Summertime Nail Saviours

You may remember my springtime nail polish recommendations that I wrote not too long back, well I delved back into my nail polish collection and pulled out a few Summer shades. 

I was waiting for the weather to perk up to post this but it really doesn't look like the sun is popping out any time soon, so what better way than to get into that summer spirit that get those nails painted a jazzy bright colour.

I am really getting back into loving nail polish again, I went through a phase of never hardly wearing any...purely because of the time it takes and its not something that can easily be done with a toddler by your side. It all involves smudges, nail polish vapours and broken bottles...yup! It doesn't mix well, but now Finley is going to bed earlier and earlier plus he now sleeps like a dream....finallllllyyyyy! Haha. I have that little extra time to fall back in love with my huge stash of polish again. 

OPI - Nice Stems Collection

OPI Polishes Left to Right - I Lily Love You, Be a Dahlia won't you, Come to Poppy, Play the Peonies.

First up I picked 4 mini OPI lacquers from the Summer 2011 collection called Nice Stems. I got mine a while back from Buya Powa but you can still get a set from Ebay here.

All four shades have pinky tones and all have an element of shimmer , some more subtle some brighter and sparkleier - if that's a word haha. My personal favourite out of the four has to be Play the Peonies which is the pale pearlescent shade...how amazing would that look with a tan. Here are a few OPI facts for you :) Whilst watching QVC the other day the OPI lady was saying how with even the mini bottles you still will get at lest 16-17 manicures out of each bottle....possibly more from a glitter as the majority of the time you use it as a top coat. Plus if you notice the lid/brush holder is ever so slightly textured, this is so it is less likely to slip whilst your holding so you don't mess up your fab polish job! 

Leighton Denny

LD Left to Right - Shipwrecked, Cool Blue, Sunburst.

Next I wanted to show you some new shades that Matthew picked up for me :) He doesn't understand why I have over a hundred nail polishes but doesn't question my obsession lol. So whilst on his online travels he picked up a few Leighton Denny Shades for me...Thanks Matthew :) 

The two more pastel shades are more like spring shades but I didn't have them at the time I wrote my previous post so thought they would slot in nicely here. 

All three are amazing quality, you could get away with one coat for that 'dashing out of the house' moment but I would recommend two just for that extra pizazz. You may notice in time to come I LOVE orange and coral shades on my nails, and Sunburst fits the bill to a tee. Its bright and glossy and contains no shimmer whatsoever :) I have to be in a certain mood for shimmers and tend to only wear pink shimmery shades, unless they wow me! The pastel colours are also beautiful, I don't have long nails so personally I love them on a short nail for that pop of bright pastel colour. If you fancy some Leighton Denny Loveliness you can grab them all over the Internet but Matt got mine on Ebay. The only places he shops lol.

Mix of Allsorts

Mix Polish Left to Right - Rimmel Sunshine, Nails Inc Candy Orange, 17 Miami, 17 Peacock

 

3rd in the Que are a mix matched jumble of shades, however I am not all that impressed with all of them! 

Again another orange, Nails Inc in Candy Orange. I picked this up last year in Instyle magazine and if my memory serves me correctly the new sets should be out around now or very soon. I love the shade and always find the brushes on a Nails Inc polish so easy to work with! The next three are for the cheaper end of the budgets, however I can really tell the difference....sorry drugstore. First the two 17 polishes, the colours are lovely and I have used them so many times but they just don't last. They are already gloopy and unfortunately may be heading to Nail polish heaven. The next is a vibrant yellow colour from Rimmel, I wore this last year and it stained my nails soooo bad but recently re-visited it as I thought it may have been my own fault for not using a base coat....nope it still stained each and every nail. It is such a shame because I love the colour so much but it ruins my nails each time...sorry Rimmel. So I am out to hunt for a new 'in your face' yellow as that was my only one. All these apart from the free magazine polish were from Boots.

Models Own Summer Shades

MO Swatches Left to Right - Bubblegum, Coral Reef, Top Turquoise, Sophie's Pink, Toxic Apple, Golden Peach.

Last up I have picked a couple of my fave bright Models Own shades. You may notice I love Models Own, they offer great quality nail polish for not masses of money. Plus if you are like me you stock up when they have their huge 50% off sale on. Now there is a shade missing, we had a casualty when I was sorting through my bag of colours...Finley grabbed a beautiful blue shade and it smashed! Don't panic he was fine as I was right next to him but my couch, new tshirt and Matthews hands didn't escape! Ironically the shade was 'feeling blue' which I was! I am hoping to replace and it isn't discontinued as it was stunning. 

