My fish pedicure experience

A while ago I had my first fish pedicure experience and thought I'd share it with you. I visited Appy Feet in York with my mum and my our friend who I call my second mummy. First of all it was mega busy but it was half term and luckily we didn't have to wait long before we got our turn!

First off you have to fill in a form to declare if you have any health problems and to state if you're on any medication. Then you take your shoes off, get given a lovely attractive pair of crocs to pop on and you head over to the foot wash area to obviously wash your feet! You then get led over to a tank to pop your feet in!

It felt weird, very, very weird and it took ages to get used it. I can only describe the feeling as vibrations in your feet and legs.

I haven't a photo of my feet but apparently there were loads of fish on them. I found that I couldn't look at my own feet, it freaked me out, but I could look at others.

After my experience I would go back again but I would have the longer 35 minute treatment as I just got used to the sensation when the 15 minutes was up.

Prices are £10 for 15 minutes and £20 for 35 minutes and their are Spas around the country, to find your local one check out Appy Feet's website.

Review - Organic Surge part 2

This is part two of my Organic Surge review. This post is going to concentrate on skincare.

L-R: First Class Mask, Refreshing Toner, Eye Gel and Cleansing Wipes

First Class Face Mask - £6.99 for 50ml
This had a very light consistency and it was see through so different to other face masks. It also didn't harden so it was easy to wash off. You leave it on for 5 minutes and after my face felt lovely and soft. I used three pumps for my face so I'd imagine this would last quite a long time if using once or twice a week as recommended.

Pure Extracts Refreshing Toner - £4.99 for 200ml
The toner is fragranced with lemon and as a result it smells amazing! Other toners can smell chemically or really harsh but this one smelt lovely. It left my skin feeling soft and smooth. I think even my mum who never used toners as they're too harsh and drying on her skin would be able to use this one as it's so gentle.

Eye Gel - £7.99 for 15ml

As it's name suggests this is a gel so it is light weight and is absorbed quickly. It is quite cooling which is nice when you're felling tired as it does help to rejuvenate your eyes. Normally I only use eye creams/gels at night but I've been using this in the mornings too as it does absorb quickly. It leaves my skin feeling moisturised and since using it I haven't suffered from sore eczema around my eyes. It is one of the more expensive products by Organic Surge but as far as eye products go it is actually quite reasonable and as it has a pump dispenser there is no wastage as you get a measured amount.

Kiss and Make-Up Wipes - £3.49 for 25 wipes
Firstly these are biodegradable so they are good for the environment! These are thicker than other face wipes I've tried and are more of a cloth than a wipe. They are also very moist and removed all traces of foundation on my skin. My skin was left soft and as they're suitable for sensitive skin it also wasn't left irritated.

L-R: Hand Wash, Daily Care Face Wash and Overnight Sensation Night Cream

Hand Wash - £3.99 for 250ml

There are two different hand wash fragrances: gentle meadow (lavender and geranium) and tropical bergamot (sweet orange and bergamot), I bought both but so far have only used the gentle meadow. At first I wasn't sure if I'd like the floral scent but it's really subtle and it's quite a refreshing change to the normal synthetic overpowering lavender. I use one pump and it gentle lathers, not too much, but my hands get a good clean. It isn't drying like other hand washes and my hands are left feeling soft afterwards.

Daily Care Face Wash - £4.99 for 200ml

This is gentle fragranced with rose and geranium as even thought I'm really not a floral person I love the fragrance! Even after I've got out of the shower I can smell it on my skin and it smells gorgeous! This has a pump dispenser and I use two pumps but I could get away with one as it does gently foam. It removes all trace of make-up (excluding mascara) and my face is left squeaky clean and soft. Currently I'm on my second bottle of this and it last absolutely ages!

Overnight Sensation Night Cream - £7.99 for 50ml

This is quite thick, and I think it's too thick for my normal/combination skin. It did take a little while to sink in but it left my skin lovely and soft when it did. Out of all the Organic Surge products I've tried I think this is the only one I wouldn't repurchase because of it's thick consistency.

