Blogmas: Lush | Snow Fairy and Santa's Lip Scrub

Once upon a time, the brains behind Lush took a trip to the North Pole, their heads bloated with visions of winter-worthy products enough to strike envy in the heart of Mrs Claus herself. Around Miss Lush, the North Pole was alight with the glow of Christmas lights in red, green and gold, flickering through the misty haze of winter's white sky where Santa's four-legged friends glimmered in a cosmic dance amongst the stars of Christmas Eve night. 
Dithering, Miss Lush shrugged her faux fur closer around her icy frame and allowed her gaze to drift to the towering, ice sculpture which glistened in the night. The Claus Castle.
Lush gasped. She had heard all about the castle, of course, but only in fairytales, books and films had she ever been graced with the sight of the silver building which reflected the light of the moon. Leaving a trail of footsteps in the snow, she found herself at the doorstep of the castle, knocking once. The door opened of its own will, revealing a vast space filled with presents wrapped in gold, silvers and reds. Elves danced around a sleigh, sprinkling their magic in streams of gold and dispersing with crimson cheeks at the sight of Lush's black cape blowing in the wind. Walking closer, she found herself amongst the creations of the elves, helplessly searching through the parcels until she found a special box, wrapped in sparkling pink and dazzling red. Upon the parcel, sat a note, in cursive letters which caused Lush to gasp in delight:
Dear Lush,
For Christmas you deserve Snow Fairy Shower Gel to leave you smelling of candyfloss and pear drops and Santa's Lip Scrub to soften and exfoliate your lips (he won't notice it's missing.)  
Merry Christmas,
Love Mrs Claus.

Love From Storm x

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theBalm 'Hot Mama' Blush: Swatch and Review

I've been on the hunt for a good blush for what seems an eternity, without burning a huge MAC shaped hole in my pocket in the process. Being the peachy blush enthusiast that I am, I was particularly drawn to Nars 'Orgasm' and MAC 'Peachykeen', and after endlessly strolling through blog reviews I found that theBalm 'Hot Mama' blush/eyeshadow was considered a close dupe, with quite a few people stating they prefer it quite considerably. At £12.50, this product was already less guilt inducing to treat myself to in comparison to Nars and MAC's hefty price tags, so I couldn't help but try it out. There's only so many times you can read the words 'holy grail' and not find yourself hitting the 'add to basket' button...

Our Moment | One Direction's Fragrance

And they're back again! With a never-ending range of products to rival the likes of your local IKEA, One Direction have officially launched their debut fragrance 'Our Moment', to add to their already overflowing sales CV including makeup; stationary; uh, cardboard cutouts and in true pop-star spirit, collection dolls.  

Being the 1D enthusiast that I am, I (shamelessly) jumped onto this band-wagon before I'd even checked what it smelled like. Having gotten a bit carried away by their pretty little faces on the box, I'm relived that it actually smells nice! 

You know the drill, a celebrity will release a perfume under their name and it doesn't really matter if it smells any good, because they will sell millions of bottles anyway (I'm looking at you, Justin Bieber.)

Eye Spy | Holiday Edition

It's that time of year again. You've planned it for months in advance; perfected the sit-and-zip suitcase method; matched all of your bikinis with a pair of sandals and wailed Cliff Richard's 'Summer Holiday' the entire way to the airport. We've all been there, every year is the same old malarky which leads up to the week of sizzling in the sun to cure all of our jet-lag related worries. I've recently just returned from a week in Portugal, and I met a (slightly sunburned) Irish lady who nailed it in a sentence: "It's like being a celebrity for a week or two." Or twelve, if you consider her marvelous tan. 

But despite our love for travel and treats, take away the burning ball of fire, the crushed up rock and the slurring accents which make you weak at the knees and we're left with an awfully familiar game of Where's Wally. There's always that one person who turns up on your every holiday. They may have changed their name, hairstyle and nationality but they're there. Sometimes there's even multiple of them. And they're in an airport near you. 

