Product review - The Body Shop Nutriganics Moisturisers

I am always on the search for products that make my skin look and feel great but one product that I always seem to stuggle with is Moisturiser!

Well that is no longer a problem! I recently popped in to The Body Shop to get some eye make-up remover and saw the Nutriganics range.  This range has been created to be used with the first signs of aging. Its an organic range which promises to reduces fine lines and wrinkles!

I didn't pick up these products for the anti ageing qualities but purely for the fact that it felt like it was going to leave my skin feeling really hydrated when I tried it on the back of my hand!

 I bought the trial size tubes of the Day and Night Smoothing Creams which come in 15ml and cost £5/6.00, you can buy full size 50ml tubes costing £13/15.00.

 The Smoothing Day Cream

Soothing Night Cream

I have been using these moisturisers now for a little while and can honestly say I am so happy with them, I have finished the trial sizes and re-purchased the full size tubes. My skin feels so soft and is completely hydrated. There are other items in the Nutriganics range that are on my list of must tries so watch this space!

Have you tried the Nutriganics range? What did you think?

Stay Gorgeous

Grace xoxo

Base coats & Top coats......Necessity?

This is an age old question, do I have to use a base coat and top coat?

The idea of using a base coat is that it will put a protective layer between the nail and the varnish, it should stop the varnish staining the nail plate and it will also give the varnish something to grip to.
Base coats can also be used to treat the nails, if you have dry, peeling, brittle nails there will be a treatment base coat for you.

Using a top coat will always give you a great shine to the finish of your varnish, it will also help to seal the varnish to the nail and make your manicure last longer.

No top coat can promise a guaranteed two week manicure as it comes down to how heavy handed you are with your nails! My mum for instance can keep nail varnish on for up to two weeks, me on the other hand (excuse the pun) can manage about three days!

I use OPI products and have done for the past eight years, professionally and personally I love their products and although I do try others I always end up going back to the good old Nail Envy base coat and the OPI quick dry top coat.

So to answer the question....Well no you don't have to but it will make a huge difference if you do!

What are your favourite Base coats and Top coats?

Stay Gorgeous

Grace xoxo

bespo'ke male grooming company

bespo'ke male grooming are a Bristol based Men's salon. I used to work with them at their original salon but recently they have opened a second salon and asked me to be involved when they were doing a photo shoot to create some new images for promotion and advertising!

I thought I would share some of the final images with you all!

You can find out more information about bespo'ke male grooming here. 

Womens Hair by Jack Britten

Mens Hair by Daniel Rymer

Make Up by Me

Stay Gorgeous

Grace xoxo

The Powder Room at Glastonbury

Tomorrow I will be heading to Glastonbury to work with an awesome team of people as part of The Powder Room!

Offering festival goers the chance to camp in style with luxury toilets and showers, a bar and cafe and a pampering area. That is where I will be working helping people to stay gorgeous with Hair styling, Festival make up and nail artistry!

No longer does going to a festival mean you have to slum it!

Check out the Powder Room here to find out more about what we will be offering!

Are you going to Glasto? Come by and say hi!

Stay Gorgeous

Grace xoxo

The InStyler

I recently got to try out The InStyler through Bid TV, an amazing hair multi-tool. It is a straightener, curler and hot brush all in one!

The InStyler was originally designed by two celebrity hair stylists who wanted to find a styling tool that could replace all their others, saving them having to carry them all around job to job (I know that feeling!), they couldn't find one so they designed one themselves!

If I am completely honest I was a little skeptical when I first heard of the InStyler, only because I assumed that if this was a three in one the quality surely couldn't be as good as each individual styling tool . Well I need to eat my words as I couldn't have been more wrong!

The first time I tried the InStyler I was blown away, my hair is notoriously wild and hardly ever does what I want it to but I managed to straighten my hair in about five minutes! This is unheard of, it would normally take a good 25 minutes at least!

The InStyler is made up of a brush on one side and a rotating cylinder on the other, when pressed together the cylinder smooths down the hair with the heat setting your chosen style in place while the brush keeps the hair in place and tangle free.

There are three heat settings ranging from 140 - 196 degrees. The best bit is that because you don't have to use the InStyler on the hair for as long as other styling tools you use less heat making it healthier for the hair!

This is the perfect styling tool for taking in your gym bag or popping in your suitcase for your holidays, all your styling requirements in one!

I have filmed a couple of tutorial videos for you to show you how to achieve different looks using the InStyler.

