Black Opal Effect Mani!

Inspired by the wonderful manicures produced by the TraceFace Philes, in particular this post I decided to do a holographic strip over dark polish manicure.  I wasn't sure which strip polish to use but then remembered I'd picked up a lovely NYX polish in Purple Ave during my last trip to the Outlet village!  Although it looked lovely in the bottle, when I applied it over a pale colour it just didn't look as good.  But I think over a black polish it is absolutely stunning!


I applied 2 coats of a black polish I had to hand (in this instance a Rimmel black) and then a coat of Seche Vite to seal the colour.  I then applied 2 coats of the NYX followed by another coat of Seche Vite to give it real gloss and this is the result:

The polish on my pinky was a trial of another glitter polish!

It's really hard to convey properly in photographs (especially as I'm rubbish at taking them!) but the holographic particles catch the light beautifully and reflect different colours.  It really does give the effect of a black opal.  The NYX polish is similar to a bar glitter polish but the shapes are random which I think gives a great effect.  I can't stop admiring it and moving my fingers around to catch the light in different ways.

I think this is one of my favourite manis to date, but I'm tempted to take a leaf out of Tracy's book and top this off with a crackle polish, just to see how it works.  If I do, I'll let you know!

GALAXY Traditional Style Hot Chocolate

If there is one luxury in life I need, it's hot chocolate!  There is nothing like a comforting silky hot chocolate drink with squirty cream and marshmallows (or a flake.  Or both!  I've even had one with maltesers!)  It's my treat when I take the kids to a soft play centre, if I can fight them off the marshmallows and the chocolate!  It's my treat when I've had a stressful day, or been out throwing snowballs at the kids.  I mean building snowmen.  Anyway, you get the picture.  It's my go-to comforter and warmer upper!


So I really didn't need to be asked twice to review Galaxy's new Traditional Style Hot Chocolate!

This is a new product, which you make with milk instead of hot water.  I usually use instant hot chocolate, but these can be a bit thin.  I heated up some milk in a saucepan, tho I could have easily have popped a cup of milk in the microwave.  When it was close to boiling I poured the milk in the cup and added 4 heaped teaspoons of the hot chocolate powder, which resembled instant coffee granules, and stirred.  I know you don't really need telling how to make hot chocolate with milk instead of water but I just wanted to show how easy it was to heat up the milk and that it didn't really take any more time than boiling the kettle.  The granules dissolved instantly, something that I find a problem with instant hot chocolates.


OH MY GOODNESS THE TASTE!!!  You know those simply divine luxury hot chocolate drinks that you sometimes come across?  That's what it tasted like, rich, creamy, just the right level of sweetness and chocolatelyness!  I used 1% milk and was surprised at just how creamy and smooth the drink was with such a low fat milk, but you could just as easily use semi skimmed or full cream if you preferred an even creamier taste.


The RRP is £2.99 for a 300g tub.  So it's not going to make your cheapest cup of hot chocolate.  However, I'd keep this in the cupboard for those days when nothing but a bit of velvety luxury will do!!!


Galaxy are also doing a great promotion for charity at the moment.  Head to http://www.hotgalaxywarmheart.com/ and just by a single click you can help one of the two charities Galaxy is supporting, at no cost to you.


I was sent this product for the purpose of this review but the opinions expressed within this post are my own.

Would you like a bag with that?

Last week a new law came into effect here in Wales.   No longer can free bags be given when you make a purchase.  If you want a bag you have to pay at least 5p, usually with the proceeds going to charity.


In principle, I'm in favour.  They've been doing it on the Continent for years!!  That's why shops like Aldi and Lidl don't provide free bags.  It encourages you to reuse your shopping bags - providing you can remember them!  However, British bureaucracy being what it is, it just couldn't be that simple, could it?


Firstly, it's only in Wales.  That's great if you live in the middle of Wales.  If you live on the borders like I do, then you have to remember which country you are in when you go shopping!


Secondly, someone decided to make the law really complicated.  Semi packed foods can be sold in a bag.  However, you add a packaged food to that bag, you have to pay for it.  This means that when you go to McDonalds, you can have your fries in a free bag (they count as semi packaged).  You add a cheeseburger to that bag and you have to pay!


Thirdly, we now don't get green clubcard points when we shop at Tesco :(


So while I quite agree in cutting down the use of plastic bags, I do feel that it could have been put into practice in a better way.