My skin care must haves......

Now that I'm not restricted to just talking about nails (yay!) I thought I would share my skincare must haves with you.

I have the weirdest skin EVER! Its mainly combination but with more oily parts than not however, there are parts of my face that are unbelievably dry and then there are the dehydration lines around my eyes. This makes for a tricky situation when trying to find the right skincare for my needs however, I think I may have my have found my perfect combination of products (FINALLY!)....

 

Soap and Glory Peaches & Clean

Peaches and Clean - £7 Boots

 



This stuff is AMAZING. I love Soap and Glory body products and hadn't tried its skincare range until I received this in a Christmas present and I haven't looked back. Peaches and Clean is a 4-in-1 wash off milk that is formulated for those with combination to oily skin and contains lots of lovely ingredients including jojoba oil and peach extract - it smells divine!! I use this to take my make up off at the end of the day and I make sure that I really massage it into my skin before washing it off with warm water and a face cloth (I use a muslin cloth as it gently exfoliates the skin as well). Be careful not to get this into your eyes though OUCH!! I've not had to replace mine since Christmas and I use it everyday so a little goes far so I think for the price, its really good value.

Lancome Bi-Facil Eye Makeup Remover

Bi-Facil - £21 Lancome

 

I got this with another Christmas gift which also contained a mascara and eye liner. I did used to use just a cheap Loreal eye makeup remover however since using this I am converted! Like all Lancome products, it has a really fresh and clean smell. It comes in two parts so you have to shake the bottle really well to make sure the oil is mixed in, I then apply it with a cotton wool pad. It really does get rid of every scrap of makeup and mascara, you can also use it on the lips and in my eyes passes the red lippy test as it doesn't leave any residue at all. £21 may sound a little much for what it is however I'm sold, once my little version has run out I will be re-purchasing.

Eau Thermale Avene Cleanance Toner

Eau Thermale Cleanance Toner - £8.75 Boots

 

 

I come across this by accident when reading the #bbloggers chat on Twitter and I'm so glad I did. Eau Thermale Avene is a brand that had always intrigued me so I decided to take advantage of the 3-for-2 Boots offer a few months ago and added this into my purchase. Its a Toner that purifies oily skin that contains matifying powders that you have to shake up in the bottle to mix it with the lotion that are there to mop up any excess oil from the face. Applied with a cotton wool pad to the t-zone or in my case all over my face, it is the only toner I have used so far that really feels like it has matifyed my face without leaving it dry and stiff, the lotion actually feels really refreshing and used alongside the Cleanance moisturiser, it really does keep your skin shine free for most of the day.

Eau Thermale Avene Thermal Spring Water



Eau Thermale Avene Thermal Spring Water - £6.50 Boots

 

My friend swears by this product and pushed me into buying it when I was purchasing my Cleanance products. I really really didn't want to buy it as on the face of it, its just spring water in a can. Well I don't like to admit when I'm wrong but on this occasion I was! Even though I didn't feel the need for it seeing as I already use a toner, you apply this to your face in-between toner and moisturiser. Spritz the face then leave it for a few minutes (I brush my teeth whilst waiting for it to dry) and pat any residue with a tissue. This not only refreshes the skin, it also calms down any redness and it gives your skin a glow without making it look oily. You can also use this to set your makeup although I haven't used it for this purpose yet. The mist is really fine and the spray covers the whole face so you don't over use it. I bought the 50ml bottle for around £3 with the next size up costing £6.50 - there is an even larger version available for £10. I can imagine this being really lovely to use in the Summer (if we ever get a Summer!) as its really cooling and refreshing. If you are unsure about whether to try it then make like I did and buy the 50ml bottle first.

 

Eau Thermale Avene Cleanance Emulsion

Cleanance Emulsion - £10.50 Boots



 

As my final part of my Boots 3-for-2 binge I bought the Eau Thermale Cleanance moisturiser, or Emulsion as it says on the tube. Again this is for oily, blemish prone skin and can be used in the morning and at night - this suits me perfectly as I'm still on the fence when it comes to night creams. This is a lovely and light moisturiser that doesn't leave me feeling that my skin is clogged up but, it also acts as a great base for my makeup and moisturises my dry areas really well. Even though I really like this I think the fact that its £10.50 for just a 40ml tube is making me think about whether or not I will repurchase when I run out. For the price, I would expect a little more product.

 

St Ives Daily Microdermabrasion 

St Ives Daily Microdermabrasion - £4.99 Boots



 

Even though my skin is more on the oily side, I do suffer from dry patches especially on the bridge of my nose. I love love LOVE St Ives scrubs and I usually use the blemish fighting version however I was intrigued by the daily microdermabrasion. This is more of a gel consitancy compared to other scrubs from St Ives and its also a lot finer as you are able to use it daily. I'm still undecided about it, I would never scrub my face daily as it would play havoc with it and make it constantly oily. However it does leave the skin lovely and soft when used but I think I might revert back to the blemish fighting scrub when I am done with this, I think its because I like the feel of a more grainer scrub rather than a gel.

