Cheese Chase 3 in 1 Cat Toy - Best Investment I have made LOL

I had to write to a blog about this fab cat toy as it so improved my cats behaviour problems.

Last year we acquired our 2nd cat after my dad's girlfriend cat had a litter last May. Being a boy, Tom is much more of an active cat than my other female cat when she was a kitten. Living in flat on the second floor doesn't give him much space to explore and run around and after having months of our cats going crazy, I have finally found something to keep them a little more occupied and entertained.

The Cheese Chase 3 in 1 Cat Toy.

The Cheese Chase 3-in-1 Cat Toy by Petstages is three fun activities for three times the playing pleasure for your cat.

1. The outer blue translucent ball track offers hours of chasing fun for your cat;
2.  The yellow middle part is supposed to look like a Swiss Cheese centre offering a challenge and interest with another ball to chase;
3. On top in the centre is a plush catnip filled mouse on spring for frenzied play times.

I intended this when buying the toy for Tom as he loves getting his nose and paws down anything that has holes or a gap and is a very curious cat. Tabitha whom is 5 is a very relaxed cat and really didn't think she would take interest in this. However, despite Tom totally ignoring the catnip filled mouse, Tabitha loves it and visa-versa, Tom loves the balls, Tabitha on the other hand isn't too interested in them.
Tom has also got quite protective over the toy.

When I brought this, both the cats were playing with it for nearly an hour before they stopped, and continued to play it on and off though out the rest of the day. Each day since than, both the cats have been much less crazy running around and enjoying playing with this fab toy instead for hours on end.

I would shop around though - as prices do differ. I got this from Pets @ Home for £13. However, check on Ebay and Amazon.

Update on WildAboutBeauty Nutri Lash Mascara

I thought you would be interested in an update on the review I did last month regards to the new beauty brand Wild About Beauty and their Nutri Lash Mascara.

I have used the product now everyday since I got the product just over a month ago and have had amazing results in growth/fullness of my lashes.

I have long lashes naturally but one eye ( my right side ) has started to look less full, lacking in lashes than the other side and was quite noticeable when using mascara.

When I read the mascara had algae in it, with my background in a skincare brand that uses different types of algae, I knew Wild About Beauty Nutri Lash mascara would help with my problem lashes. The algae they use states that it helps to increase lash length and density. And I got to say it does work!!

The mascara doesn't clump either! Like i said i have used it everyday for nearly 4 weeks now and it still as good as new. Its is also very good at building a few layers to thinken lashes if wanting more of a dramatic look in the evening from day time.

Wild About Beauty - My New Favorite MakeUp Brand!

It has been a little while since I blogged about make up, having focused on skincare for some time. Having spent a little thought on what I wanted to blog about, I decided it be a fabulous opportunity to write and review on a totally new makeup brand - Wild About Beauty.

One reason in particular why I wanted to write about Wild About Beauty, is that as you know, I don't like using products with certain ingredients in - one being Parabens. I wanted to write about a makeup brand that was natural and not full of nasties which a lot of self selection makeup and some premium brands are made of.
I had heard about this brand before it got launched around late autumn, as being in the industry myself, but with counters in selected Debenhams and House of Fraser stores exclusively at present, there maybe still alot of people who haven't stumbled across this brand.

Who and What is Wild About Beauty?

Wild About Beauty is the skin-loving cosmetics brand co-founded by Louise Redknapp and International Makeup Artist, Kim Jacob. Combing their mutual look on fashion, beauty and lifestyle, with Kim's in-depth knowledge on product development, Wild About Beauty was born, taking a fresh approach to cosmetics, providing high quality preforming make up whilst never compromising on ingredients.

Appealing to today's modern women, their Paraben Free collection of core makeup essentials are packed full with nourishing, beneficial ingredients including Winter Cherry Extract, German Chamomile and Organic Rose Water that work in harmony to enrich and care for your skin.
A beautiful range consisting of wearable shades and textures that go from day to evening look, that enhances effortlessly natural beauty.

So after speaking with a few people within the company, they sent me a lovely collection of products to test and review for them.