Anyway here are the unscathed colours I picked, 2 are the very first ever polishes I bought from Models Own! 'Coral reef' and a Neon pink shade 'Bubblegum'. Coral reef is so old its in the really really old bottles - plus you can tell they are all really well loved as most are half empty. Here is a little tip I learnt, if you own any really bright or neon polishes you should pop them in the fridge to help it retain its wow factor!

The other colours are a stunning pink that I am wearing today, a beautiful turquoise that is a regular for my toe nails. A rare shimmery polish that I love called golden peach, this would be amazing if you are really tanned or olive skin toned...perfect for the holidays. And lastly a mega bright green that I have only really worn once or twice, I just cant figure out a way to wear it, maybe I am too pale but I love the colour! Maybe its more of a festival shade. Overall they are all amazing quality and the shade range Models Own stock is outstanding for the price they charge.

You are probably realising by now that I love nail polish! For some reason I cant seem to wear gel or acrylic nails, so I love experimenting with colour. I love the way false nails look but I end up walking around like a robot with them on and cant do anything haha. My friend Keri is an amazing nail technician and wants to get my nails all fancy but I panic I wouldn't be able to do anything but sit....hmmmm maybe I should get them done haha.

Also I have just bought 10 new polishes from Nails Inc so I may do that on a separate post as the value was ridiculously amazing - they will also be in an upcoming haul video so keep your eyes peeled.

If you have any tips for nails or polish recommendations please let me know as I am always expanding my never ending collection.

Have a great weekend everyone 

Love Kayleigh x

Finley's New Threads

A little while ago I treated Finley to some new clothes as he is still growing *hmmmf* and will soon be wearing 18-24 months! When did that happen...where did my tiny 5 pound baby go who wore 'tiny baby' babygrows that were so big we rolled up the sleeves!

I hopped over to the Next website and picked up a few treats for him and a bargain coat! I'm not usually one for buying all brand new clothing as he has grown out of them in a blink of an eye and when you add up the cost it makes me wince slightly lol. But as he will be in these for at least 6 months I dont mind spending a little extra, plus who doesn't like treating their little baby. 

So if you fancy seeing all the goodies I bought for him check out my brand new video below :)

I am still a little nervous but managing to not waffle too much. If you have any video requests or questions as always please let me know. 


Hope you enjoyed and I shall see you very soon with an updated nail varnish post plus a verrrryyy exciting giveaway!!!

Love Kayleigh x

Child Safety Week 2013

A little while ago the lovely team over at Kiddicare popped over an email into my inbox to let me know that Child Safety Week was coming up and wanted me to get involved. 

They asked if they could take a few of my top tips to keep safe with a baby/toddler, of course I said yes as I am all about being a safety squirrel with Finley around, maybe more than most as he is so accident prone! And being a first time Mum myself I am still learning so please pass all your tips my way! I sent over my top tips and luckily this was picked up and published on Babyworld.co.uk - yay :) You can take a peek at my top tips and some other lovely Mummy bloggers ideas too here

I then thought to myself why not write a post and drum a little business up for Child Safety Week, I know that I don't have loads and loads of followers in the grand scheme of the huggggeee blogging world out there but if it reaches just a couple of people and prevents any accidents or potential big disasters then its only taken me an evening typing away...plus points all round in my book :) This isn't a sponsored post nor have I been asked to write this  but safety is something I am very passionate about and wanted to get everyone involved. 

After a browse online I have found the official Child Safety Week page here - they have some great resources and even a safety shop.

Whilst I was pregnant with Finley I always pictured having to buy the obvious safety bits and pieces such a stair gates, plug socket covers and those cupboard locking thingies that Joey cant open on Friends....but now when I think about it I have learnt that there is so much more!

Its not only 'child proofing' when your baby is mobile and grabbing things of a table but its the tiny dangers I didn't think twice about before having a baby. 

Here are a five of my tips to think about but please please please add a comment of anything you think should be on here - I would love to collate them all and create a list for parents to refer to.

1. Smoking!! Passive smoking around little ones is not only unfair on a baby but it also has severe health risks. Just a few include developing asthma, SIDS risks and middle ear disease. You can read further on the NHS website for all the details but if you can please avoid at all costs smoking around anyone especially those tiny fingers and toes. 

