Nails Of The Day: Flower Power...

I recently created a simple nail look using real dried flowers as a nail accessory and thought I would share it with you. I had to create the look on my toe nails as the area of my finger nails wasn't really big enough for the flowers and I felt it looked silly.

I got the dried flowers from Tmart. Tmart reminds me a lot of Walmart in the USA. I have been there once when I went with my family to Florida in 2008 and looking around Tmart's website, it took me back to looking around a Walmart store, where they have a large variety of different items at inexpensive prices. Tmart is an online marketplace and items are sent from Hong Kong, but they provide worldwide free shipping! I had a lot of fun looking around the website and was pleasantly surprised by their variety of items and their low prices. I would definitely recommend taking a look at what they have to offer.

The real dried flower nail accessories that I have are a 12 piece pack, consisting of 12 different compartments with several different coloured flowers in each:

The dried flowers are gorgeous and just up my street when it comes to nail art. I was a bit gutted that they didn't look right on my finger nails but my nails are quite tiny so I should have expected it really. However, I am happy that I can create cute looks on my toe nails that are going to look fab in the summer when I have my flip flops/sandals on :-). This pack of real dried flowers was just £2.35! I also bought a 1g professional nail glue to help the flowers stick to my nails and this was just £0.62p.

So, onto the look that I created. I decided to go for a glittery base that would sparkle and attract attention to the toes and even more attention to the flower I was going to place on each of my big toe nails. The base colour that I used was Models Own Disco Mix; a majorly sparkly pink and blue colour. Three coats of the polish is required to get the look you will see below:

Then I chose two purple dried flowers to place on the nails of my big toes. I placed a little blob of the nail glue into the centre of the back of each flower just to help it stick and stay for longer.

I hope you like this look and the dried flowers :-). They have plenty of other nail decorations on the Tmart website for really good prices. Some of these include: fruits, animals and hearts.

If you have any similar nail art decorations and have created looks like mine, I would love to see them!

Much Love,

Gem XxOo

Pamper Your Tootsies with Pedi Pro Deluxe...

I wish I could say I look after my feet as much as I do the rest of my body, but I'd be telling a lie! The poor things get neglected when it comes to exfoliating and moisturising. I always paints my toe nails so they look pretty and to be honest I think I've been blessed with nice feet (I can stand to look at my own feet put it that way, I'm not really a huge feet fan!), but I've tried to use pumice stones, foot files and things like that in the past and just not really got on with them which means I have hesitated to use them in a routine. I moisturise them occasionally but not as much as I should. Tut, tut!                                                    

  

Pictures courtesy of JML.

So I want to introduce you to a little product that has become part of my pampering routine and ensures that I look after my feet, giving them a pedicure with minimum effort but maximum results!

Here is a little intro to the product as described on the JML website: 

The Pedi Pro Deluxe is an electronic pedicure treatment that fits snugly in the palm of your hand. The professional system has a high-speed rotating head, with hundreds of ultra fine micro-crystals. The head quickly, but gently, removes dead and hard calloused skin, while exfoliating and rejuvenating your feet.

You won't think twice about pampering your feet if you have this. Before I had this I didn't really think about my feet because like I said I didn't get on with normal pumice stones, foot files etc. I just didn't like them and found it took ages to get any results. I have even used the manual Ped Egg in the past (which was a best seller) but didn't really get on with that either. I think the difference with this one is that it is electronic so basically does the work for you. This could be seen as lazy, but I am sure the majority of you know how much time and effort it can take to use conventional methods to pamper your feet. This takes a few minutes and you can see, aswell as feel the results of soft, smooth skin. Your feet feel wonderful afterwards!

The Pedi Pro Deluxe comes with 1 stainless steel blade to get rid of really hard, dead skin, 1 buffing disc and 6 extra buffing pads to exfoliate the skin and make it baby soft. It also comes with a shaving tray so any hard skin or dust from exfoliating is collected and doesn't go everywhere, so you won't have anything to clean up...bonus! A cleaning brush is also provided, along with a carry pouch for storage. An instruction leaflet is also included so you don't have to worry about how to put it together, how to use it for the first time, change the pads etc.

There are two speed settings. I personally prefer to use the higher setting, just because I have adjusted to using the Pedi Pro Deluxe and find it works better for me rather than the lower setting. I would recommend using the lower speed setting to start with just so you can get a feel for how much pressure you need to use. Like I said before, it requires minimum effort, so you may think you have to grip/hold it really hard and press down hard on your foot. However, you don't have to do this at all. It is hard to explain unless you have used it, but if any of you have one you will know what I mean or if you are going to get one, you will understand what I mean when you start using it. You can hold the Pedi Pro Deluxe lightly and just glide it over your foot and it does an amazing job! That's why I like it so much and it is something I use often to keep on top of looking after my feet, so they stay smooth and soft! When I first used the product, I over estimated how much pressure was required and I pressed it too hard onto my foot and it kind of gave off a sting/burn feeling, so I knew I was pressing too hard. It didn't leave any marks or anything, but I knew I was using the product with too much force.