Nutrilash Nourishing Mascara in Jack Black - naturally promotes stronger, thicker lashes. Packed full of naturally derived active ingredients, this mascara not only adds volume and definition, it also conditions lashes and enhances growth.

This mascara uses a product which I totally love using on my skin - a Marine Algae Extract that works as a treatment to increase lash length and density (Marine Algaes have amazing properties in their natural habitat which work on your skin too, and gives you amazing long lasting results).  Cotton Bloom and Grape Seed Extract are used to protect and strengthen your lashes, whilst Quackgrass keeps them packed with moisture and looking luscious.
The price is fantastic too at just £18!, and I will certainly be buying this when this runs out.

Eyeshadows consist of : Jody, Rowan and Eve - are highly pigmented, satin textured Powder Eyeshadows in a selection of 12
easy-to-wear neutral shades that will suit all skin tones.
The creamy shadows are enriched with skin conditioning Aloe Vera and Vitamins E and C, which makes these highly pigmented shadows glide on and blend easily, ideal for achieving a multitude of looks.
The shadows are gorgeous on the eye, very smooth and creamy when on the eye. Again I feel in love with these. Great for blending and creating a look for day to night.
The price is reasonable too, at just £14.

Below are some pictures I tried to take of my self of the look I created, a smokey eye look.
 I applied the lighter shade as a base all over first which was Eva, than applied Rowan from the middle of my eye to the outer and the lid crease. I applied Jody as a liner on the lash line top and bottom. Finishing off with the mascara

 I loved how the colours blended well and the shimmer they gave. I will certainly be buying the some more as I love to use pink and purples on my eyes too to bring out the green in them. However these colours will be great to wear for my work as they are natural looking.

There website has a section on how to create different looks with there products.
http://wildaboutbeauty.com/get-the-look

I just love the everything about the packaging and presentation of the products. The eyeshadows have the honey bees imprinted in them, and the mascara and boxes have different wildlife on them, which gives you an insight of what the products are all about.

My nearest counter is Debenhams Milton Keynes so I will be definitely going in to the girls on counter and have a good look at the other products.

For more information visit:
www.wildaboutbeauty.com
www.debenahams.com
www.houseoffraser.co.uk

Biotherm's Blue Therapy Eye

Previously I wrote about Biotherm's Blue Therapy Serum, and I am so happy the expertise of this amazing formula has been brought to the eye zone. ( see Blue Therapy Serum post here -Blue Therapy Serum Post)

Blue Therapy Eye combines the aquatic -orgin of trio ( Extracts of Pure Thermal Plankton, Macro-Algae L.Ochroleuca and Micro-Algae A.Flos-aquae. with a blend of four ultra perfromant eye association, Flavonoid, Amino acid and 2 Peptides.
Together this fantastic formula helps reduce the appearance of dark circles by favouring the elimination of pigments, darkness is visibly faded, skin looks more plumped, smoother and more radiant and signs of ageing are also visibly repaired.

The texture of the formula is amazing too. It looks like a rich cream, but as you put it on your fingers, it melts like water on to the skin, and is incredibly light weight. Which is a trade mark for biotherm as you will find majority of their advanced skincare is incredibly light weight but very powerful.

Blue Therapy Eye, is more than just an ordinary eye cream, it is applied to the extended eye contour too. Applying it on the upper cheeks, the middle of your forehead ( the bit between your eyebrows ) and the side of each of eye.
A simple application technique is used to help target wrinkles, firmness and darkness by a 3 step application ritual;
3-step application ritual :
1. WRINKLE ACTION: “waves movement” - palpate-roll on wrinkles to smooth
2. DARK SPOT ACTION: “bubble movement” - pinch dark spot to reboost micro-circulation
3. FIRMING ACTION: “crab movement” - circular movement to replump the skin.

 I have used this for 5 days now, and already i have seen my eye area smoother, more radiant and brighter. I don't suffer from bags but i have the typical shadow as i call it, under the eye area ( where the eye area is thinner than the face, the appearance of the blood vessels can appear though ), the appearance of this has been a big improvement!

Blue Therapy eye is available instore now, 15ml size pot RRP £32.

