Lovers Corner with London Perfume Company

Are you still looking for ideas and gifts for Valentines Day? Are you low on ideas and don't know where to look?  Well let me give you a helping hand. This year The London Perfume Company have launched Lovers Corner on their website and with every order you get to choose one free gift from a choice of four.

As a customer, you get to choose between a free Solid Perfume Heart or one of three Giorgio Beverly Hills Teddy Bears, when you buy any fragrance listed in the 'Lover's Corner' section for Valentine's Day and these are the items to choose between:

The perfume which you can find within Lovers Corner is quite a wide and varied mixture such as Nina Ricci, Vera Wang, Ralph Lauren and Nine West plus a few gifts sets to name just a few of them, so I am sure there will be something for everyone.

Now if this isn't enough to tempt you boys and girls, there is one more offer and that is as well as your gift of choice and one of the options above, you will also receive some Love Heart Swizzles and a very cute makeshift gift tag in within your parcels to add a little extra love and style to your package.

All you have to do to claim all these offers is to go to the London Perfume Company website, go to Lovers Corner which is clearly displayed on the top taskbar and you cannot miss it because the text is bright red.  You will need to add your choice of free gift to your basket, the price of which will be deducted at the check-out and in order to get your free gift, your item must be chosen from the Lovers Corner section only.

I would love to know which product you purchase and what free gift you choose, I would struggle to choose between those teddy bears which are totally adorable.

Skincare bargains

Don't you just love it when you come across a real gem of a website and more so one that saves you a bit of money in the process?  Well let me introduce you to Mistrys Pharmacy who have got a rather good skincare sale on currently and there are bargains to be had.

Mistrys is the online version of Mistrys Pharmacy, which is a large High Street Pharmacy based in Market Harborough in Leicestershire. Started in 1977 by Shantilal Mistry and his wife, Jasumati Mistry they allow you to order products online and delivered to your home.

I came across this site when searching Google for the name of a product I really wanted to try and as ever looking for a good price rather than paying out for the first website which came up. Mistrys stocks all kinds products within the beauty, skincare, bath and body sections of their website and many of brands you will have heard of such as Aveeno, Burts Bees, Avene, Eucerin, Weleda, Lancome and a few more besides.  Here are some of those bargains:

Weleda Skin Food is a product I have seen talked about a lot on the blogs and it is a brand I havent really tried out.  On Mistrys you can buy this 75ml version for just £9.15.

Simple Kind to Skin Hydrating Light Moisture is one of my favourite products from the range and it usually retails for around £4.70 but on Mistrys it is just £2.69

Upper Canada Lip butter is another product I have seen mentioned and compared to Korres and it has me intrigued.  I haven't been able to find in any of my usual shopping haunts, but it is online and usually for around £5 for a 10ml pot but here it is half the price at £2.50

Burts Bees Pore Refining Scrub with Willow Bark is the product I switched to using after I got bored of St Ives Apricot Scrub and I remember thinking how pricey it was at £10 a tube, here you can save a few pounds and pay just £8.69.

Nivea Visage Refreshing Facial Cleansing Wipes usually cost around £5 for a pack of 20 which is quite expensive I think, but at £1.99 I am rather tempted to buy some because they do come in handy at times of need.

The final product that caught my attention was the Evian Facial Spray.  I am a bit of a facial spray convert and have been using one from La Roche-Posay but this costs just £3.49 for a trial sized 50ml and elsewhere I have seen it priced as high as £7.

I hope you agree there are some real bargains to be had and it definitely makes me think twice about just ordering from the first website I come across. 

Do look scour websites before you buy?

Lush Event - Regent Street

Last Thursday I was so excited to be invited to a Lush event in Regent Street here in London, those of you who read my blog will know that I am a bit more than a fan, I am more like a Lush-a-holic.

The aim of the event was to promote and introduce to us Danger! Cosmetics to Go, a book on the story of the company that preceded Lush which tells the meteoric rise and devastating fall of the the brand in just 6 years.  Written by the beautiful Mira Manga, a musician and writer, she was commissioned to write the book by Mark Constantine OBE, Lush Co-Founder and managing Director.  Mira herself worked for Lush, starting as a Saturday girl in Lush's Carnaby Street Shop (which has since closed).  I was lucky enough to get Mira to sign my copy and for anyone out there, who like me, is a huge fan of Lush, this is a book you should have in your possession because it is a fascinating insight into the world of Lush, the products they have and how they came to be.

As well as meeting Mira, Lush put on a brilliant event with nibbles and drinks to keep those of us present fed and watered and we had exclusive access to the staff to ask as many questions as we wanted, see demonstrations of the products and try out the products that Lush sell.  

