You Can't Catch Me I'm the Gingerbread Man

As you may have seen in my 'Blue Moon Eye Make-up Kit' post I was lucky enough to go along to The Body Shop Christmas Collection launch party! I thought I would show you possibly my favourite product in their Christmas collection which is the Ginger Sparkle gift set. The Body shop have created three amazing scents for Christmas which are Cranberry Joy, Vanilla Bliss and Ginger Sparkle. The Body Shop are always in the forefront of my mind when I think of luxurious scented bath and body care and their Christmas scents really do match up to this! 

Ginger Sparkle is the scent which reminds me most of the festive season so I will definitely be making the most of this in the build up to Christmas. The Ginger Sparkle Gift set comes in the super cute Gingerbread man tin which makes this perfect for a present. In the set you get a Shower Gel (250ml), Body Polish (75ml), Body Butter (50ml) and a small heart shaped soap (25g). You can pick this set up for just £17 from one of the Body Shop stores or online.  

To make The Body Shop Christmas Collection even better they are donating £200,000 from their Christmas sales to build five new schools around the world! The fact that The Body Shop offer 'Beauty with a Heart' is one of my favourite things about them and you can find out more about The School Project here.

My favourite product in the set has to be the Body Butter. I LOVE the Coconut Body Butter from The Body Shop all year round but Ginger Sparkle will definitely be replacing this soon so I can get myself in the festive spirit! The Body Butter is rich, creamy and moisturising and is therefore the perfect way to finish off a hot bath in the winter season. 

The Body Shop have a huge range of Christmas gift ideas, with this being just one, so take a look on thebodyshop.co.uk for lots more festive favourites perfect for the beauty lovers amongst your family and friends this Christmas!

A huge thank you to The Body Shop for having me at their event and my amazing friend Rose from Mixed Gems for inviting me along with her! The Body Shop made a short video clip from their school themed event where they asked us to tell them about our school days and I feature on the video which you can see below! 

Happy Christmas shopping if you still have some bits to buy! Let me know if you have tried anything from The Body Shop Christmas collection and what your favourite pieces are! 

Samantha x

Vintage Rose Nail Art

I thought it was about time I put my new nail art tools into good use so I thought I would do another nail art post! This time I tried a vintage flower look and as always I have put together a step-by-step picture tutorial so you can see exactly how I created this nail art. 

What will you need?

In order to create a nail art look similar to mine you will need a large and small dotting tool, a thin nail art brush, and nail varnish in the shades light pink, dark pink, sheer pink, lilac, coral, light green, dark green and white. You will also need a top coat.

The nail varnish shades I used are: Illamasqua Harem and Lament, Rimmel Ring a Ring O' Roses and Sea Green, Bourjois Rose Satin, Alessandro Elegant Rubin, Barry M Matt White and Collection Look at Me!

Step-by-Step Tutorial: 

Step 1: Paint all nails in 2 coats of the sheer pink shade. 

Step 2: Once the base coats are dry take your large dotting tool and create rose flower shapes randomly over the nails. I used the coral and dark pink shades for this. 

Step 3: Taking a lilac and light pink shade, go in with the thin nail art brush and create the detailing in the centre of the roses. 

Step 4: Again using the nail art brush create the leaves. I first went in with the light green shade and then placed the darker green lightly over the top. 

Step 5: Using the smaller dotting tool and the white nail varnish dot small polka dots in gaps on the nail.

Step 6: Finally once all nails are dry paint a top coat over each nail. This will add shine to nails and seal the nail art into place. 

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial! As always let me know if you have been creating any nail art yourselves as I love to see what everyone creates. For more nail art I create you can also follow me on Instagram @samantha_helen5 !

Happy nail art-ing!! Samantha xx

My New Nail Art Tools

Because I am a huge fan of nail art I wanted to make the possibilities of nail art designs I could create endless, so I decided to purchase some nail art tools in a range of different shapes and sizes. These will ensure that even the finest details can be achieved, from thin stripes to the neatest curves and swirls. 


Set of 15 Nail Art Brushes:

The first set of tools I purchased were these nail art brushes. These range from thin stripping brushes, to fan brushes and square tipped brushes. Just to add to beauty of brushes they come with pink handles, however if pinks not your colour this range also comes in white. 

The only downside to these brushes are the quality, they feel quite flimsy and I can imagine the top coming loose after a short period of time. However with a cost of just £2.39 for 15 brushes, how can I possibly complain!  