2.Cot Bumpers - When I was pregnant I was eying up beautiful handmade cot bumpers with ties that circled the whole of his cot and looked so pretty. But the more I searched the more I realised that they are not recommended and can potentially be very dangerous. So I scrapped the idea no matter how much I loved them and went for an airwrap version instead. Yes it was white and plain but it gave me peace of mind knowing that his arms and legs were safe inside and if he rolled into it he could still breath. I would highly recommend these and we loved ours. We don't actually need ours anymore so I am thinking of selling it so if you would like it let me know :) 

3. Nursery Furniture - If you can only do a handful of things please consider this! I read a blog post around 5/6 months ago and was left in tears, a mother had described how she lost her darling daughter due to not bolting down her nursery furniture. I wont go into the detail here but if you would like to read this story you can here and also please visit meghanshope.org and show them some love. It may take an afternoon fumbling with bolts and brackets but this is life saving. 

4. Blinds! If you have a blinds up in a toddlers bedroom please re-consider, again a few months ago I watched a couple describe their heart ache on This Morning over their little girl was killed by her blind cords. Again here is the link to the paper article. However if you do have them please don't panic as you can buy blind safety holders and wraps to prevent any accidents. We currently have them in Finley's room because of the amount of light they block out, but as he isn't walking yet the cords are way out of reach...even mine! But as soon as he is mobile they will be whipped down asap.

5. First Aid Awareness - As above I watched a week of first aid awareness on This Morning (from memory it was safety week). Please arm yourself with the basics for any emergency with your baby or toddler, we have had a few scary moments that these have come in handy...one being my biggest fear choking. Luckily it wasn't as bad reflecting back but at the time it was heart stoppingly scary. Here is the link to a video that goes through some basics, but there are always First Aid courses available at your local collage or surestart center and most are free.

If you have or would like to pop over to the child safety website they have a parent pledge which also gives you a few tips to think about, from swimming to road safety. You can also request further information and leaflets from them if you want any more ideas or advice. 

I know that this isnt mt usual jolly happy post but I really felt that I wanted to contribute and put a few of my ideas out there. If you have any tips at all, from the small to the big pop them in the comments or send them to me in an email and we can hopefully help out any parents out there. A safety list is endless in my eyes. It is so important to keep our children and babies safe, and lets face it they are the most precious things in our lives so I know any parent wants to keep them as safe as they can....sometimes we even considering bubble wrapping them :) 

Stay safe everyone, if you have any questions please ask.

Have a great week.

Love Kayleigh x

3 years ago today...

I married the most amazing man I ever did know!

I have never really spoken much about my wedding on this blog or shared that many pictures, not for any particular reason other than I have never had a good excuse, so what better time to crack open the wedding album and share a few of our snaps with you all. 

I am going to be honest with you all here and you don't often hear many people say what I am about to, I would change almost everything...yup that's right. Our whole lives have changed so much since that day, we no longer speak to certain people that made decisions for me on major things like my dress :( which in all honestly I never really liked. I suppose it is an okay dress but it never wowed me - now I would have a totally different style, a quirky frilly number with an accompanying cashmere cardy. I stood my ground on having my hair down but lost a fight to accessories as I wanted flowers in my hair and white Alice band. I even kept my shoes a secret till the day so they couldn't be changed haha! hmmmmff well, you cant dwell on the past I suppose and to be honest the main focus wasn't about how I looked it was about marrying the man of my dreams Matthew.

And that is exactly what I did, on June 19th 2010 at 1pm in a lovely local church across from a huge green and a beautiful seaside we became Mr and Mrs Bamber.

You couldn't have asked for more perfect weather, the sun was out shining but the clouds that passed over kept us nice and cool and added some lovely effects on our photos. As everyone says the day flew by with a blink of an eye and before you know where you are you are sat on the couch writing a blog post about a day that happened 3 years ago!!! 

Happy Anniversary Matthew - I love you more and more each day :D <3 Mwah xxx

I did it...I did it!!!

You may or may not know that for a little while (3 years!) I have wanted to sit down at the end of my bed and film a Youtube video.

I first started watching YouTube ageeeeess ago looking for make up tips for my wedding day, which funnily enough is 3 years ago on Wednesday <3 

After falling into the wormhole that is YouTube I soon found sooo many amazing people chatting away to their cameras and filling you in on their days event, whether it be annoying habits, what they got up to that day or announcing pregnancies. And from that day I have been hooked ever since.

Youtube is amazing really when you think about it, it has helped me with small things like blending out eye shadows correctly, relaxing whilst catching up with my favourite vloggers, giving me so much more advice than any antenatal class but also 'meeting' some very lovely people. 

So after a 3 lengthy years and being a scaredy cat for far too long I finally plucked up the courage and did it...yup that's right I filmed a video. agghhhhh! I admit it, I was very nervous and it shows but I finally managed to do it. It may not be a huge deal to some but for me it was a massive deal, especially since it has taken me so long. I have to thank Matthew and my lovely friend Zoe for all the encouragement and support they have given me. 

