Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine in Lychee

Hi Beauties, I'm on a roll with the posts today. This being my second of the day. Here I'm going to talk about one of the recent nail polishes I have picked up.

I've been after one of these new-ish Barry M polishes for a while now but for some reason just didn't pick any up. A few weeks ago when I was in Superdrug I noticed these were on offer for, 2 for £6 along with the new textured polishes. I've got to be honest I've had my eyes on most of the colours in this range for a long time and after a lot of pondering I decided to go for this nude 'Lychee' and the pink textured polish named, 'Kingsland Road' (which I'm sure I will blog about in the near future)

I've never really wanted a nude for my nails, because I always felt my skin was too pale and would just look stupid. But after seeing loads of pictures of nude nails floating around the blogosphere and Instagram I decided I wanted to try one out. And after seeing countless reviews on this I decided to go for it. Afterall if it didn't suit me I hadn't lost out on a lot of my money. These usually cost £3.99.

It turns out I love it! Lychee is a gorgeous beige nude that actually complements my pale skin. The shine on these polishes are amazing! Both times I've wore this polish I haven't used a top coat and my nails still looked super shiny and last really well. I never wear nail polish for longer than a couple of days because of work so these are perfect. I only noticed slight chips after 3 days without a top coat so with one I assume they would last much longer. They are fully opaque after 2 coats and if your in a hurry, 1 coat would actually be enough. The consistency is really lovely and applies easily without any streaks. I really do love this polish and I am absolutely certain I will be adding more Gelly Hi-Shines to my collection, they are fantastic!

(please excuse the shoddy application)

Have you tried these Nail Paints? If so what do you think of them? And do you have any suggestions of other colours in the range that I should buy?

Hope you enjoyed this post and maybe want to try these out for yourself.

Thanks for reading.

Much Love Gemma xo.

Instagram Post #5

Hi Lovelies, My head really hasn't been into blogging recently so I apologise for my severe lack of posts recently. Hopefully I'm back with regular posting from now on. I have a few posts I'm hoping to get up today and a lot more up my sleeve, So lets hope I have the motivation to write them all and keep your eyes peeled.

Here's a look at my Instagram recently to ease me back into blogging :)

First up the YSL Mascara Set I got from Debenhams a few weeks back. I love it! Tesco Express opened on my street last month and I went straight out and got myself some delicious cupcakes! I buy the Cookies & Cream ones all the time now, they are gorgeous! The best chocolate from the box my boy bought me for Valentines Day! It was huge, had bits of Raspberry in it and was white and pink chocolate, perfectly amazing! For anyone that thinks Pole Dancing is 'sexy' and whatever else, NO! your wrong, it bloody hurts and I often come home with bruises, this massive one (the size of my hand) appeared after an hours lesson trying to learn a new move! I'd been dying to recieve this Boots order for over a week, I was far too excited when it arrived. I eventually bought some of the new effects polishes from Barry M, a textured in Kingsland Road and Gelly Hi Shine in Lychee when they were on 2 £6 in Superdrug. The array of different brands I use on my everyday face! I never realised I used so much until I put them altogether for this photo. My new obsession, Old El Paso spicy chicken fajitas, we use the Extra Mild kit and I add lettuce cheese and sour cream and herbs sauce to mine, definitely my favourite food at the minute! A few weekends ago me and my boyfriend stayed at my Auntie's house while she was away, to look after her cats. I took countless pictures of the cats, Ginger one is Tizer the Black one is Sooty and the Grey and White is called Zazzles. Zazzles got on the top of the kitchen door on the first night, so funny! I love these little Milkybar Bunnies they've bought out for Easter. And finally the recent pole move I achieved on Tuesday, I was so happy to eventually do it and I am rather proud of myself, it requires a lot of upper body strength and took quite a while to master! I'm still contemplating doing a post on this sport, because I am still wary of what people will think and the negativity I could receive. If its something you'd be interested in though, please let me know

Hope everyone's had a good week and haven't had anymore problems with this worsening weather. I've had two power cuts whilst writing this up, nothing to do with the weather I'm sure but still, I'm not best pleased.

Much Love Gemma xo.

GFC and My Bloglovin link!

Hello everyone! So as you all will be well aware by now, everyone is panicing about the fact Google Friend Connect could well be disappearing in the near future. I don't know all the facts, but from what I can gather there hasn't been any mention from Google that GFC will be going, but people are presuming it could well be in the pipeline. And are going into full on panic mode! Fearing they will lose many followers they have gained through a lot of hard work and time.