The Thompson Airways Glamour Girl - As the saying goes, the holiday starts in the airport. We all know her; strutting her stuff (with a slight limp) down the runway/toilet queues with the highest heels known to mankind. We couldn't wear them on a night out, but that girl owns them even on the go. A face full of makeup and the occasional trip over her own suitcase, and the package is complete. For me, I think flats are my go-to companion, but you have to admire her almighty balance skills.

Week in Pictures | Come Fly With Me...

I'm back.
The mere two words send me into suppressing many heavy sighs. I'm back. Back in England. Better yet*, back in the rain.
*It's absolutely not better at all.
After a sunny week in the city of Albufeira, Portugal, I'm left feeling pretty defeated (and pale).  There's just something about coming back to reality which isn't nearly as elating as waking up to the view of the crystal blue ocean and bright red men in Speedo's sunning themselves beside the pool - really, you learn to appreciate it given the circumstances. 

Taming the Talons | Shellac Manicure

Give a girl a good manicure and she can rule the world. That's the saying, right? 

I've heard really good things about Shellac manicures since they cropped up in salons everywhere, but I'd never got around to trying one out myself until today when my lovely jubbly step-mom (I promise she didn't pay me to say that) paid for myself and my step sisters to have one done. I don't have amazing nails, and I always have trouble growing them due to my awful biting habit, but £15 later and voila! Pretty pink nails. Shellac truly is the Superwoman of all polishes.

If you fancy a Shellac manicure, you can get one done at most salons. They promise two weeks of wear without a chip or a scratch, and your nails will stay beautifully shiny every single day! Not to mention the fact that they dry immediately. No sitting for half an hour blowing on your finger tips, just instant prettiness! What's not to love?

 

The application is so easy - it starts with a Shellac Base Coat, providing the foundation for the Shellac Colour Coat, followed by the Shellac Top Coat which seals the deal with the silky smooth mirror-like effect which lasts forever. Or near enough that length of time. A UV lamp is used to dry and set the layers of polish and to create the chip-resistant, smudge-free finish. You can choose from a wide range of colours, and all of them look as lovely. 

The application time is only 30 minutes, and the drying time is zero! Whoever invented this needs a huge cuddle. You can either get your polish filed off at a salon, or you can remove it yourself by soaking them in acetone and wrapping them in foil.

If you don't want to take a trip to the salon, you can buy the set yourself online or even on Ebay.

So far, I really love the results of Shellac. It is so shiny and pretty, and feels really smooth too. I'd definitely recommend it, now just to see how it lasts on my sunny week abroad! Hope you're all enjoying your week,

Let me know  what you think of Shellac below!
Storm x
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Liebster Award | I have been nominated!

Hello my lovelies! Hope you're enjoying your weekends so far.

Earlier on today, I was having a little catch up with all of my recent comments until I came across one from the lovely Becci at Princesses and Pink Champagne. I was delighted to see that Becci decided to choose me as one of the bloggers to nominate for the Liebster Award, as it's always a treat to see that somebody pays attention to and enjoys your posts. It put a big grin on my face! After five months of blogging, it's lovely to get some feedback from somebody in such a sweet way.

The Liebster Award is an award for bloggers with under 200 followers, allowing new and undiscovered blogs to get a little bit of limelight and a chance to meet new readers and other bloggers from around and about. Whoever came up with this idea needs a Nobel Prize Award or something along those lines.
So, here's the first set of rules you'll ever abide by:

• If nominated, you must answer 11 questions, set by the blogger who nominated you. 
• In turn, you must provide 11 new questions for your nominees to answer.
• You must link back to the person who nominated you.
• You must answer all 11 questions set by whoever nominated you.
• You must choose 11 bloggers to nominate, all with fewer than 200 followers.
• You must go to your nominee's blogs and notify them that you have nominated them

That being done on my part, I'll show you the questions Becci gave me, shall I?