So if you fancy seeing a very nervous northern lady waffling on about absolute rubbish then I am the Youtuber for you haha. I have re-linked my Youtube account to the top of the page as it is a brand new account and the other was an old one so take a look if you fancy :) 

I shall link my channel below if you fancy a look! Ekkkkk! The account is Beautylifebabies and I currently have two videos up at the mo. I am not sure what videos to film next so if you have any requests please let me know and I will be more than happy to give them a good go. Plus if you like what you see you are more than welcome to subscribe :D 

http://www.youtube.com/user/Beautylifebabies/videos 

They are a tad longer than most videos out there but they are the ones you can watch once the kids are tucked up in bed and you are all comfy on the couch.

I really hope you like them despite my rambling and nervous-ness but I am sure with time it'll get better and you never know I might even vlog out and about one day....one step at a time though haha. 

Thanks so much for reading everyone...and watching :D

Love Kayleigh x

Finley Photo Outakes

One of my most favourite things to do along with having lye-ins and putting my make up on is taking snaps of that lovely jubbly sausage that is Finley!

You can guarantee that he has 20 pictures for nearly every day of his 1st year, they seem to have dwindled since purely because his hands and eyes are constantly on the lens and we can never get a picture of him sat still. But you can find me still regularly taking little candid snaps on Instagram and proper pictures on the big boy camera....even though now it takes me a lot longer.

When I take pictures for either our little family bundle or snaps for my blog I never delete anything, a little example for you, the last blog post I did I edited and posted a grand total of 6 pictures however I took 42 with products in different lighting, different layouts etc, so you can only imagine how many unused pictures are stored away on my harddrive. Plus I never have the heart to delete anything Finley is in, so here are some photo blunders I thought I would pop up here. I wanted to keep it real and let you all in on the 'behind the scenes' and how 90% of the pictures I take are like this!

I feel bad that there are so many photos hiding away in folders and sub folders that will probably never get used or even looked at...so I am sending them some love and hand picked a few for you to have a gander over. Some are photos from blog posts and others are just general snaps we have taken :) There are soooo many to pick from so here are just a few, some embarrassing (for Finley) others of him wayyyyyy to close up! 

Tiny Little Hairs

Anyone with a baby will know what face this is!

Pumpkin attack - Good job Daddy was on hand...safety first people

Typical Finley, climbing up my leg with half a face in shot - half my hallway full of baby items!

THE biggest diva you have ever seen in the history of blogging! Quick get this guy some puppies, white lilies and blue smarties! Sheesh!

All this because the grass felt weird!

Not sure if he is keen on his dungarees...or me!

Sorry for the picture overload but I thought it would be fun to share some snaps that I regularly take a peek at just for fun :) If you enjoyed this post and would like another similar please let me know as I have soooo many hidden snaps from when Finley was super duper tiny to now....plus a couple of rather embarrassing shots of me!

Thanks so much for reading.

Love Kayleigh x

Ooops another little haul

Well I have done it again, the postman has been knocking on the door and this time he delivered a lovely little parcel from Debenhams....again! I love seeing and reading peoples hauls so I thought you might fancy a look at what I decided to get :) If Matthew asks every item was £1....don't Google these Matt or read any further haha!

First up I headed over to the virtual Illamasqua counter and picked up a cream pigment in Hollow. I first heard about this in a recent Pixiwoo video, Sam was creating a beautiful bronzed prom make up and she used this for her contour....but lets face it she could use an old tea bag and I am sure she would still look stunning! Usually i'm not one for remembering products people use in videos and you can usually find me traipsing back through 10 videos to remind myself what shade a certain red lipstick was. But this looked so amazing and Sam said how perfect it was for fair skin tones so it stuck in my mind for agessss, I headed over to Debenhams but it was out of stock agghhhhh. Luckily it was a short wait and it was there ready for the purchase. I have worn this a few times now and I am hooked, it has no orange tones and is a perfect soft brown shade for anyone struggling to find a 'pale skin friendly' bronzer. If you fancy one you can pick one up here for £17.50, they are out of stock again but check back in a few days and there should be more!

Next up I bought myself a second Mac 217 brush. The lovely Zoe from Mammafulzo was raving about these and she was telling me how you can not only use them for blending eyeshadow but for concealer too. So of course I had to get another, it was more of a necessity than a nonessential. I know I spoke about them last time but I shall have another little mini rave about them now for you :) It has taken me years to take the plunge and finally buy Mac brushes and I would recommend them day after day after day. If you were like me and had just generic brushes here and there treat yourself to a 217 and I promise you will fall in love. I bought mine when they were in the Debenhams sale for around £15ish but you can get yours here for £17.

