister. I chose her name when she was born, I called her Michelle. Apparently it was after Michelle from Eastenders ha ha.

Me and my sister.

4. I was pretty accident prone when I was younger. I have two scars on my face...one on the inside of my left eyebrow from when my dad accidentally hit me there with a golf club :/. He was practising his swing in the garden and I remember him telling me where to stand out the way. For some reason, just before he was about to take a swing, I went and bent down to the tee (god knows why, I can't remember. Whether I thought it needed straightening up or something, I really don't know :/). The golf club hit me on the fore head, obviously I was bleeding above the eye, I was taken to the doctors and luckily only had to have butterfly stitches. Another scar I have is just under my nose/above my lip, where I fell over on the way to school one day. I remember just getting off of the bus, crossing the road and I had my violin in one hand and a big clear technology folder in my other hand. I reached the kerb across the road, stepped up onto it, walked about one step and fell literally flat on my face (I later saw that there was a big lump of tarmac just sticking up on the pavement. I always wonder why I didn't make a claim :/). My reaction wasn't quick enough to put my hands out because of what I was holding. My friends who saw me fall came with me to the medical room at school and I was cleaned up and I remember it really shocked me because I literally couldn't talk. I was sent home, but had to go to my uncle's for a while cause the school couldn't get in touch with anyone else initially. It took me ages to get over that shock. Luckily, the scars are light white and don't bother me, they can be easily covered. I fell over loads of times when I was younger, scraping my knees and hands LOADS! I don't have any other major scars from those times though.

5. I'm definitely in favour of savoury foods, rather than sweet. I have to seriously be in the mood for anything sweet like sweets, chocolate, cakes etc.

6. I'd say I'm a light sleeper. Even when I'm asleep I can pretty much hear anything. I think this has become the case as I've got older though because when I was younger apparently I slept through an earthquake. Now though it seems any little sound I'm aware of. I hate it.

7. I always think of other people before myself and am a friendly, approachable person. I treat people how I want to be treated. However, if people are funny with me, cross me or think they can treat me like crap/walk all over me...I'll make sure they know that they can't.

8. When I was about 3/4, I've been told my favourite song was Kylie Minogue's, I Should Be So Lucky. Apparently I used to go around just saying 'lucky, lucky, lucky', 'lucky, lucky, lucky'. Ha!

Me as a little un!

9. I've only ever had three pets that were actually mine. I had a hamster when I was about 10 called Susie, but she bit a lot and at that age I was too scared to handle her really. She died strangely though, my dad came to see to her one morning and she was dead and had all maggots underneath her :/. Ew! Then about four years ago I got two female guinea pigs called Tink and Belle. Belle unfortunately died last year, she had a cancer growth :(. My little Tink is still alive and lovely, she's quite shy/timid, Belle was the boisterous one really but Tink has a soft toy in her hutch that she cuddles up to and pushes around lol.

Me and my little Tink!

10. My favourite author as a child was Enid Blyton.

11. When I was in junior school and high school I used to take part in all the school plays. I always used to go for the singing and dancing parts. I loved dancing when I was younger and even went to classes for a while. I remember how amazing it felt to put on the plays for everyone after all our hard work and my family coming to see me. One of my favourite plays I was in was Bugsy Malone which was in junior school. The thought of doing a play now though and rehearsing, remembering lines etc scares me. I don't think my nerves would take it, those little butterflies would be going wild in my tummy lol. Strange huh?

12. I worry unnecessarily. I worry about things that won't change regardless of how much I worry. So I have to deal with this but find that whatever I am worrying about is never as bad, ever, so it's just ridiculous and does my head in but I think I've got better recently and this is something I am definitely working on and trying to control cause it's silly.

13. 2010 has been the best year of my life so far. Me and Simon got engaged, we went to Los Angeles, we went travelling around Europe for a month and we went to New York, all in the same year. Can you tell we love travelling? I also resigned from my first job after graduating from university, after being there nearly three years, where I was incredibly unhappy, to the point where it was changing me as a person.