5 Nail Art Dotting Tools:

The second set of nail art tools I purchased were these dotting tools. I always use a dotting tool in my nail art and previously I have just used a bog standard dotting tool from Avon. However I wanted to get a range of different sized dotting tool heads. This will allow me to create larger and smaller dots and patterns with ease. 

I am super impressed with the quality of these tools, as they were just £1.52 for all 5 tools and I can't see the heads coming loose any time soon! 

You can see these nail art tools in action in future posts and I will be sure to include the different styles I use in each of my nail art designs, as I am sure I will find a use for each and every tool in the near future! I purchased both sets from Amazon (links below). If you can source similar sets elsewhere it might be an idea to purchase them there, as I did have to wait around a month for these to arrive on my doorstep, as I didn't realise they were coming the whole way from China (silly me!). 

Set of 15 Nail Art Brushes

5 Nail Art Dotting Tools

These are a fab present for any nail lover this Christmas and I can't wait to get stuck into some nail art using all my new tools! Let me know in the comments of any detailed nail art you would like me to try using my new tools and I will try my best!

Thanks for reading! Samantha xx

Bright Galaxy Nail Art

I'm back with another nail art for you and this time I have create my own take on the very popular galaxy nail art. I have seen lots of blue and purple themed galaxy nails so I have added some different bright colours to give them a bit of a twist. Keep reading for a step-by-step guide of exactly how I create this nail art ...

What will you need?

First of all you will need a selection of bright nail varnishes. I chose to use blue, purple, yellow, green and coral. You will also need a black nail varnish for the base, a white nail varnish for the galaxy print and a top coat. In order to create the nail art detail you will need a small make-up sponge and a dotting tool. 
The nail varnishes I used were Illamasqua Rare and Lament, Rimmel Green Grass and Purple Rain, No7 Minty Fresh, Miss Sporty Black, BarryM Matt White and Nails Supreme Top Coat. 

Step-by-Step Tutorial:

Step 1: Begin by painting all nails in a coat of black nail varnish. You only need one coat and don't worry too much about it being opaque as the majority of it will be covered by the coloured varnishes.

Step 2-6: Take each of the coloured nail varnishes onto the nail and sponge them randomly across the nails. See above for the order I sponged each of the colours onto the nails. 

Step 7: Take the white nail varnish onto a dotting tool and create dots and stars onto the nails. I found that when creating the stars, the less nail varnish on the dotting tool the more effective the star looked. 

Step 8: Once all nails are dry paint a top coat onto each nail. This will prevent any chipping, fix your nail art into place and give your nails a shine. 

I hope you like my take on the popular galaxy nails! Have you created a galaxy nail art yourself? I love hearing ideas for future nail art so comment below and tell me what you would like to see!

Until next time, Samantha x

The Body Shop 'Blue Moon' Eye Make-up Kit

With it being just 45 days until Christmas I have been more than excited to see all the Christmas collections being launched! I was lucky enough to be invited along to The Body Shop Christmas Collection Launch so I got a sneek peek into the Christmas products they will be selling this year. Along with being given the Ginger Sparkle Shower, Scrub and Moisture Collection (which I will review soon), I was lucky enough to receive the Blue Moon 3 Step Eye Kit. I couldn't resist but create a make-up look straight away and share it with you so here it is, along with my thoughts on each product ...

In this set you receive The Body Shop 'Super Volume Mascara', 'Carbon Blue Eye Definer', 'The Eyeshadow Brush' and 'Shimmer Cubes Palette 20' all of which can be seen in the image above along with the friendly character the 'Gingerbread Man Sponge' which is part of the Christmas gifts collection at The Body Shop this year! Personally I think this kit would make an excellent gift for someone this Christmas, as it comes with all the products to create a stunning smoky eye. 

Shimmer Cubes Palette 20:  

The 4 shades in this cube complement each other beautifully! They are all shimmer shades and the thin texture of the shadows allow them to be easily blended along the lid. 'Snow White' is a gorgeous white shimmer, which not only attracts me because of the name but also because the shade makes this shadow perfect for highlighting the inner corner of the eye. 'Indigo Blue' is the dark, almost navy, shade which I think is great to apply all over the lid as a base for a deep smoky eye. 'Starlight Silver' is as the name suggests a silver shade which would also look really nice all over the lid, if you just wanted the darker shades in the outer corner of the eye. Finally 'Midnight Black' is a gorgeous black shadow with the shimmer giving it a charcoal feel. This shade would look amazing blended into the crease and outer corner of the eye. It would also be the perfect shade to place under the lower lash line, if you prefer a darker shade to outline your eye. Overall this is a gorgeous palette which is great to create many different looks from a deep dark smoky eye to a subtle shimmer across the lid. 

