Models Own Nail Polish Review- Sweet Shop Gumballs

Hello. How are you all?

 Just a little update before I begin to let you know that I am moving house next week and therefore my WiFi may be MIA soon. I am also starting a new job tomorrow which I'm really looking forward to. Probably for the first time in my life without any stress. So my blog posts may be a little hit and miss until I have settled in and got a routine going on. 

Models Own have just released the Sweet Shop Collection, which for me was an absolute necessity to own. I really wanted to try the Revlon scented polishes and never got around to getting any so when I saw these and they were sweetie scented, I needed them. I love the collections that Models Own keep coming out with and want the polish for tans collection and the previous fruit pastel collection too. The polishes are meant to have a scratch and sniff sticker on the top of them and I was disappointed to find that mine have them missing.

The collection comprises of five different polishes all with a retro sweet scent. The scents transport me back to my childhood and have a nostalgic feel about them. There's a pink glitter which, when dried, has a Rhubarb and Custard scent, Barbie pink Gumballs, a pink glitter 'Peardrops,' brown glitter 'Fizzy cola bottles' and finally a black polish which has the scent Liquorice Allsorts.

 There are three pink /red shades, a brown tone and a black. If I had produced this collection I would have made a variety of shades such as Foam Banana yellow or white mice just so it could have been more versatile. To have the smell of sweeties on your nails almost makes my life complete. I absolutely love the idea of these and have tried out Gumballs so far which I have written the review on for today.

  From left to right we have Gumballs, Pear Drops, Rhubarb and Custard, Liquorice Allsorts and Fizzy Cola Bottles.

I love the tissue paper that the polishes came wrapped in. They were also bubble wrapped inside the box too.

Gumball is my favourite shade out of the whole collection and if I was to just purchase one this would be it. The colour is a Barbie pink and makes a staple summer colour. 

I found the polish to be thick and quite hard to apply evenly to my nails. I did only need one coat on my nails for it to be opaque but it took a while to dry and smudged easily.

I did sniff the polish in the bottle thinking it might smell of gumballs but unfortunately it just gave me a huge waft of the regular scent of nail polish ha ha! I won't be trying that again.

The polish was placed over a base coat once dried and it produced a really glossy effect. One it dried on my nails, it left an absolutely gorgeous smell of bubblegum (gumballs) which I found irresistible and kept on sniffing my nails at regular intervals throughout the day. The scent stayed after showering too which was great as I thought it may have eliminated the smell.

I didn't use a topcoat on this. My thinking was that it might mask the gumball scent. The polish lasted for the longest amount of time without chipping on my nails which was a record- breaking 3 days. I have the type of nails where polish chips on the same day as application.

Overall, I would repurchase for the scent of the polish but I'm hoping that the others in the collection have an easier formula to apply.

Have you used scented polishes?

Love Laura xoxo

Candy Japan- July Sweeties

This month Candy Japan sent me three delicious Japanese sweeties to try out. Candy Japan is a monthly subscription service and for $25 you are sent two packages per month filled with mystery candy. I love Japanese products, subscription boxes and sweeties so this one seems like a real winner for me. I would prefer it if there was one box per month filled with a lot more goodies instead but maybe that's just me.

*Honey kumquat jelly. These are soft jelly sweets which a liquid kumquat flavour inside of them. Kumquat is a citrus fruit that is used to make jelly in Japan amongst other countries. At first I thought they were orange flavoured by looking at the packaging. These are tasty but my least favourite out of the three as I prefer harder candy.

*Lotte - Salt Milk Caramel- These were by far my favourites. They were creamy, sweet, moreish and delicious. The sweeties are individually wrapped and are made from cream which comes from Hakkaido in Japan.

"*Mario became a gummy!" These are soft gummy type sweeties which are cola flavoured and contain different shapes. They are sweet and have a subtle fruity taste. I love Mario as I used to play the games on my Snes when I was younger and the sweets were great too.

Overall- I loved the packaging and the taste of the candy even though there were only three items to try. I preferred this one to the traditional candy that accompanies green tea that I had in my last box as these were more fun.

Love Laura xoxo

*PR items sent kindly for reviewing purposes and for me to sample the delicious candy!

Candy Japan Unboxing - Tea Time Edition

Image Credit: Candy Japan

Hi everyone! I hope you're all enjoying your Bank Holiday weekends or had fun this weekend just gone. Today I have a subscription box all the way from Japan called *Candy Japan which specialises in sending out boxes of Japanese sweeties twice monthly for $25 with free delivery worldwide.
This box took around three weeks to arrive as they have set shipment dates which was quite a while but definitely worth the wait.

I love receiving subscription boxes through the post as it's like being sent Birthday presents which can cheer you up and you get to try out and discover new items that you may not have seen before.
As soon as I heard of Candy Japan I knew that I wanted to try out a box. I love Japanese candy and also love their cute, quirky stationery as I am drawn to it.

Communication with the owner of the company was great and whilst you don't receive an insert with information about all of the products in the box, you do receive an e-mail a few weeks after ordering to let you know what is contained and background information on your box. The Candy arrives in a secure carboard box that can fit through your letter box. It is secured with pretty washi tape and inside there's no extra frills, just the candy.

So this specific box has a theme of 'Tea Time' Konnichiwa. Inside the candy box you receive two green tea bags in case you didn't have any already at home to enjoy with your sweets. The background for the box states that if you were to visit a Japan home and had green tea and candy prepared for you then it would be very similar to the contents of this box.