14. I love horror and thriller films! I also love reality TV shows from the UK and America.

15. I met Simon at the pub he used to work at. On a Thursday night me and my mum used to drive there to meet my dads side of the family for a pub quiz. Simon worked behind the bar and was always friendly but we never actually 'talked'. He said he used to say to his friends how lovely I was and that he really wanted to talk to me but felt too shy. I started going in the pub when I was 18 and we got together when I was 22. It took him five years to pluck up the courage to even say 'hi' really. I was in two relationships (separate obviously) during the years I was going in the pub, so that was prob part of the reason. However, he got in touch via Facebook when I was 22. I was single and since then he started talking to me when I went into the pub, over Facebook and we exchanged numbers. I started going up town with him on Thursday nights after the quiz and after he finished work. We started seeing each other and got together properly when he took me away for a weekend in Paignton :) it was lovely and as they say the rest is history...and now we are getting married next year and can't wait to get our own place, start a family etc. We both have one big interest in common...travelling! We love it and think it will always be part of our lives :). We'd be up and gone now if we had the funds ha. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me and it's amazing to actually know how much someone loves you and that they would do anything for you. We are both brilliant support for each other, me for him particularly when his dad passed away :( and him for me in making the decision to resign from my job in 2010 and actually going through with it. He is amazing!

Si and me - one of our first pictures together :).

16. Aside from Simon, my mum is the most important person in my life. I mean I love my sister, dad and Si's fam to bits of course but my mum is my best friend and I don't know what I'd do without her. Just the thought of her not being here any more can bring me to tears. It pains me when shit happens to her, she is stressed, having money worries, having to go doctors etc. She deserves the best!

Mother dearest and me.

17. I hate spiders! This might seem like something most people don't like but if I see one in my room and it's scattering about before I have chance to get it, I have to keep looking for it until I can catch it. This is the case even if I have to pull out furniture etc.

18. At this time in my life, I much prefer going out for a nice meal, a few cocktails etc rather than a big night out on the town, getting really drunk etc. Simon is the same so that's good really, perfect match! We do the big night out sometimes where we get some of my family together and some of Si's fam together and we have jelly shots at mine with drunken jenga before we go to town and then go to a few places in town and have a good old dance. We prefer to do this from time to time though rather than all the time to keep it exciting and it just means we look forward to it more. Especially as there aren't many places in our town to go anyway, so it can get boring doing it all the time.

19. The sun instantly lifts my spirits cause it means I don't have to wear a coat, can go on nice walks with Si, can sit in a beer garden and have barbecues :).

20. I can't stand rude people, people who think they are better than everyone else, people who suddenly stop still right in front of you when you are walking in a flow through town or a shopping centre, people who lie, people who only get in touch when they want something and people who judge and think they know you when really they don't know anything at all.

21. I am a night owl rather than a morning person.

22. When I was younger I used to collect rubbers (erasers) and badges ha ha. I have no idea where these items are now :/.

23. I really want an Apple Mac laptop. I currently have a net-book that my lovely Si bought me for Christmas 2010, it was what I wanted at the time and hadn't started blogging or vlogging then. However, now it's fine for my blogging but not so great when it comes to editing and uploading any videos I make for YouTube, so I'd love an Apple Mac :).

24. My favourite flowers are tulips.

Courtesy of niiderlande.wordpress.com.

25. At this point in my life and taking into consideration new interests etc if I could re-wind time I would probably have done a Human Resources or Public Relations degree at university. My degree hasn't really got me anywhere and I don't even know whether it was part of the reason why I got my first job after university. I wouldn't particularly want to go back to university now though. I am more motivated to work and earn because of my age and plans that me and Si have. I don't mind learning on the job but just taking on more education alone without earning anything doesn't really appeal to me now.

There you have it...25 random facts about me! I hope you have enjoyed reading them.

Let me know what you think and if any of you relate to any of my facts :).

Gem XxOo
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