 

Elemis Fruit Active Rejuvenating Mask

Fruit Active Rejuvenating Mask - £28 Elemis

 

This is my all time favourite mask... EVER! My skin can look quite dull at times and even though I should use a purifying mask, they just leave my skin looking and feeling really tight. I need something that is going to give me a little bit of a glow and this is it! Its £28 which is expensive but as with most higher end products, a little goes a long way. It contains extracts of Kiwi and Strawberry fruit which deep cleanses the skin and is designed to lift the tone of your complexion. I usually use this once a week whilst lounging in the bath and I leave it on for about 20 minutes before wiping off with a hot damp cloth. Its my little bit of luxury and I always receive comments on my skin after I have used it as it seems to make my make up sit really nicely on my skin. Its for this reason that I make sure I use this before getting ready for a big night out!

 

Dermalogica Multivitamin Power Firm for Eyes and Lips

Multivitamin Power Firm - £37.10 Dermalogica

 

Ok, so I don't normally spend nearly £40 on something that is just 15ml HOWEVER this little power potion is my secret weapon! Since hitting the big 3-0 I have become more aware of the need to introduce anti-aging products into my skincare routine. I can't use anti-aging cleansers and moisturisers as they are way too rich for my skin however, I like to think I am blessed with good genes (thanks Mum!) as I don't have any deep wrinkles but the skin around my eyes does have fine lines. I discovered this after having a Dermalogica facial and loved the smell of it - it smells like sweets! When I asked the therapist what it was she said it was this. It is jam packed full of vitamins and is used to combat those little dehydration lines you can get around your eyes and lips. You apply just a TINY amount with your ring finger around your eyes and in a really weird way you can feel it working even though it doesn't tingle on the skin. Makeup sits really well on it and I think it makes my eyes look a lot brighter. One tube of this will last you around 9 months so even though the initial outlay is a lot, you will get a lot of use out of it. I cannot praise it enough!

 

I hope you have liked my little breakdown of the products I love at the moment.  What are your must have skincare products?

 

x



 

Embrace the change.......

I've been a naughty blogger these past couple of weeks, work has gotten in the way however that is NO excuse so my Easter revolution is to be a good blogger. After all, there are no excuses now that I have discovered that you can schedule posts!

I also decided to change the angle of my blog slightly, I love all things beauty not just nails and I found that when planning blog posts that a lot of what I wanted to write was about beauty as a whole so this  has prompted me to change my blog name to Smash Beauty!

I hope you like the new name (not really that different from the last name) and I hope you will forgive me for being a bad blogger so far :) x

This weeks nails...

My best friends 30th was this weekend hence why I'm suffering a massive hangover today :(.

I decided to have a play with some of my new nail art goodies and I really love the result. The glitter I have used is chunkier than usual however I like the effect. I think the next time I use it I'll apply the glitter shapes one by one or so to give it a more even smooth effect. The silver studs I'm loving at the moment so I decided to wear one on each ring finger. The colour is Gelish Bella's Vampire which is my go to dark colour it's almost identical to OPI Lincoln Park After Dark.

Hope you like the look x

Suntana tan review.......

Like most girls I am a huge spray tan fan especially this time of year when it's still cold and the lack of sun doesn't do anything for my already pale skin!

I've been using spray tans professionally for around a year or so now and I've stuck to one brand - I'm not going to say which as I don't believe in talking down a brand. Lets just say they are a customer services nightmare and we'll leave it at that!

I'm an avid reader and poster of Salon Geek so when I decided to switch tanning brands it was go to place to get opinions and insight into what tans other beauty therapists were using.

Suntana was a brand that popped up over and over again. Now, before looking into different tans I had only heard of the main big names like Xen Tan, Sienna X, Fake Bake etc however there were rave reviews about Suntana. Not just because of their amazing customer service but because of the product as well.

When I got in touch with them for some samples they were more than happy to send me some free of charge, not only that but they turned up the next day - 4 really good sized sample bottles for me to try.

Light (coconut), medium (cherry), dark (chocolate) and after dark (blackberry). As you can guess each shade has its own fragrance which I was really excited to smell and they smell divine! I was intrigued to see if this fragrance was the same on the skin as it was in the bottle.

 

The hard decision was to decide on which shade to use. I settled for medium as I needed more colour than usual for a birthday party I was going to. The dark and after dark versions I think will be too dark for my skin however I have guinea pigs lined up to try.