How to straighten your hair with the InStyler....

How to create wavy hair with the InStyler....

The price of the InStyler ranges on different websites but it will always be cheaper than if you bought all the different styling tools individually.
For more information take a look at their website here

Have you tried the InStyler? Or are you thinking of getting one?

Stay Gorgeous

Grace xoxo

Batiste - Smoothing Conditioning Mist

Most of us are fans of Batiste dry shampoo which means you will more than likely be a fan of one of the new products they have to offer....Smoothing Conditioning Mist!

Dry shampoo offers us the chance to squeeze an extra day out of our hair when its in need of a wash, so instead of our locks getting up and walking them selves to the shower we can spray a bit of dry shampoo and have an extra ten minutes in bed!

Well we may have oily roots but what happens when you have hair that is drier towards the ends? That is were the dry conditioner steps in! A simple spray of this will give the hair and extra conditioning boost with out a drop of water involved. 

This light weight invisible spray helps to put moisture back in to dry and frizzy hair and smooths fly away strands! 

Available from boots.com and priced at £3.99 this is new hair must have!

Perfect for anyone going to Glastonbury this weekend!

Stay Gorgeous

Grace xoxo

I LOVE ME #10

So I haven't posted an I Love Me Challenge for ages! Life has been super busy and quite simply has got in the way!
But that brings me nicely to the I Love Me challenge #10......Embrace change, just go with the flow when life gets in the way!

Watch my video to find out more....

Stay gorgeous and remember how amazing you are!

Grace xoxo

Bling-ing Gorgeous!

last week I did a collaboration shoot with the very gorgeous Valentina who is a model and circus performer!

We wanted to do something with lots of sparkle and after searching the internet for inspiration we came up with the perfect idea!

I couldn't wait to show you the pics so here are a few behind the scenes pics whilst I wait for the final edited ones!

We had a great photographer Paul Claridge ready and waiting to take some amazing shots.....I can't wait to see the final images!

Stay Gorgeous

Grace xoxo

Collaboration Shoot

A little while back a few of my fellow creatives and I got together and did a photoshoot, we had a specific image in mind that we wanted to create and that is exactly what we did. In fact we nailed it and the results were amazing!

I loved working with with this awesome team and wanted to share our images with you all!

The dream team that worked on this shoot are

Photographer - Jessica Augarde

Model - Donatella Peglar

Hair Stylist - Jodie Austen of Peachy Stylist

And the make up was by me!

I hope you like the images!

Stay Gorgeous

Grace xoxo

Royal Moroccan Hair Serum

Have you ever been flicking through a magazine and had hair envy when looking at the celebrities? Ever wondered how they get their glossy locks looking quite so luscious? Most of you have probably answered yes, well fear not as there is a product that may well hold the answer!

I recently got the chance to try out some products from Royal Moroccan including the serum treatment.

Royal Moroccan is an Argan Oil based product that is a treatment and styling tool all in one. Aiming to give an instant long lasting shine.

This light weight serum will help combat that candy floss like fizz without weighing the hair down.

For anyone who has hair that is thick and coarse like mine you will know what a pain it can be styling your hair, I can honestly say that since I have been using the serum my hair has become more manageable, its like a miracle!! It has even reduced the amount of time it takes to blow dry my hair too!

You can use the Royal Moroccan oil in damp towel dried hair, apply a small amount throughout the hair and then dry and style as normal or use as an intensive treatment by applying all over dry hair and leaving in over night, rinse out and then shampoo and condition as normal.

This is definitely a product that is worth a try!

You can get Royal Moroccan Treatment serum here

Have you tried Royal Moroccan? What did you think?

Stay Gorgeous

Grace xoxo

The Upcoming Online Magazine

Hey Sugars,

So among many other things I seem to be doing at the moment I have been given the opportunity to do some Beauty Writing for online magazine The Upcoming!

Each week I have to provide two articles which get published....exciting!

Take a look at the Upcoming magazine here, not only is there a great beauty section but loads of other bits and pieces on there too!

Stay Gorgeous

Grace xoxo

Bespoke Bride

Recently I was asked to be part of a photo shoot for Bespoke Bride to create some pictures for their fabulous blog! Bespoke Bride is a wedding blog but not just any wedding blog.....Emily and Jess set up their blog to help couple create weddings that are unique to them and simplify their special day

Once the date was set we got the girls all dolled up headed to the sea side! Luckily the sun was beaming although the wind was still blowing!