Personally I use GFC for following most of my favourite blogs and will be gutted if it does go as its so east to use and something I'm used to using. However I've been on Bloglovin ever since setting up my blog. So I now follow everyone on there now as well as GFC, so no matter what happens I can still access my favourite blogs.

I would very much appreciate anyone who follows me here to click onto my Bloglovin and follow me there aswell :) http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/4822027/gemma-beauty-fashion-and-lifestyle

I appreciate every single one of you and wouldn't want to lose any of you if GFC does get the chop.

And if you haven't already imported all your blogs to Bloglovin click HERE and do it now, it takes 2 seconds and all the people you follow will be in one place straight away.

Much Love Gemma xo.

No7 Beautiful Skin Cleansing Water

Hiya Everyone. A review for you all today. And I apologise in advance, I just can not string words together today!

After receiving a voucher for £5 off No7 products in Boots, I decided to pick up this Cleansing Water. I've been wanting to try Bioderma for a long time so got this as a first dip into the world of micellar waters. I've been using this for about 3 weeks and I am really pleased with it. 

I have combination skin and I've had no problems with it at all. It hasn't dried out my skin nor has it broke me out or made me oily. It's just done a wonderful job of removing my make up every night. I use one large cotton pad with about 8 pumps of this to take off my make up. I rarely use it on my eyes, because to be honest it isn't great at removing eye make up, and it does sting slightly as its not really meant for the eye area. After use I will then use my normal cleanser to make sure all my make up is completely removed and I am left with squeaky clean skin.

I haven't noticed any tightening of my pores since using this. However I don't seem to be as oily on my t-zone as I was before using this. So if your on the look out for a make up remover that will help with reducing oil then the No7 Beautiful Skin Cleansing Water, might be something to look into further. It's usually £9 but Boots often have offers on No7 products so keep an eye out for them. I got this for just £4 and it is definitely worth it. Because of the beauty blogger inside me I will no doubt be trying Bioderma now its in the UK. I'm really hoping it's worth the hype and will be more effective than this to remove both face and eye make up.

Much Love Gemma xo.

Saturday Questionnaire 9th March 2013

Hello again lovelies. This weekend you may or may not have known I volunteered to look after my Aunties 3 cats whilst she is away! Let me tell you, I did not think it would be this stressful! Last night they were all perfect! This morning again perfect, all three were happily sleeping so I nipped home and did a few errands in town. An hour and a half later when I got back not one of them had moved, until about 45 minutes ago, they all started fighting with each other and I was chasing them around like a headless loon, trying to keep them apart. I couldn't even get 5 minutes to make myself a bagel for dinner, and as for the YouTube video I was trying to watch, well that didn't happen at all after pausing it at least 10 times I gave in. So now there's eventually a bit of peace and quiet (they've all now decided to sleep again) I thought I would get cracking on with this weeks 10 questions :)

Apologies for the long ranting intro but I thought I'd tell you's all about my eventful afternoon. Usually I would be at home relaxing at this time of day, after waking up only a few short hours previous! Well not this weekend, not at all! Early mornings and chasing cats is on my agenda for the next few days!

how these 3 cuties fight and cause so much chaos i don't know, l - r Sooty, Tizer and Zazzles

1. Mood:

As you can probably tell, I'm stressed and tired hahah but its all good fun!

2. What is the last song/album you purchased?

I honestly can't remember. I think the last time I walked in to a shop and bought music was the day, Lostprophets 'The Betrayed' album was released back in 2010? I don't buy music anymore, I know that's a bad thing but I just don't have the money to buy cds anymore.

3. The best video game system ever is __________.

I LOVED the PlayStation 1! Croc: Legend of the Gobbos was my favourite thing ever! Nowadays I love the Wii Fit Board!

4. Current nail polish:

I'm not wearing any.

5. How many times did you hit the snooze button this morning? 

None! I wasn't woken by an alarm.

6. Current outfit:

Skinny Jeans, Oversized Skull Jumper and Boots.

7. What is the furthest distance you've ever driven?

I don't drive.

8. You can only use one mascara for the rest of your life-- which one is it?!

Probably my new YSL Volume Effect Faux Clis, I've only recently decided to start really looking around for a good mascara. And at the minute that one is the one I am loving and could happily use forever.

 
9. If you could have a $1000 gift card to anywhere right now, where would you choose?

I really want to say something like Debenhams for all the Makeup and Beauty stuff but if I was being practical it would have to be somewhere like Topshop as I need more clothes desperately. 

10. Weekly Goals:

I don't really have any this week.

