Brassica Flowers & Boudoir Privé October Box

Another sleepy Sunday...
the rain has poured ceaselessly since last night and since lunchtime, I have taken shelter at home and don't intend to venture outside again until tommorow!  So, I apologise if these photos are a little dark.

I was delighted to get the Boudoir Privé October box on Saturday morning..this may be the best one yet, but I have been equally happy with the other 2!  This one has 2 full size products which I know a lot of people were hoping to see, so that is a definite plus.
 

In the box...

Cetuem - a mask and a cream skincare sample
Korres body butter in guava - smells absolutley amazing and a good sized tube, I've always liked Korres.
Leonor Greyl Huile de Palme - another hair oil.  This one is a pre shampoo conditioner.  I am loving that I haven't bought any hair products for a few months now thanks to these boxes.
Rose & Co Salve - full sized tin, very cute packaging. I'm bound to use this as I love balms and rose scents.

Mémo Paris perfume sample in Lalibela - a divine rose based scent.  Love that the sample bottle has a spray and it feels a bit like a perfume oil.  I'm delighted with the scent and also loved the Etat Libre D'Orange perfume from the first Boudoir Privé box, so unique.
StudioMakeup Liner Style Pen in blackest black - as with Zoya last month,  I feel this is where Boudoir read my mind.  I had inteneded to buy a MAC Penultimate liner for £14 this weekend and this is a fullsize product, exact same as MAC, and with comparable results.  I think it works beautifully and may even be more pigmented than my last penultimate liner.

Delighted that I got this as a fullsize in a £10 box, feels like I saved money!  I had never heard of StudioMakeup and something about their look and branding reminds me a little of Makeup Forever.  Upon googling they are a pro brand which only launched last year.

I picked up these flowers while food shopping a few days ok because of the name...Brassica, the name of the Farrow and Ball paint on this front door if you remember?  Coming from the same family as cabbages and broccoli, they really do look more like a vegetable than a flower but I love that they look like cabbages on strange gnarly stalks.  I really don't think I've ever seen them before in a bouquet and the colour of these lilies are fantastically rich.  Some people hate lilies in their homes but I really do love them, my name even means lily!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend xox

Zoya Jem and my new nail armour

Apologies for the lack of posts.  Truth be told, I have terrible skin at the minute and am just not up to outfit posts..nor does it seem a fair time to review any skincare properly so, I have been hiding from the blog and the camera for a few weeks :(

However,  I've been looking after my nails well at the minute and wanted to give a mini review on a few new products I'm liking.  After having really weak nails all year, I had given up a bit on trying to paint them.  I missed playing around with colour though so I decided to try and invest in a good base coat and top coat - nail armour if you will!  So first up is..

Orly Bonder 

I heard about this on youtube.  Similar to Creative sticky base coat apparently, but Creative proved harder to find in the UK. I have been lazy about base coats before but I really think this is making a difference and is far better than any other base coat I have used previously.

Leighton Denny Miracle Drops

I still want to try Seche Vite but I had such a great manicure on holiday this year where the beautician used this product over the top.  I love dropping it on and how it gives your nails a slickness that helps prevent 'denting' as well as chipping while they dry.  Really speeds up drying time which is perfect for me too!

I am now getting maybe 2-3 days out of a good manicure now, and my nails look stronger and longer.  Not sure how these products would have helped with that but there you go!

So, armed with my new nail armour I painted my nails last night with Zoya's Jem.  I got it in the last Boudoir Privé box and was delighted as I have always wanted to try Zoya.  I struggled to leave a bit of gap around my (non exsistant) cuticle and a slight space on each side of the nail, but it has made my nails look neater.

In sunlight (above) and shade (below)

I was impressed with Zoya.  The colour looked beautifully pigmented and opaque after one coat and the formula was good too.  I think Jem is just such a beautiful colour.  It looks like a rich purple here but in other lights it can be a very dark plum.  Addicted!

This was 3 days later, chips and all, but a huge improvement on my last few nail painting attempts so my little trio of products has worked well!

Really hoping my nails will continue to improve, if you have any tips or base/top coat reccomendations I'd love to know.  Any favourite nailpolish removers?

xox