For more information you can visit the following pages

Biotherm - Boots Milton Keynes FB Page
Biotherm Official FB Page
www.biotherm.co.uk

The VeilTattooChallenge #veiltattoochallenge

As some retailers start clamping down on employees covering up tattoos, I was in need to find a good camouflage makeup to hide some of visible tats. I first tried on recommendation the Estee Lauder Double Wear ( the one in the blue tube ). I however, as good as it was for staying on, my natural skin tone was too pale for even their lightest shades and so it would look either too pink or too orange/tanned and so noticeable regards to showing I was covering something up.

As this was so not acceptable, and I really didn't want to have to plasters on ( Yes, employers ask you to cover up your tattoos with plasters, no matter how small or big they are. Which totally defeats the whole camouflage/covering them up as the plasters make it so more visible and hideous. )

So searching on the web, I came across the company Veil - Cosmetic Camouflage, who was at the time doing a veil tattoo challenge. I contacted the company to ask if I could please take part as in need to find a good camouflage makeup for work, but also as a blogger I thought it would also be a great PR coverage for them too.

So a few days later, my sample pack arrived.

In the sample kit I got 8 different shades of cover up creams and the translucent finishing powder.

As a beauty professional, I already knew how to apply the products. Although I found it easier to use the white than the green first on my tattoo. There is a video on how to apply the products if you are not sure how to apply the products to get the perfect camouflage.
The way I did, which is the same in the video ( except I used white, they used green as the base ).

1. First make sure the skin is clean and dry.

2. Apply the base colour - depending on the colour tattoo you may use either white or green or both.
This is done with a patting motion with either a sponge or finger. I used a small concealer brush.

3. Once you apply a layer of the base colour, dust the area with the translucent finishing powder using patting motion again. If you have a powder brush or puff would be good.

4. I than applied the final colour - which for myself was suede. Again using a patting motion apply to over the base colour and start to merge with skin around the tattoo. Once you have it camouflaged dust with the finishing powder.

As you can see, the final result is amazing.

I have attached the video on how they applied the product. Practise makes perfect, so if you don't first get the results you want, try again, maybe use another colour or less product. The key is using very little, that way you get a very natural finish and look ( and not cakey ).

There are two kits you can buy - a light to medium kit or medium to dark kit, containing all you need to camouflage your tattoo for just a special price at the moment of £28 ( RRP is £34.97 )
www.veilcovercream.com

Biotherms New Serum - Blue Therapy

You may remember me writing a blog over a year ago on a product by Biotherm, Skin Energetic. Biotherm has once again launch another fabulous serum - Blue Therapy.

If you are not aware of the brand, Biotherm are an advanced skincare brand in marine aquatics. Founded in 1952, they have been pioneering skincare inspired by the powers of the earths living waters to create skincare solutions that work in affinity with your skin. Experts in biotechnology, they infuse efficient aquatic extracts in fresh, pleasurable textures to make skin more healthier, stronger and radiant.

Blue Therapy is a serum that  definitely shows how marine aquatics work in harmony with your skin. Infusing 3 powerful aquatic ingredients;
L. Ochroleuca, a golden algae from the Celtic Ocean ( Restructuring and Firming )
A. Flos Aquae, a blue algae from Klamath Lake U.S.A ( Regenerating )
Thermal Plankton from the Hot Springs in France ( Regenerating and Soothing )
They work in perfect synergy to smooth the appearance of wrinkles, reduce dark spots and restore the firmness of the skin.

Clinical results have shown results in 4 weeks, and that the serum could repair up to 8 years worth of accumulated visible damage, from the environment, stress or UV.  This is called "the mask of damage" to which 80% of ageing is accounted for and can be repaired. Only 20% of ageing is inevitable and caused by genes.

The Blue Therapy serum has a opalescence like look, with the golden algae showing though the white concentrated elixir. The smell is also Divine, and I find it rather addictive ( can't stop smelling it ). The smell is the natural aquatic, floral scent, " a life scent".

