Pampering Night by Beauty Balm

Pampering Night

Jo asked if I'd do a guest post on her blog. I try every week to have a pampering night and this week these are the products I'm using this week:

Candle: Neom Refresh mini candle - I received this from hubby in a set for my birthday. An uplifting scent with Sicilian Lemon & Basil.

Bath Oil: Jo Malone Lime, Basil & Mandarin Bath Oil 30ml - Nardine from Live..Laugh..Love gave me this beautiful bath oil for my birthday in one of my favourite Jo Malone scents - makes for a luxurious bath.

Hair Mask: Neil George Intense Repair Mask with Indian Gooseberry 215ml - I love the Neil George range and this mask is just great.  It smells beautiful and leaves the hair soft and nourished.  See my review here - http://bbalm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/neil-george-intense-repair-mask.html

Face Mask: Balance Me Radiance Face Mask 75ml* - a really fab mask which deep cleanses, exfoliates and brightens the skin.  See my review here - http://bbalm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/balance-me-radiance-face-mask.html

Body Moisture: Pure Thoughts Tangering & Jojoba Whipped Shea Butter 45g - this is one of my favourite body moisturisers (you can also use it on the face).  I love the uplifting scent and the way it super moisturises my skin.  See more info here - http://www.purethoughts.co.uk/

I try to use different products each week depending on my mood and how I want to feel.  Have you used any of these products?  What products do you use to relax and unwind?

*PR sample

Mavala Pastel Polishes Review and Swatches

These Mavala polishes were used to create the nail look for the Holly Fulton S/S13 show at London Fashion Week (well not these exact polishes, you know what I mean!).

Gorgeous pastel shades that are perfect for this time of year.

The bottles each contain 4.5ml of polish.

All the shades apart from white have an iridescent sheen.

One coat of Lemon Cream.

Two coats of Lemon Cream, as you can see it is still very sheer and definitely needs a third coat!

Three coats of Lemon Cream, indoors.

Three coats of Lemon Cream, in daylight.

My nail line is still slightly visible after three coats but the colour is lovely!

One coat of Aquamarine.

Two coats of Aquamarine.

The coverage is better than Lemon Cream but still needed three coats to achieve good coverage.

Three coats of Aquamarine, indoors.

Lovely and opaque in three coats.

Three coats of Aquamarine, in daylight.

I don't know if you can see the iridescent sheen from the polish in the bottle? I've tried my best to capture it for you.  It doesn't pick it up on any of the pics of my nails.

One coat of Lagoon.

Two coats of Lagoon, indoors.

This is my favourite out of the four polishes.  The polish was the best consistency and was opaque in two coats.

Two coats of Lagoon, in daylight.

One coat of White.

I found this polish hard to apply, it was very watery and seemed to get everywhere!

Two coats of White.

Even after two coats the polish was streaky and had lots of bald patches.

Two coats of White topped with one coat of each of the colours.

I think two coats of Lemon Cream and Aquamarine would be needed really, Lagoon was fine with one coat.  I did find that using the colours over the White bought out more of the iridescent sheen.

This is the first time I have tried Mavala polishes, they were sent to me for review.  I am not used to having to apply 3-4 coats of a polish for it to be opaque - I think it may be because they are pastel shades as Lagoon was a dream to apply.

I tried the polishes over a number of different base coats as I found this made a real difference to the finish, the one I found best was Sally Hansen Insta Grip Fast Dry Base Coat.  The polishes applied beautifully to my nail wheel and only needed two coats of each to be fully opaque with no streaking or bald spots so it may be that my nails are a bit oily?

The polishes retails for £4.50 and you can find them in John Lewis, Debenhams and Boots.

Have you tried any Mavala polishes?