So there you go, 10 new things about me and a stressed out rant about these 3 cats I have the pleasure of looking after all weekend! I can't wait for my boyfriend to get back from playing Rugby so he can help me out a bit. I hope your all having a more relaxed weekend than I am, and if you constantly look after mischievous cats (or any other animal for that matter) I take my hat off to you!

Much Love Gemma xo.

February Favourites

Hi Beauties, Sorry for the lateness of this favourites post but I just couldn't decide what to feature in it. So here's 5 of my most reached for products in the month of February!

First up a skincare product -

Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic - I bought this way back in September (i think) and I have been using it every single day since and I love it. Some people don't use a toner at all and think its a pointless step in their skincare routine. I on the other hand have been using them everyday since doing Beauty Therapy in college. I'm not sure if my skin actually benefits from it, because I haven't stopped using toners at all for the past 5 or 6 years, but I really enjoy using them, they really freshen up the skin and make it feel really clean and clear. I use this after cleansing. I spray it 4 times on a cotton pad and sweep it across my face, to make sure my face is completely clean and make up free. The smell of this toner is absolutely gorgeous and it really wakes my skin up, once I finish this I will definitely be repurchasing it.

Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Deep Nourishing Intensive Mask - I've been really looking after my hair recently and I think this has really helped. Since using it my hair has been really lovely and smooth. I use this at least once a week and I really like it. I reviewed it here if you would like to take a look.

MAC Girl About Town - This was my first MAC lipstick that I bought back in January. It's a gorgeous bright fuscia pink and I fell in love with it as soon as I laid eyes on it. Whenever I go out I use either this or the Rimmel Apocalips I'm about to talk about.

Rimmel Apocalips Big Bang - As you may know from reading this review I went out and bought 2 Rimmel Apocalips' the day they came out. I thought the bright pink I bought would be my favourite but in actual fact Big Bang is, this bright true red has been my most reached for since purchasing them. I've never owned such a red before, its really lovely and bright. The Apocalips themselves are really good too. They feel like a gloss when applied but dry to a beautiful matte finish. With the amazing pigmentation of a high end lipstick. I'm sure a well be extending my collection of colours very soon.

MUA Blusher Shade 2 -  I've been using MUA's blusher in shade 2 everyday I've wore make up in February. Its a lovely light dusky pink colour with ever so slight shimmer in it. The pigmentation is actually rather good for a product costing just £1, one quick swirl in the pan is enough to give my cheeks a lovely flush of colour. For only £1 I will definitely pick this up again, I have 3 of the 6 shades but this one is the one I use most. (As you may be able to tell the blusher in the very first picture in this post isn't actually shade 2, because the writing on the front of the packaging has completely faded and I wanted you to be able to see what the blushes look like, so I used another one of the colours in my collection so sorry if that causes confusion, also apologies for the messy packaging, I forgot to clean it before photographing)

Hope you enjoyed this most, and maybe have a few ideas of new products you would like to try out. What were your most reached for products in February? Be sure to let me know.

Much Love Gemma xo. 

Saturday Questionnaire! 2nd March 2013

Hi Beauties, I actually forgot it was Saturday until a few moments ago! So here's my latest Saturday Questionnaire. Can you believe its March already? I can't!

1. Mood:

I'm happy but I have a sore neck and I'm cold :(

2. What are you looking forward to most today?

I'm going to an engagement party tonight, so I'm excited for that!

3. Someone is bringing you breakfast in bed, what is on the perfect tray?

Bagels covered in Philadelphia topped with Bacon! Delicious.

 
4. Current nail polish:

Barry M Textured Nail Paint in Kingsland Road.

5. Where do you keep your handbag when you are home?

Either sitting right beside me or upstairs in my room, depending on weather or not I have been out of the house and used it that day.

6. Current outfit: 

I am very casual at the minute because the only thing I've done to get ready is shower. So I am currently sat in joggers a vest top and a dressing gown. Not forgetting the rollers I have in my hair!

7. If you could try on any celeb's hairstyle for a day, whose would you choose?

Because I would never cut my hair off and I'm too scared to go blonde. I would try out something like the gorgeous hairstyle Victoria Beckham had here - 

8. Do you sleep with your bedroom door open or closed?

Shut I can't stand having it open!

9. What is the last beauty product you finished?

Herbal Essences Beautiful Ends Conditioner, this morning! (not the bottle I just bought may add!)

 
10. Weekly goals:

Go one week without spending money on a Beauty product! For someone on as little money as me I am spending far too much money recently!

Hope you enjoyed this I'm off to get something to eat and start getting ready.

Much Love Gemma xo.