So that's my Organic Surge mini series done! So tell me your thoughts; what do you like the sound of? What have you used? Which other Organic Surge products do you recommend? Comment away!

Review - Organic Surge part 1

Organic Surge, a brand which says no to parabens, SLS (sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate), synthetic perfumes, artifical colours, chemical antioxidants, artificial foaming agents and many more nasty things. To find out what parabens and SLS are click here.

I've bought quite a few Organic Surge products over the last few months so instead of reviewing them all individually I'm going to do a big brand review but it's going to be split into two parts. Part one is going to review their shower gels and haircare and part two, which will be up tomorrow, is going to review their skincare.

Shower gels - £3.99 for 250ml

There shower gels come in six fragrances and I have three of them: citrus mint, sugared almond and fresh ocean.

Yes the price is slightly more expensive than other brands but they are on par with brands with the same values. The consistency is runnier than other shower gels but this also means you need less as a little goes a long way! They are also colourless but this is because they don't have artificial colours in them.

After using them my skin feels soft, cleansed and slightly fragranced. My favourites are citrus mint and fresh ocean!

Other fragrances: Tropical bergamot, Peach Passion and Gentle Meadow. 

Haircare - £4.99 each (250ml shampoo and 200ml conditioner)
Or buy in a bundle for £8.99 each

The shampoos and conditioners come in five different varieties depending on your hair type. I have the moisture boost and shine boost ones. Like the shower gels, the shampoos are slightly runnier than other brands but not by much and again this means a little goes a long way especially as they foam up really well. Once washed my hair felt cleansed but unlike another brand which also doesn't contain nasty things my hair wasn't left a tangled, knotty mess before conditioning. The conditioner is the same consistency as you'd expect and my hair was left soft and manageable. My hair didn't go limp or greasy when it needed washing like it normally does so overall I'm very impressed!

The moisture boost products contains organic almond and palmarosa, I believe this is a grass, essential oils and it is softly scented, not overpowering like some fragrances can be. The shine boost products have organic grapefruit and citrus essential oils and to me it smells abit weird. It doesn't scream citrus but it's not unpleasant at all.

Other varieties: colour protect, blonde boost, and volume boost.

Part two coming up tomorrow!

Save vs Spurge - Mineral foundations

Mineral foundations, they're popping up everywhere nowadays. For me a mineral foundation shouldn't contain any nasties like parabens but more often than not they do. I've managed to find four which fit this category which also vary in price. These are:

L-R:

Collection 2000 Perfecting Minerals - £4.99 (15g)

Une 100% Mineral Foundation - £9.99 (4.5g)

Avon Smooth Minerals - £10.50 (6g)

Lily Lolo Mineral Foundation - £12.49 (10g)

Swatches and shades L-R:

Une (M08)

Avon (Shell)

Lily Lolo (Barely Buff)

Sorry no swatch of Collection 2000's as I finished this months ago, luckily kept the pot for product dregs!

Collection 2000's was the first mineral foundation I tried. For the money you can't go wrong and you get alot of product. It covered well, looked natural and but didn't last all day.

I bought the Une foundation more recently and I was shocked at how little product you got compared to others, you get a teeny 4.5g for a tenner. Despite this it gave the best coverage and lasted all day.

Avon ran a promotion a while ago where you gave then an old bottle of foundation and you got a brand new one for £4 so I got their Smooth Minerals powder foundation. This has a slight simmer to it which people always comment on and say how nice it looks. The coverage is really good and lasts all day. The only bad thing is the silly hole the product comes out of. Sort it out Avon!

Lily Lolo only makes mineral make-up products and I love their blushers. Their foundation is the most expensive I've tried but you do get a 10g pot. This is the lightest shade I've got which is probably a tad too light for me after trying darker shades from the other brands. It also gives quite a light coverage but it does last.

Collection 2000, Une and Lily Lolo all have a normal sifter top for getting the product out.

So my final thought....