The scene was perfect we had the sun, the sand and even a vw camper van courtesy of Love Bus Wedding.

Photographer Craig Dearsley took some amazing shots and captured the scene perfectly!

It was a lovely shoot which I am very pleased to have been part of!

If you or someone you know are planning a wedding be sure to pop over to Bespoke Bride for some inspiration and handy hints!

Stay Gorgeous

Grace xoxo

Puckoo Couture

Some of you fashionista's out there will have heard of Puckoo Couture but for those of you who haven't I'm sure you will love them!

Puckoo Couture is the fashion baby of Bristol born designer Dionne Thomas, she has talent running through her veins and set up Puckoo Couture in 2010.
Her range of fashion forward clothing is something that anyone can wear and make it their own.
The range consists of Leggins and body suits through to hoodies, whether you are a little more daring or like to play it a bit safer there is something for everyone.

I was lucky enough to work with this amazing brand on a fashion show as a Make Up Artist and Hair Stylist where they were showcasing the "Animals on Acid range"

The look was a heavy sixties inspired with sleek hair, the models looked amazing and absolutely rocked it on the catwalk!

Puckoo has been worn by many famous faces including Kelis, Jessie J and most recently Leigh-Anne from Little mix!

You can get your hands on Puckoo Couture here and is also available on ASOS and Etsy.

Stay Gorgeous

Grace xoxo

Bid TV

Hey Lovelies,

I hope you are all well!
I know I haven't blogged for what seems like forever but I do have a good excuse!

I have been pretty busy with work and have been back and forth between Bristol and London which takes up almost as much time as the actual work!

As a freelancer I seem to always have a few jobs on the go at any one time! I'm sure that some of you may have seen on Facebook or twitter that there is one that I am very excited about is that I am a Beauty Expert for Bid TV and Bid Plus shopping channels!

Bid TV Freeview 23 Sky 654 Virgin 745

This means I work on LIVE tv as a guest host representing different Skin care, Hair Care, Nail care and Make Up ranges. I will help to give an expert opinion and a bit more of a professional view on the products and also share some insider tips and tricks for the viewers and buyers!

On my first show I was so nervous I actually thought I might be sick but once we got going I was fine, luckily since then I have got to grips with it all and feel quite confident! Plus I get to try some amazing products.....any beauty junkies dream!

So watch out for me....coming to a TV Screen near you!

Stay Gorgeous

Grace xoxo

Hot To Trot Tuesday

This weeks HTT Tuesday is dedicated to someone very special to me! My gorgeous baby sister!
We celebrated her Birthday this weekend and as she looked absolutely AMAZING I couldn't think of a better person to feature in this weeks HTT Tuesday!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful sister....I love you millions!

Stay Gorgeous

Grace xoxo

P.S She will probably kill me for posting this!! ;)

Date night! #1

So I went on my first date, for this post I am going to call him beardy!

When he first messaged me obviously the first thing you do once you've read the message is look at his photos, my initial thought was hes not my type but he came across really nicely in his message.
I read further down his profile, I saw he was tall, which is a bit of a must for me as im 5'9", he lived in the same area as me, he had a car and a decent job and his bit of blurb about himself came across nicely! So why not, lets see what happens!

So we messaged for a bit, he was very friendly and I had a good feeling about him!
Now this is where, according to "the rules"  it could have gone slightly wrong (but I haven't read far enough yet!), we had been messaging for about four or five days and there was no sign of a date being set up, so after getting the opinion of two of my friends on him I messaged saying "so am I ever going to meet you in real life or are we just going to be behind the screen friends?" He messaged back almost straight away saying when are you free! According to the rules you are supposed to play hard to get, but I dont think you always have time to do that!

Once the date was arranged, I suggested a place to go which was fairly close to me, I got there first and I knew it woukd be quiet, nothing worse than walking in somewhere looking for someone! We were meeting at 7pm, he called at seven to say he was stuck in a bit of traffic so was running late, this would normally irritate me but I wasnt too bothered. When he arrived I was actually quite pleased, tall, nice build and decent on the eye......cha ching!
But once we got settled and chatted for a bit, it became clear to me that he wasn't for me, although he was really lovely his personality didn't quite match up to the way he was in his messages.
I put this down to him being a bit shy and hiding behind a computer screen can give you a bit of confidence?!