The Eyeshadow Brush:

The eyeshadow brush is the perfect shape to press shadows onto the lid in order to prevent a great deal of fall down. With the brush being thin in width, I found this brush was great to push shadows into the crease and under the lower lash line, using the tip of the eyeshadow brush. With the brush being made from synthetic hair this prevents any dreaded hairs falling into your make-up!

Carbon Blue Eye Definer:

This product is perfect to use along with the shimmer cubes, as the shades look great together. I found this product worked best when I warmed it in between my hands before applying. This aloud the pencil to glide across the lid and easily blend into the lash line using the smudging sponge, to create a slightly more smoky look with the product. The pencil also applied easily in the water line. The shade of this pencil makes is slightly less harsh than a typical black pencil, whilst still outlining and defining the eye. 

Super Volume Mascara:

This is one of The Body Shops best selling make-up products so I was really to try this out for myself. Normally I go for a mascara with a thicker wand as I find these easier to pick up all my lashes. Therefore when I opened up this mascara to find a reasonably thin wand I wasn't sure how I was going to get on with it. However I was pleasantly surprised with the results. The wand separated out my lashes and added a length to my lashes which I was more than happy with. The wand did not pick up too much product and therefore did not leave my lashes looking clumpy, instead the mascara spread evenly across the length of my lashes and added a thin layer of mascara to each lash. 

My eye make-up look:

Using all of the products above a created this smoky eye look. I used the 'Indigo Blue' shimmer cube all over the lid and blended a small amount of 'Midnight Black' into the crease to add a bit of depth to the eye. I used the eyeshadow brush to apply these shadows and then blended them around the edges using a blending brush to create a soft smoky look. I placed 'Snow White' into the inner corner of the eye to add a slight highlight to the tear duct area. Next I took the Carbon Blue Eye Definer and placed this all around my eye and in the water line. Using the smudging end of this product I blended out the pencil on the upper and lower lash line, again to add to the soft smoky look. Finally I added two layers of Super Volume Mascara to both the upper and lower lashes. 

If I had to choose a favourite product from all those discussed above I would have to choose the 'Snow White' shimmer cube. Not only do I love the name of this shadow but it also creates a beautiful shimmer in the inner corner of the eye and, applied lightly, would look stunning as a highlight on the brow bone! 

I hope you have enjoyed this post! To have a look at the Christmas gifts from the Body Shop this year visit their website and look out for my review of the Ginger Sparkle Shower, Scrub and Moisture Collection coming very soon! Also let me know in the comments below if you have tried any of these products from The Body Shop before. I would also love to know of any Christmas collections you have been loving so far this year! 

Until next time, Samantha x

Make Your Own Flower Crown

I am loving a flower crown at the moment and I have seen lots around, but I either don't like the colours of the flowers or feel they are slightly too big. Therefore I decided to try and make my very own flower crown so that I could make it exactly how I wanted! If you want to find out exactly how I made my flower crown keep reading!

What will you need?

In order to make your own flower crown you will need a selection of flowers in colours of your choice (I used flowers which were attached to hair bands and cut them off), a plain head band and some felt. You will also need a glue gun/ fast drying glue and some scissors. 

Making the flower crown:

To begin with you will need to cut some of the felt into tear shape pieces. These will be used to attach the flowers to the head band.

Next you need to take a flower, place some glue onto the back and press it onto the head band. I held it in place for about 30 seconds in order to ensure it did not move and slide to one side.

Using a piece of felt I placed glue on one end and pushed it onto the side of the flower. I then glued the other end and pulled it round to the other side of the flower. Ensure that the felt is tight around the head band.

Complete these steps on each flower until you have the desired amount on the head band. I put enough flowers to cover the entire headband, leaving a small gap at the bottom so the head band would comfortably fit behind my ears.

And there you have your very own flower crown! I hope you enjoyed this mini tutorial and if you make one be sure to let me know in the comments below!

Until next time, Samantha xx