When I first used this I could feel the firming affect the serum has straight away on my jaw line and cheeks, and a little on the fore head. It almost felt as if I was having a facelift, which was pleasant. I have now used this every day and night for 2 weeks, and so the firming action has faded ( this is mostly properly because I had a little lack of firmness in those areas which have now been corrected ).
I also had what I thought was hormonal spots on my neck/jawline for months and couldn't seem to get rid, but now have totally disappeared! Although I have just hit my 30's, and to be honest, I have been very lucky ( plus been using ageing products for years ) have had hardly any lines to correct. However, were I had lost some firmness on my forehead as I mentioned early, I have noticed my skin is tighter and therefore the line that there from the sagging has gone. My skin tone has actually improved alot too.
I would recommend this to anyone who is a sun worshipper, or sunbedholic, anyone with a lack of firmness, anyone who suffers from dark spots or pigmentation. I would also say this be a great base for those with any of the above and first signs of ageing.

The serum is available in 2 sizes - 30ml @ £38 and 50ml @ £52
A day cream with an SPF15 ( a UVB filter) and a PPD 10 in the normal/combi PPD13 in dry (a  UVA filter ) is also available from £45
Biotherm are in selective Boots Stores around the UK.

For more info on Biotherm and their product range, Including Men's visit:

http://www.biotherm.co.uk

Brevity Beauty - A quick yet effective cleansing system.

So who are Brevity Beauty?  It was only a couple of weeks ago I had heard of them, and via twitter!
They had contacted regards to trying out their 3 step cleansing system, and as I love trying new products especially beauty products, you can imagine I jumped at the chance in doing so.

I am not sure when the company was founded by Sue Jones but the background into the products and name of the company is a wonderful story - with Japanese connections and Shakespare ( Brevity Beauty - History and Philosophy
The Shakespare part is the the word Brevity, derived from Polonius’ speech in Hamlet where he stated “Brevity is the soul of wit” . Brevity Beauty's ethos is “Brevity is the soul of beauty”. Brevity means brief, quick and certianly their regime is breif and quick. Which for some of us with busy lifestyles will love without having to compromise on quality and effective skincare regime.

Ok, so what is in the products that makes it so effective yet quick? - Marine Collagen! combined with licorice, geranium and Hyaluronic acid which are all renowned for helping reduce fine lines and wrinkles, diminishing pigmentation spots and firming the skin.

The 3 Step System:
1) The Cleansing Lotion
2) The Conditioning Bar and Lather Net ( unique and fun to use )
3)The All in One Moisturising Gel

When I received this, I was wondering what the net was for, and it this that makes their 3 step rather unique and fun to use. However, I will explain usage in a second.
The Brevity 3 Step uses a double cleansing system and a combined toner/moisturiser. The cleansing lotion removes any makeup  efficiently and effectively. Apply this to your hands and massage into the skin, than cleanse away with water. You than place the cleansing bar into the net, wet with some warm water and rub the net between your palms to create a foam. Take the bar out, and squeeze the net with one hand from top to bottom to remove the foam onto your hands and massage foam onto face ( do not use the net on the face ). Then just rinse with water and pat dry.  I found my skin beautifully squeaky clean - but not drying like soaps can be. It felt gentle but definitely effective.
Once you pat dry, apply the moisturising gel all over face and neck. The texture of the gel was lovely and my face felt moisturised afterwards.
I have placed the video of how to use the products, as it is best seen!

I have used it for 4 days now, and I haven't any problems with it. My skin has felt really clean, soft and moisturised after using the products. I also liked the fact it was quick, all 3 steps took less than 5 Min's to do, and as mother, and I work full time too, a regime like this is great.
As someone who works in the beauty industry, I know you really need a good 4 weeks to see real improvements on your skin, although some results like I have mentioned are seen instantly, for results on wrinkles, lines, tone of skin etc you would need at least 4 weeks. I would recommend using the products, as they have felt really comfortable on my skin and would continue to use to see the longer term results.
Price wise, I feel they are very reasonable, falling in the same category to other premium brands that offer similar products in terms of marine, or anti ageing.

I believe as I write this, Brevity Beauty are still offering samples out to try their skincare - if you follow them on Facebook or Twitter.