One other thing was he was very expessive with his facial expressions, which after a while I found myself mimicing! Oops

When I realised it was nearly ten and that I was starving I made my excuses and we called it a night,  we left it with a simple it was lovely to meet you and a kiss on the cheek....neither of us have made contact since!

On to the next......

Happy dating!
Grace xoxo

Weight Loss Wednesday

Hey guys,

So this Weight Loss Wednesday is all about fresh starts!
Over the past couple of months life has been a little stressful and I really needed to take some of the pressure off myself, so the only feesable way to do that was by taking a step back on the diet front.

I knew I had put some weight on after a medical issue towards the end of last year and once that had settled back down my weight was yo-yoing....ANNOYING!

So rather than get more stressed about it I thought I would take a break, celebrate my birthday guilt free and then go back this wednesday and Start a fresh! Strangely I am actually reallly looking forward to it so summer body I'm comming for ya!!

So I have been very organised, stocked the cupboards with weight watcher friendly foods and have an exercise plan in mind! Hopefully next week I will be writing about a good weight loss!

Have a great week!

Grace xoxo

 

Benefit Cosmetics Prduct launch evening!

Hey lovelies,

I was lucky enough to be invited to go along to a little product launch evening with Benefit Cosmetics in Bristol. I absolutely love Benefit and my kit and personal make up collection is full of it so was really excited to go!
The event was set up in store with a brightly coloured tea party theme....sparkling drinks in pink glasses, party rings and haribo! Sweet and make up, what more could a girl want?

The evening was to give us a sneak peek at the new World Famous Naturals Palettes they have launched, they come in three different colour choices and are a perfect every day palette to have in your collection, I got one and you can read more about the products here!

The evneing was filled with a demo, quiz with gorgeous lip glosses as prizes and other gorgeous bloggers.

Thanks to Lucy and Sophie from Benefit Cosmetics Bristol for a great evening! 

This is yet another great product from Benefit, which I would highly recommend! For more pictures take a look at my Facebook page.

Stay Gorgeous

Grace xoxo

Benefit Cosmetics World Famous Neutrals Palettes

As you know I went along to a sneak peek evening with Benefit cosmetics to see their brand new World Famous Neutrals Palettes.

These amazing palettes consist of two creaseless cream eye shadows and four longwear powder shadows and all for a great price of £23.50!

The World Famous Neutral palettes come in three colour ways, Browns (Most Glamorous Nudes ever), Pink (Easiest Nudes Ever) and Purples (Sexiest Nudes Ever). You can use them on a day to day basis to achieve a natural look or use them to to add extra glamour to an evening look!

I chose the Easiest Nudes Ever Palette which I absolutely love! It has a matte Pink shadow (pinky swear) which is great as a base colour as well as a shimmery cream (call my buff). You can then build up the glamour with the two brown shades(thanks a latte - Lighter shimmery brown & quick, look busy - darker matte brown).

For those of you who say "I'm no good at eye make up".....Fear not! This palette is perfect as it comes with a built in Tips & Tricks booklet! No excuses now ladies!
I would suggest you check these out and treat yourself! A must have for all girls who love a bit of glamour!

Stay Gorgeous
Grace xoxo

Harvey Nichols Spring Summer Designer Fashion Event!

I have been lucky enough to be invited to one of Bristol's Fashion events of the season!
Harvey Nichols are hosting there Spring Summer Designer Fashion event and I wanted to let you all know that you could go to!

Renowned as one of the most stylish events on Bristol’s fashion calendar, the S/S13 event will be staged on Tuesday March 12 with a drinks reception from 7.30pm. More than 400 guests are expected.

Bristol’s impressive Museum & Art Gallery has been picked as the perfect backdrop for Harvey Nichols S/S13 catwalk show. This season, the luxury Quakers Friars store has opted to showcase its extensive designer collections at the historic Queens Road museum.

The runway will feature the finest selection of designer collections in the South West including Stella McCartney Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Joseph, Alexander McQueen, Paul Smith, Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin alongside never seen before pieces from Harvey Nichols Knightsbridge.

“Bristol’s Museum & Art Gallery has gained an enviable reputation for its striking collections, and so it seems fitting that it is where we will showcase some of fashion’s most striking collections,” said Louise Masson, acting General Manager at Harvey Nichols Bristol.

Tickets for the event cost £15 and are available to order in store or online at www.theticketfactory.com/harveynichols.