This is taking into consideration price, amount of product and coverage:

1st place - Avon Smooth Minerals (mid priced product)

2nd place - Collection 2000 Perfecting Minerals (cheapest)

3rd place - Lily Lolo Mineral Foundation (most expensive)

4th place - Une (mid priced product)

Avon won because of the coverage and Une lost because of the whole 4.5g of product. I'll be interest to see how long this lasts compared to the other ones.

Have you tried any mineral foundations, what did you think to them? 

Favourite products - Skincare

This is the second of my favourite products post and today I'm focusing on skincare: bodycare and facial skincare.

Sure Crystal Deodorant - £2.89 (250ml)

Simply the best deodorant I've used. Lasts all day and doesn't leave those nasty white marks on dark clothing.

Veet in shower hair removal cream - £6.42 (150ml) or £11.02 (300ml)

It's the only hair removal cream I've found to work. A little goes along way so one of these tubes lasts a long time.

No 7 Cleanse and Care Eye Make-up Remover - £7.75 (100ml)

I always seem to go back to this product. I like that it's a pump dispenser, it shifts even waterproof mascara and it's not a greasy formulation which some others are which leave my eyes sore.

L'Occitane handcreams - £7.50 (75ml)

These have all the good point from the other three items: a little goes a long way, non greasy, they last a long time and they're simply the best handcreams ever!

Do you love any of these products as much as me? Or are there any others which you love? Let me know in the comments below!


Stockists
Sure - Boots, Superdrug, supermarkets
Veet - Boots and Superdrug
No 7 - Boots
L'Occitane - L'Occitane

My first day in my new job!

On Monday I started my new job so I thought I'd show you what was in my, my make-up bag, what make up I wore and what outfit I decided on!

What's in my handbag?

I'm using the same Kipling handbag that I showed in my previous what's in my bag post. This is the Cerys bag and is available from QVC (item number: 150719) and Kipling online. This colour doesn't seem to be available though.

Tissues

Good luck angel

Carex anti-bacterial hand gel

Hairbrush

Hair elastic

Pens

Diary

Glasses and case

Umbrella

What else?

Sure deodorant

Hairspray

Make-up bag (L'Occitane free gift)

Tablets: anti-histamines, aspirin and Nurofen migrane pain

What's in my make-up bag?

My make-up bag is the little L'Occitane one which was a free gift a couple of years back. What's in it?

Fresh breath spray

Cherry Coke lipbalm

Chilli Pepper mirror

Lipsticks - Mac, No7 and 17

L'Oreal face powder

Little pot with mineral concealer in

No7 eyeshadow blend and contour brush

No7 nail file and case

L'Occitane Fleur Cherie hand cream

What make-up did I wear?

Back row:

Witch primer

Everyday Minerals sunlight colour corrector

Une mineral foundation

Wet n Wild mineral foundation

Middle row:

Benefit Thrrrob blusher

L'Oreal holographic Real Silver eyeshadow

Front row:

L'Oreal Lash Architect waterproof mascara

Sorry the photo's of the make-up are really quite bad

What did I wear?

To go with the black trousers I'm wearing I decided on this cute peter pan collar top from Next. This was £14 which I thought was great value.

I also invested in a pair of comfy shoes from Clarks.

So after my first week on monday I hated it but I was just training all day and reading loads of information so it was really boring but now I'm the hang of everything so I'm quite liking it!

Review - Ren Micro Polish Cleanser

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to win a sample of Ren's new Micro Polish Cleanser before it was released for sale.

I got a mini 15ml sample but boy did it go a long way.

This is a 2-in-1 cleanser and exfoliator which is recommended for use 2-3 times a week to reveal purified, smoothed and softer skin, a brighter, more radiant complexion and reduces the look of pores and fine lines.

As I have finished this I have no photo of the actual product, Im rubbish I know! But it was a light orange colour with very fine exfoliating granules and it had a gorgeous orange fragrance.

So what did I think? Basically I loved it! I loved that it's a 2-in-1 product, anything that saves time, and it really did leave my skin feeling clean, smoother and brighter. I love a product that does what it says one the.....tube!

The full sized 150ml product is £20 and I am planning on buying one! For use 2-3 times a week it should last a long time so I'm not too bothered about paying a little more than usual for it.

This is available from Ren online.