I set up my spray gun and a good friend of mine was ready to spray until a disaster happened - my spray gun died!!! Mortified is not the word and I'm currently saving for a new one to get as soon as possible! All was not lost though as the solution could be applied by using a tanning mitt. This isn't something I have come across before with spray tan solutions but I thought I would give it a go. Silly me forgot that the solution is a liquid so I spilt some over my newly tiled floor ooops! However once I got used to pouring a bit onto my tanning mitt I was away.

Before Application

 

I had to work quickly as this is one fast drying tan however it applied like a dream and was super easy to blend in. The smell was divine! Even my boyfriend commented that he liked the smell which was different from the usual 'eurgh you stink of digestives!!' The thing I liked most about the tan after application was the glow it gave to my skin, it made it look really healthy and my skin was really soft as well.

I slept in it over night and showered it off the next morning and I must say I was VERY impressed with the colour. I was a little scared that because I didn't spray it on it would look different but it looked amazing. No more pale skin and no horrid fake tan smell.

After

 

Overall I'm super happy with Suntana and I cannot wait to try the other shades out. I'm going to try the light tan next as I think this would look lovely as an everyday tan. As soon as I'm able to fund a new gun I will use the darker shades on my friends.

Suntana also offer a mousse solution which is super cheap at £3.99 for a 200ml bottle. They also offer a rapid tan which I'm excited to get my hands on - this means you can tan in as little as 1 hour which is fab if you have a last minute night out planned.

As with all brands of tan you need to make sure that you get your prep right and that you keep your body moisturised so the tan fades evenly. Below are my top tanning tips:

• Exfoliate, exfoliate, exfoliate!! Scrub away dead skin in all of the areas that are driest like elbows, knees, ankles and wrists. Make sure that you use an oil free exfoliator - using oil based products will mean that any oils will sit on top of the skin which can make false tan look patchy.
• Moisturise, moisturise, moisturise!!! Again using an oil free moisturiser, go over your driest areas and make sure that you really work it in to your hands- this will ensure that you don't have the orange hand look sported by many a TOWIE cast member!
• Make sure that if you need to shave or wax that this is done at least 24 hours before the application of your tan.
• When washing off don't use a shower gel or oil. This can strip the tan leaving you back at square one.
• Exfoliate and moisturise regularly to keep the skin soft and to ensure fade off is even. This also creates a perfect base for you to re-apply your tan.

Lazy weekend nails..........

Well I' ve had a lovely chilled out weekend, after a busy week in work and a busy one ahead, it was well deserved.

I've been lazy with my nails this weekend, I was fully prepared to break out the scotch tape and do some amazing nail art but Sunday has got to me and I'm in full on lazy mode :)

This hasn't stopped me from painting my nails though and seeing as its officially spring I've painted my nails in one of my favourite peach colours - Peach Melba by Barry M with a gold glitter accent nail.

I will add some nail art later today I think and I will post again when finished but at the moment I'm quite happy all cuddled up watching old episodes of Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

Happy Sunday everyone! x

The first post............

Welcome to my new blog! This is where you will find my musings on all things nails and beauty. I have been thinking about this first post and decided that I will give you a starter for ten just so you can get to know me a little better........

1. My full time job is working as a PR Officer for a very well known financial services brand - I won't name names as my day job very important to me and is completely separate from my nail business.

2. When I've spent the day as a PR girl I run a mobile nail business called The Nail Room by Kate covering in and around the Chester area. I am fully qualified to offer the increasingly popular Gelish. I did used to offer CND Shellac but once you try Gelish you never go back!

3. I'm now branching out into nail art under my Smash Nails brand and I use only the best polishes - my favourite brands are Models Own and OPI, although I am partial to a bit of Chanel. I'm hoping to take nail art to the masses in Chester and beyond!!!

4. I'm setting up my own Etsy store selling pre-designed and bespoke nail tips, this should be live soon and you will be the first to know when it is!

5. I have the best fiancé in the world and we are getting married next October. I'm trying my best not to turn into a complete bridezilla but I'm failing miserably!

6. I own a beautiful Beagle puppy called Bow who is full of attitude, you would swear she was a human being!

7. I am addicted to neon nails, glitter and nail studs!

8. My favourite nail art is leopard print.

9. I'm a massive Liverpool fan!

10. I have an unhealthy addiction to shopping - mainly in Zara, H&M and Topshop. I also have a serious addiction to Chlobo jewellery!

There you have it, my starter for ten. I hope you can keep up with me and my ramblings. I will be posting a lot of my designs on here too. Please follow me on Twitter - @smashnails and you can also follow me on Instagram - SmashNails.

Let the fun begin!!! x