It gets better.....guests can also opt to upgrade to one of the special VIP packages available:

The Ultimate Pamper Package: Indulge a mini makeover & Champagne manicure by Nails Inc. Followed by Afternoon Tea in the Second Floor Restaurant for £45 per person (including show ticket).

Fashion & Fine Dining Package: Enjoy a three-course meal from the Second Floor set menu after the show for £35 per person (including show ticket).
 For more information on VIP packages, please contact Harvey Nichols on 0117 916 8888.

This event is going to be amazing, I hope to see you there!

Stay Gorgeous

Grace xoxo

Product Review - The Body Shop Camomile Waterproof Eye Make-up Remover

I have just re purchased The Body Shop Camomile Waterproof Eye Make-Up Remover, so as I love it so much I thought I should share it with you!

This is a cream product that is really gentle on the skin. It removes all types of eye make up even very srubborn water proof mascara. Simply apply the cream to some cotton wool and wipe over the eye area. The nice thing is that you don't need to rub around the eyes, it simply wipes off very gently!

This product comes in a 100ml tube and costs £7.00 which I think is really resonable. Its fragrance and colour free and is suitable for all skin types.

This definitely gets a thumbs up from me!

Stay Gorgeous

Grace xoxo

Hot To Trot Tuesday - Adele

This weeks Hot To Trotee is Adele, In my opinion she doesn't really need an introduction but my reason for choosing her is because she is so real!

Despite being ridiculously famous and worth millions she is still down to earth and hasn't lost sight of who she really is!

Adele channels a stunning sixties inspired look with her hair and make up which really suits her, and embraces her curves and has a pitch perfect voice! Quite simply I think she is amazing!

Who would you award a HTT Tuesday to?

Grace xoxo

Single Girl in the City

As a single girl it is a minefield out there when it comes to dating.....the possibilities are endless, or they used to be! There comes a point when you become the only single friend, this puts a completely different spin on things! Your friends all either want to desperately set you up with just about any single man they can find or you become a threat of some sort and are gradually left out in the cold! Ok ok, maybe I'm making it sound slightly more dramatic than it actually is but you get my drift....

So what is a girl supposed to do to find the single men? Online dating!

This in itself is a scary process as there are so many things to think about! You are literally putting yourself out there for all to see, what if someone you know comes across your profile? What if only weirdos contact you? What if no one contacts you? (Believe me that wont happen, but sometimes you may wish it had!), the questions are endless but if you dont try you won't know!

So I decided I would set up a profile on a well known site and see what happens!
You upload some pics, the best ones you can find obviously, write a bit about yourself and click go.....whats the worst that can happen?

This seems like it should be so simple but it never is is it?!
First off are all you multiple choice questions, eye colour, hair colour, height, are you a smoker, do you want children but then comes weight/body type??? Well this is every girls worst nightmare right? It gives you the option of slim, average, athletic, a few extra pounds or bbw (big beautiful woman).....well I would have liked the option of curvy as im not slim but also not bbw so I went for a few extra pounds, but then you worry will that put some people off, but if it does they were obviously too superficial but will it make you look like you are wanting people to say you are not over weight? Jeez I'm only on the first page and its stressful already!

Once you've managed all the little questions its time to think of a catchy title, something that will draw people to you but nothing too cringy or attention seeking!
And then its down to the good stuff, write about yourself! WTF! I hate that bit, you suddenly find yourself trying to figure out what your best attrbutes are, you try to write something that makes you sound fun and adventurous but not too adventurous as we all know that actually you prefer lounging around on the sofa catching up on hollyoaks on a sunday not really hiking in the woods!
You want to sound fun fearless and independent but not so much so that a poor guy doesnt stand a chance.
Actually what I want to write is a list of things I DON'T want in a man, a need not apply list if you like, but I don't think thats the done thing!

So thats it, youve filled it all out, you've put up your best pics and now you just sit back and wait for the one to send you a message.........

I will fill you in next time as to what my inbox bought!

Have you tried internet dating?

Grace xoxo

Beauty S.O.S - Surviving a cold

I wanted to start a new series of blogs and videos called Beauty S.O.S, it will be quick tips and advice for Hair, Beauty and Make up related issues.

The first Beauty S.O.S is how to survive a cold! This may sound a bit odd but I always suffer from dry, sore skin and end up looking horrible when I have a cold so I thought I would share my tips for getting through a cold and still look beautiful at the end!

Take a look at my Beauty S.O.S video to see how to survive a cold....

Stay Gorgeous

Grace xoxo