So, if like me you aren't a fan of conventional pedicure products, I would definitely recommend this! You can buy it from the JML website, Boots or Superdrug (you might be familiar with the little JML stands they have in their stores) and it is just £19.99. The product requires 4 AA batteries and you also have an extra 6 buffing pads. If you run out of those you can buy replacement pads from the JML website; 10 for £2.99, which is really affordable and you can rest assured they are always there to purchase so you can keep using your Pedi Pro Deluxe :-).

Do any of you already have this product?

Much Love,

Gem XxOo

Disclaimer: This product was sent to me for review consideration, but I have been using it for months and thought it was well worth blogging about. As always, my opinions are 100% honest. See disclaimer tab for more information.

zChocolat Easter Box...One Heck of a Treat!

I was lucky enough to be sent an early Easter treat last week...a zChocolat Easter Box. Now when I say this was one heck of a treat, I really mean it and here's why...

zChocolat chocolates are handmade and crafted by world champion French chocolatier Pascal Caffet. Their chocolates are made with all natural ingredients, contain no preservatives, very little sugar, high cocoa content, no alcohol and 100% pure cocoa butter. Pascal also uses the finest ingredients: Valencia almonds from Spain or Piedmont hazelnuts from Italy, the finest French cream and butter and the purest cocoa butter from beans harvested around the world. Their USP is about unveiling a new way of giving chocolate through an original, luxurious and customisable hand-crafted gift. As you can see, the above picture is what welcomed me when I opened the package from zChocolat. My Easter box was nestled inside a gorgeous pull-string, cloth bag that had their logo on the front, aswell as a cute pocket which held two little booklets. One was a personalised message and the other was a little catalogue of photo's and descriptions of all of their chocolates, in English, French and Spanish, along with a short biography of Pascal.

Another USP of theirs is that Pascal Caffet has created 26 French chocolates, numbered from 0-24, plus the Z chocolate. They have more information on their original range of chocolates on their website. I received a special box of chocolates, especially hand-crafted for Easter.

 

My chocolates were encased in their popular keep-sake Zenith box, decorated just for Easter. The basswood box is laser engraved with playful bunnies and butterflies, accompanied by a flower and an Easter egg. Inside the box are two black card boxes, containing the chocolates themselves, with the zChocolat website on the front. There were 36 chocolates in total; 12 pralines in the first layer and 24 fritures (solid chocolate) in the second layer. All of my chocolates were moulded in Easter themed shapes, for example: bunnies, chicks and fish. Excuse the lack of chocolates in the first box (in the picture), these are the pralines and are my definite favourite! The way the Easter box is described on the website, I think one layer is supposed to be egg shaped milk, dark and white pralines, but I didn't have them, so maybe they ran out? However, bare in mind that mine was a sample, so I can't imagine them sending you something you aren't expecting if you are ordering from the website and know what you're ordering. The chocolates sure do bring back memories for me. I used to go to France and Belgium on school trips and always used to buy chocolate to bring back with me from their shops and they taste so similar to these ones, I think it's the quality of the chocolate! They also remind me of the Guylian Belgian chocolates you can find in most supermarkets, you know the ones shaped like sea horses and shells? Just the taste, it's so familiar to me, I absolutely love French/Belgian chocolate!

A few examples of the chocolate shapes.

Inside a praline chocolate.

Inside a solid chocolate.

This box of chocolates alone is £46.62. I know what you're all thinking, that it seems a lot to pay for a box of chocolates? That's exactly what I thought and for me personally, I couldn't justify spending this amount of money on a box of chocolates that would be gone within days. Don't get me wrong, you won't be disappointed by the quality of the chocolates, the customisations, the special touches or the delivery time. Also, you must not forget that the chocolates are hand made, hand crafted by a world champion and that zChocolat have won many awards. There are also no horrible ingredients in these chocolates and the finest ingredients are used. So you can kind of see where they get their pricing from. However, this is before customisation. To include a personal message and card is free, but to add a personal engraving (see below picture), wrapping paper, a heart lock, accessories, or a concierge service will cost you more and then you have to add delivery on top. Prices for these depend on what you choose in each category, but the check out process is really straight forward and everything is set out clearly for you to choose from.

The chocolates are shipped from Aix-en-Provence in France where they are hand made and zChocolat ship worldwide! Mine didn't take long to arrive at all and arrived in mint condition. Now, I don't want to put you off checking out the website full stop because of the price of my box of chocolates. Their range of chocolates start from £16.17, which I feel is a little bit more affordable as a gift or even if you want to treat yourself and there is no denying that their chocolates are luxurious and tasty! They have been making their way around my household pretty quickly. I had to stop people from eating them before I took pictures for my post, ha!

So anyone out there that wants to treat their loved one, a family member or a friend to a bespoke gift of chocolates, then I would say this is definitely an option and the receiver will not be disappointed, I know I wasn't!

Happy Easter!

Much Love,

Gem XxOo

Disclaimer: PR sample. Please see my disclaimer tab.