Empties #1

In the last few months I've become a lot more careful with money and a lot less frivolous with my purchases. I've been collecting empties for a while now so thought when I gather about 5 or so I will do a quick run down on here with a mini review and if I would repurchase/not repurchase.

Today's the first one and is a bit of a bumper addition due to these piling up since around mid January! 

I've split it into two: hair & other. I seem to have finished an astonishing amount of hair products (due to trying to finish lots up instead of buying new ones)

♥ VO5 Hot Oil: This was a repurchase as I liked it. It did make my hair feel soft but for me this isn't an essential item and with a good shampoo & conditioner does not make much difference for me. I do think it reduced my hair breaking though! 

Repurchase? At some point probably.

♥ Soap & Glory Glad Hair Day Shampoo: I got the mini in an Xmas gift set 2011 but I found it in the drawer after running out of shampoo and liked it so got the big one. I really like this. It has a subtle fruity smell and leaves my hair just feeling and looking clean. It doesn't do anything 'special' but I rate this shampoo a lot. 

Repurchase? Yes, already have!

♥ Schwarzkopf Supersoft shampoo: I've used this on and off for a while and it leaves my hair silky and shiny, you can get this from poundland too so cheaaap. 

Repurchase? Probably.

♥ Percy & Reed Splendidly Silky moisturising conditioner: I got this free in a magazine ages ago (like last year) and never used it up until now. I didn't like the smell and to be honest didn't feel it did much for my hair with it being a luxury brand and all. 

Repurchase? No.

♥ Aussie 3 Minute Miracle frizz remedy: I really liked this and it lasted me a good while. It smelled really nice and definitely made my hair feel much softer and not as fly away as usual. 

Repurchase? Yes.

♥ Tesco 'Wake Up' shower gel lemon&tea tree: Had this ages so used it every day until I finished it. Nothing special, I found the texture strange as it was gloopy but runny.
Repurchase? No.

♥ Lush Tea Tree Toner: My everyday toner up until I started my prescribed acne medication but it's great if you have spots/blemish prone skin or an oily skin type. It reduces redness and dries out spots. Repurchase? Yes.

♥ Soap & Glory Flake Away: Mini I got in an Xmas gift set in 2011. Lovely 'original pink' smell and was an alright scrub but I didn't like the almost greasy feel it left after :(
Repurchase? Maybe a mini, not full size.

♥ Boots essentials nail polish remover: Really cheap, probably not that good for my nails but it works. Repurchase? Yes, already have.

♥ Lush Gumback Express shower smoothie: Ordered this online aggees ago. It's a retro products and was intrigued by the 'banana' smell and I'd never tried a shower smoothie. This is horrible it smells like vodka and was a bad consistency so went everywhere, not so good when it's bright yellow. Repurchase? No

♥ St Ives apricot scrub blemish fighting: My mum uses St Ives so I have used some variation since about the age of 10/11 I saw this blemish fighting one so got it. I do like it for when I want a proper deep scrub it makes my skin look clearer and feels soft, as far as blemish fighting I didn't notice a difference to the gentle/invigorating versions.
Repurchase? Yes.

Jessica
♥

NEW Bath & Body Works Pocket Bac's

If you live in the UK you will know we can't get Bath & Body Works here, however around a year ago I found a site based in the UK that stocks quite a few hard to find brands one of them being Bath and Body Works. I've placed two orders near the start of this year and I've been checking back the past couple weeks to see if they have Spring stock in. Finally, they did! 

I ordered six of the new pocket bac's in the scents: Berry Sangria, Aloha Orchid, Fresh Picked Wildberries, Vanilla Berry Sorbet, I ♥ Cookie Dough and I ♥ Bubblegum

They all smell really good, I'd have to say my favourite is either cookie dough or bubblegum they smell so true to scent! My least favourite would have to be fresh picked wild berries because well, it kind of smells like mens aftershave(?) not berries!

Anyway, that was my little loot and I'd recommend checking out the site if you are interested in B&BW goodies of any kind, they do have spring scents in the body products too at the moment but stock sells out quick! Shipping is fast as it's royal mail first class, I ordered late Sunday night and it arrived yesterday morning so took one working day.

You can visit the site here - Bath and Body Shop

Jessica

♥

Chocolate Beauty for Easter

Ah... Easter. Easter is just such a pretty time with it being in Spring. Pastel dyed eggs, chicks hatching, sun shining etc or as I can only wish as it looks like November outside right now. As a chocolate obsessive lover it is wonderful but today I thought I would do a little Easter themed post compiling some of the chocolate themed beauty products out there like I did on my old blog last year, it's a lot of fun searching for them I tell you that!

(All Linked)

♥ Lush Whip Stick lip balm ♥

♥ Palmers Cocoa Butter ♥

♥ Chocolate therapy massage heart ♥

♥ The Body Shop Chocomania ♥

♥ Montagne Jeunesse ♥

♥ Yankee Chocolate Bunnies candle ♥

(not beauty but how could I resist!)