The round sweets are named Momoyama and contain white bean paste. The yellow and white oblong sweeties are named Monaka and contain red bean paste and have wafers inside made from Mochi.

The Momoyama has a cake texture and is sweet. All of these candies would sweeten up the green tea as most Japanese people take it without milk and sweeteners.

The Monaka sweeties have a delicate wafer outer and a sweet paste inner.

I love the surprise element of this box and that I have learnt about something new too which I love doing especially when I find things interesting. I'd love to see what is contained in future boxes too. Thanks very much to Bemu for sending out a box to review. If you would like to find out more or subscribe you can click here.

Do you like the look of this box?

Love Laura xoxo

*PR item kindly sent for review.

A Candy Clothing Wishlist

Happy Friday everyone!

I discovered the brand Candy Clothing on Twitter and first saw their mint green bracelet and thought it would be perfect for Spring. After taking a little peek on their website, I found that there were so many items that I loved. When I hear the word Candy, I conjure up in my mind sweet delights, hot weather, fun and colourfulness and this is what this brand delivers.

Candy Clothing is an international clothing line which is based in London and was founded in April 2013. Here I have picked out my favourites from their website. They have a wide range of products available for both male, females and children and lines include nails, t-shirts, boots, sweaters and jewellery.

The design are as sweet as sugar and right up my street. So let's take a little look at my wishlist.....

Grey & Pink Doughnut Sweater £24.99

I love how the grey colour of this sweater sets off the pink doughnut and Candy logo. Doughnuts are irresistible and having one on your top to me is amazing.

Barbie 3D bling nails set £22.99 

I love the colours that have been used on these and all of the bling. These would finish off an outfit perfectly. I like how the nails are ready to just glue on and go.

20 Rose hand carved false nails £15

I adore the colours that have been used on these nails and the intricate flower patterns too. You get 20 nails, so in effect, two sets here. How gorgeous would these be for a wedding?

Fully loaded sweets and desserts charm bracelet £19.99

Sweeties and desserts on a bracelet = heaven and this is jam-packed full of fimo polymer clay charms.

Pink & White baseball jacket £39.99

I think this is one of my favourite items. It could be worn with so many items to candy it up and therefore makes it ultra versatile. It's described as candyfloss and cream which sells it to me in itself. All of the items are available in a range of sizes too.

Cartoon Candy beanie with pink font £11.99

I didn't use to like hats at all but in the past couple of years I can't get enough of cute hats and this is one of them. Again, I love the contrast between the hot pink and the grey as it sets it off perfectly. These are in one size and are essential for that nippy wind that we still seem to be getting.

Gold & Mint Green chain bracelet £6.99

This was the item that I fell in love with on Twitter which kick started this wishlist. I love the mint green colour set off against the gold and they also have a pink version too which I need.

Sky Blue & Pink Doughnut sweater £24.99 

This is a soft feel sweater and combines my two favourite colours.  I would love to wear this as I like to be snuggly and warm.

Candy Donut ring with coloured sprinkles £4.99

Finally, what better way to see a donut dessert on your hand than this delicious looking dessert?

What's your favourite pick?

Love Laura xoxo

South African box swap goodies from 'I'll take it all' Irina :)

A little while ago whilst reading blogs that I follow I came across a blog post from Kat at 'Tales of a Pale Face' which stated that she was organising a box swap for people to join and that you could decide to send a box of goodies to either UK or International. I was intrigued as I have never done a box swap before and thought I'd go for it and chose International.

A few weeks later I received an e-mail from Kat giving details on what works well and telling me that my box swap partner was Irina from 'I'll take it all'   
I couldn't recommend Irina's blog high enough. Not only is she gorgeous on the outside she is the most friendliest person with a big heart. Irina shows her outfits of the day, make-up reviews and attends many glamorous events. She is super easy to get along with and I'm so glad I had the fortune of being paired up with her.

After exchanging e-mails and tweets we decided on a budget, what we liked and when we were going to send the box. Then it was a waiting game of excitement.

My box from Irina arrived quicker than what it did to send mine to South Africa as both of our packages got held in customs and examined as regulations have become really tight. In the end all was good and Irina received my box too yesterday phew!

Right onto the box of goodies :)

Parcel arrived- love the South African stamps!

How lovely is this box! Wrapped with zebra paper and tied with a pink bow :')

First look inside!

Pretty red and pink tissue paper.

All of these fit in the little box.

Absolutely love how Irina had organised the presents into categories!

Yummy South African food.

Two Bella lipglosses that I've never seen before.

Made in South Africa . Irina uses this herself :) Love vanilla!!

Never seen this before!

Pretty pink face mask and matching mitts <3

Essence lip balm! Love this ! <3

I've not used these brands before. I absolutely love the colours of these polishes.

Gorgeous perfume spray.

Swiftly added this to my iPhone 5 :) Love the design!

Three hairbands- worn the polka one already- it's adorable!

I had put these on my wishlist on my blog from Mr Price! Irina bought them for me and I am in love with these. Stunning!

Looooooooove Unicorns <3

How amazing is this stamp- you just stamp onto everything that you love and it will say 'Love it!'

Gorgeous unicorn wooden stamp.

I was absolutely over the moon with the items that Irina had bought for me!! Oh my goodness!!! <3  She is so thoughtful and generous and knows what I like!!! I can't thank her enough!
It was such an exciting event to take part in and I will definitely be doing this again!

Thanks so much to Kat as without her I would have never met Irina !!

xoxo