Pre-Manchester Pampering... It's all about baths!

So after blogging last night I went and treated myself to a bath. Baths have become a very important part of my life as of late, as I shower most of the time. Therefore a bath for me has become a total relaxation and I am currently adding more and more things to my 'perfect bath kit'. I don't know if you're interested or not, but I thought I would share...

The first part of my kit is my lovely £1.50 Tesco bath pillow. I love this thing, it's comfy and it stops me having to rest my head on that stupid ledge on the bath.

Also in this picture is my lovely new shower cap which I blogged about earlier this week, (it came in one of my bath sets). Finally on here there is the Naked Coco de Mer Bubble Bath that I am favouring at the moment, it smells gorgeous!

Another necessity for my bath are my Philips Digital Candles. Both sets were presents from the boyfriend and I love them a lot! As you can see I have the Yellow and Blue sets, all I need is the red to complete the set. They are safe in damp areas and are in general safer than candles. They have a realistic 'flicker' and make a lovely relaxing light. Currently, on Amazon, three candles and a charging dock are half price at £15, I think that is a steal, and nearly treated myself to the red set!

More on the light front now from a lovely xmas present from my Auntie and Cousins, my mood rubber duck. He glows about 7 different colours and really does light up the bath! I don't know where he is from but I think he is fab!

 So there we have it for bath things! After my lovely bath I finally decided to do my nails!

The first part of my nail routine involves the kit below. I had not heard of Ever Since, (a Dead Sea company), until I was shopping in Fenwicks one day and was given a demo of this product, and I have to say I was amazed. This box was £25 and includes; 3 step nail buff, cuticle oil (smells lovely!), crystal file, and moisturiser (probably one of the best I have used, you only need to use it once a day and it smells amazing!)

The Nail Buff in this kit transforms your nails from matte and dull, to glassy and gives them a 'freshly polished' look, I didn't believe it myself until the saleswoman demonstrated it on my nails... I was sold. Since using it regularly my nails have gotten a lot stronger too, and grow more. The effects are hard to get on camera but I have tried...

No Buffing

With Buffing

I hope you can see that the nail on the right is shiner and has no ridges in it. I really do love this kit and would encourage anyone, especially people who work in industries were they can't paint their nails, to get this kit!

Next I got on the painting, I used 3 different varnishes; All About Nails (Tesco), Collection 2000 clear varnish, and the Models Own Gold Crackle. I also used Nail Dry Spray, Boots Own Conditioning Nail Polish Remover, (for touch ups, I love this product, smells nice and is really effective). And let's not forget a glass of Asda Cherries and Berries double concentrate, (addicted to this stuff, however this can be substituted for a glass of wine / cider etc.)

Now I did say I would review the Tesco 99p nail varnishes so here it goes. I am overall impressed. I really like this nude shade; one coat leaves your nails looking really glassy, two gives a very neutral hue, it would probably look really nice with white tips. However, in this instance I was using it as a base layer. Anyway, for 99p you really can't go wrong, I will be interested to see what my other colours are like, but so far so good!

So after 2 coats of All About Nails I applied Models Own Gold Crackle. I had my reservations about this product, as they are one of the only other companies, apart from Barry M, I had seen (at the time I bought it), that were doing crackle polishes. I have all 4 Barry M ones and I love them, but I was disappointed at the lack of metallic shades, so I was pleased to see this at the Clothes Show in December. Rosie did a full review on the Models Own Goodie Bags here. Anyway the results of my nude / gold combo are below...

I topped this off with a couple of coats of Collection 2000 clear varnish, as I find that sometimes the rough crackle polishes catch easily, (I wear a lot of knitwear so they snag on my sleeves). The clear coat gives a smooth and glossy finish, which I find is more important with the Barry M crackles as I find these very matte and thick. The gold Models Own is quite glossy by itself which is a nice bonus.

Anyway, I best be off now, going to Manchester in an hour to see Snow Patrol and have a nice weekend away. Although, I am not thrilled to hear that snow is on its way :(