All of the staff I spoke to were absolutely brilliant and so knowledgeable in what they knew of each product, some sharing funny stories of mishaps with customers and others giving a real detailed introduction to things I was yet to try and advising on other products that might work well with either my hair, skin or hands.

With Valentines Day not too far away, Lush have their own Valentines Day products out there to grab and my advice is to grab them quick because they are amazing.  I have already taken a shine to the Valentines Shower Gel Prince Charming which smells wonderfully of marshmallows and pomegranate juice.  Then there is the Love Locket Bath Bomb which has three parts to it, not something I am going to ruin for you now, but look out for the review.  There are 11 different products within the Valentines Day range, including three different gift sets, a lip gloss and some soap, all brightly coloured and beautifully packaged.

I had an absolutely brilliant time at this Lush Event and know so much more about the products I liked, loved and swoon over and whats more, I really loved the chance of being able to meet Mira and ask her many questions about the book she has so brilliantly written and it may just feature in its own review.

I was also surprised to get a goody bag and this one was just amazing and below are the contents, each of us was asked to choose Bath or Shower, now for someone who is as indecisive as I am, this was a hard task, but I did choose bath:

Of course I couldn't leave such a fabulous event without something for my beloved hubby could I? Especially when he has his own blog now, so this is what I bought for him:

Ickle Baby Bot was my first choice, designed for children but it is filled with Lavender to help calm and relax before bedtime.  Then there is Dirty Springwash Shower Gel which has the opposite effect to the Bath Bomb and because it is filled with Spearmint and menthol, it leaves you feeling wide awake and alert, ready to tackle the day.

Thank you Lush, the experience and the event was fantastic.

Biosculpture Spa Range Nail Care

One of my goals for 2014 was to to take better care of my nails because they have become quite weak and brittle not to mention prone to peeling and snapping which is really annoying when you finally manage to get your nails to a length you are happy with.

Apparently the cold weather can be harsh on your nails because the change in weather means they have to as the change in continually adapt to dealing with either the freezing cold outside or the warm centrally heated indoor environment much like your skin which can also turn dry, flaky and be in need of a little more TLC.  The constant cold and change in temperature can cause your nails to weaken, crack and split easier, more so in the winter because dry air destroys keratin, the protein that keeps them strong and flexible.

Biosculpture have just introduced a new Spa Range of manicure and pedicure products and I have been lucky enough to try them. I have the handcream, Executive Base, Cuticle Oil and Top Coat. However there are quite a few more products within the range and you can go along to your nearest salon to have the products used and manicures start from £25 please visit www.biosculpture.co.uk for further information and to find your nearest salon.

Described as:

Bio Sculpture supports healthy nail care as the treatments nourish and protect the natural nail underneath. An application keeps nails well conditioned throughout use whilst ensuring manicures and pedicures are long lasting and maintenance free. Vitamin Dose and Executive Base, infused with vitamins & essential oils, are products used in the treatment preparation in order to nurture nails and protect nails. No primers or bonders are used that might de-hydrate or damage the natural nail; and unlike other treatments, the natural nail is not buffed prior to application, again ensuring maximum protection is maintained.

The Cuticle Oil which is enriched with Vitamin E, helps to re-hydrate cuticles and it is formulated with Almond Oil, Jojoba Oil and Avocado Oil. This products retails for £5.40.  The brush within this oil makes application so much easier to do and once on the nail bed it feels absolutely lovely and only takes a few minutes to sink in.  If like me you apply a little too much, you can of course rub it into your entire nail for a extra bit of TLC.

Executive Base which is described as being multifunctional strengthening base which compresses the nail keratin to strengthen soft, weak nails.   This product retails for £8.00.  Again the brush within this base coat makes application really easy because the brush fans out across the nail.  Once applied, it takes less than a minute to dry and then you can apply your nail polish.  What I have found by using this is that my nail polish glides onto the nail so much easier.

The final product I have been using is the Top Coat.  I have found that this is a really fast drying top coat which leaves your nails with a lovely gloss finish as you can see from the photos below, I have been wearing Essie Luxedo for the last week and it has yet to chip, so I am really impressed with this top coat.  

I think you can tell that I am really impressed with these nail products, more so given the extra length of time I have been able to wear my favourite Essie nail polish. My nails are less brittle though not quite yet near perfect, but my cuticles do look so much better and are in a far better condition now than before I used the cuticle oil.

For me these are a worthy investment and something I am going to continue to use. Hopefully in a few months time my nails will stop being brittle and weak and become the strong nails they once were.