♥ Barry M 'Mushroom' ♥

Sorry about the shabby collage, no picture editing sites had any good collage frames!

Jessica 

♥

Sinful Colors hits the UK!

Hello :)

So, I've heard of Sinful Colors before. It's a US brand which is very cheap but good quality or so I have heard from American youtubers/bloggers. I always wanted to try some but obviously they were not available...until recently!

I was queueing in Boots (Westfields branch) when I spotted a stand with Sinful Colors polishes on, I couldn't believe it! I left Boots but before we left the centre I popped back because c'mon I needed some! Also, I thought the prices would of inflated a little but you know how much these were? £1.99! Incredibly cheap.

L-R: Let Me Go, Nail Junkie

The two colours I got were 'Let Me Go' which is a shimmery metallic lilac & sea foam green which reminds me of mermaids and 'Nail Junkie' which is a green, blue and what looks like yellow glitter polish. Both are unlike any other shades I have so thought I would go for something different. 

I had a play with Let Me Go over a pale blue and it took a while to dry and was a little tacky to touch but it was probably down to how many coats I put on with both colours combined! They had so many colours available and it looked like they had their Spring/Summer collection available too which had a mix of pastels and brights. I definitely want to try more so don't be surprised if you see another sinful colors post :)

Overall, these are a steal at £1.99 especially with the range of shades and formula's available. I'm unsure how many Boots these are in at the moment but if you see them definitely try them out!

Jessica

♥

Pamper Time #1

Every now and then I like to have a long relaxing soak in the bath with a Lush bath bomb and some other lovely products to accompany it. I also take the opportunity to put a face mask on and paint my nails so I thought I would show you what I used yesterday. I will definitely do more of these but they probably won't be weekly!

I love this bath bomb!! it's Lush golden wonder which was Christmas L/E :( sob, sob. How pretttyyy

I used S&G whipped clean and smoothie star which have a similar scent which I like because I'm a lil' OCD when it comes to having similar smelling shower gel/body lotion I used S&G pulp friction body scrub which I forgot to photograph. For skin I used St.Ives apricot scrub blemish fighting which is pretty good and is popular, personally I didn't really noticed anything more 'blemish fighting' than other variations of it (that was actually my last use of it so will get another, btw). I was going to use S&G no clogs allowed which is lovely and will definitely get a dedicated review but seriously, I'm so lazy. I plan to use it tonight however!

I painted my nails with Essie 'Neo Whimsical' and taa daaa feeling squeaky clean and fresh!

Jessica

♥

Models Own Fruit Pastel Collection

Hello to anyone reading :)

Welcome to my blog, Jessica's Journal. On here I am going to share all things I love such as nails, bath/body products, haircare/skincare and lots of other stuff. I hope you enjoy it.

So, I wasn't planning on getting these but temptation took over after seeing various reviews/swatches start popping up on blogs last week. I gave in and ordered because it was a good deal being £20 for all 5 with a free nail buffer and free delivery. Plus, I was on the look out for some new pastel shades! They arrived yesterday morning so here are some swatches/first impressions. :)

How gorgeous are they?

♥ Blueberry Muffin: A pretty sky blue which almost looks like it leans slightly lilac! Very unique in my stash I have no shade like it and haven't actually seen many out there that could be a similar shade to this.

♥ Grape Juice - A lilac with pink tones which reminds me of Barry M's 'Berry Ice Cream'. This is one of the 'brighter' pastels out of the collection which I really like none the less.

♥ Strawberry Tart - A baby pink with coral/peachy tones. I only have one other baby pink polish (surprisingly!) which is Barry M's 'Strawberry Ice Cream' they are sort of similar but I think this is a tad more spring orientated due to the coral tones in it.

♥ Banana Split - A lovely milky lemon shade. I thought this would be my least favourite but I love it! Not everyone can pull off this colour but it's so pretty and the only yellow I have.

♥ Apple Pie - Mint green that is similar to Essie's 'Mint Candy Apple' but slightly lighter. Again, I don't have any mint shades and I'm looking forward to wearing this, a lot.

Surprisingly, they all applied really well and the swatches above are with two coats and as you can see are opaque. There was not any streakiness and I found the formula to be easy to work with albeit slightly runny. Also, what sets these aside from the rest is the 'scented' aspect. They have a scratch n' sniff sticker on the lid and each scent corresponds to the fruit it matches, e.g. Apple Pie smells like apples. They are also meant to be scented when dry but they still smell very nail polish-y to me and any scent there is very subtle, however the stickers on the bottle top smell really good!

I'm really happy with these and are definitely what I was looking for as they are light and milky pastels rather than brighter ones if you know what I mean!

These are available from Boots priced at £5 each from today but you can also get them in the Models Own Bottle shop and online at the Models Own website.

What do you think of these?

Jessica

♥