I bought this lipstick from Boots ageeeees ago and only just found it buried deep in its box unloved. So I have rescued it, used it almost every time I have worn lipstick so thought I would pop it in this haul. It is a Loreal Rouge Caresse Lipstick in Dating Coral. If you are a regular reader of beauty blogs you will no doubt have seen this being raved about over 12 months ago now but being me I have only just picked up this shade. I own 3-4 Rouge Caresse and love them, they aren't too 'pow, take that lips' so you can get away with wearing them to the park or playgroup but they give enough colour and pizazz to give a swoosh of colour to finish off your make up. Loving them at the mo! Grab yours here from Boots, but if you want a few wait till the 3 for 2 offer is on....looking good whilst saving pennies...the best way to be!

Matt will be happy to know this is the last item I bought! A Mac Paint Pot in Painterly. I have wanted to check out a few eyeshadow bases from Mac for ages so took the plunge and went for something not too OTT just in case it scared me off. When placed over the eyelid I would say it doesn't give me much colour but more evens out the lid and creates a fab base for neutral shadows. I have a few more on my list to try that give more of an eyeshadow look without all that blending, basically I want something for an all over easy look that takes no effort when we have to be out of the door in 5 mins! So far I am very impressed but I do have a few sneaky Maybelline colour tattoos on the way so I shall be comparing the two! If you fancy grabbing a paint pot you can here for £14.50.

Here are a few swatches for you :)

They are looking a little darker than they appear in real life so dont panic, plus I got a little swatch happy and there is probably 3 layers of everything. Oh and I have just realised I missed the 'n' out of painterly Gahhh so please forgive me as I will re-edit but just pretend it isnt there for now.

More exciting news I finally got myself some much needed lighting today YAY. I shall be putting it to the test very soon and hopefully everything will look loads brighter and genenrally more fab. 

Thanks so much for reading everyone :) Hope you have all had a fab day!

Love Kayleigh x

Finley's Fab Personlised T-Shirt

Firstly before we get going how amazing has the weather been so far this week! Wow! We had our first BBQ yesterday lunchtime and even got the paddling pool out...even though in the end the water was far too cold to get in! Any tips to heat up a freeezzzzing pool let me know.

Anyway lets get cracking with chatting about one of the most exciting packages I received for Finley in a while. A few weeks back a lovely lady called Vikki from MiniMe Baby sent me over a tweet and asked if I wouldn't mind reviewing a lovely piece from her fab website. I love finding new websites especially those that stock such great products (especially with a quirky edge) and introducing them to you all, so I happily said yes. After a chat and a browse I chose this amazing personalised T-shirt for Finley....isn't it amazing?

I am a sucker for anything with a name on it and would happily wear 'Kayleigh' T-shirts all day everyday if I could get away with it, so my next best option is to let Finners take the lead in the personalised stakes. 

I asked if we could pop 'Finners' on the front instead of Finley, you know me, I love anything a little different and quirky. I chose a worm for the main picture for the simple reason that he never ever sits still and we always call him a wriggly worm. You can choose your design from the selection they have, anything from cutesy blossom trees for little girls to chunky dinosaurs for those cheeky boys. You can pick from a number of coloured T-shirts and colour schemes but I left this up to Vikki to chose, I do love a surprise.

The whole design is hand appliqued direct onto the T-shirt which amazes me, I watched Kirstie Allsopp's homemade homes once and she was saying how time consuming and intricate it was. And boy can you tell how much effort and care has gone into the design, from the little button for the 'i' and the tiniest bead for the worms eye :D Plus check out how even the stitching is!! And it has a patchwork look....need I say anymore. 

The T-shirt itself is 100% cotton which is perfect for this hot weather and for the tiniest of babies who's skin is still soooo sensitive. I have washed this over and over (around 12 times) to put it to the test because lets face it that's what us mums are interested in...the practicalities of how it stands up in the washer haha. And it has come out perfect, it will need an iron but hey what doesn't! Finley also had a mini accident with a fruit squeezy but with a little vanish the stain came out perfectly! The sizing seems pretty great too, he is in the size 1-2 T-shirt and is currently just growing into 18-24 months clothes, he is only just over 16 months and has very broad shoulders so I'm happy to say the sizing is spot on.

I even emailed asking if you could add a number to the t-shirt and yes you can...how great would this be for a birthday T-shirt for the party or even as a surprise prezzie for the birthday boy or girl :) You can choose anything you want up to 10 Characters so why not get creative. We always call Finley Mr Bun or Mr Sausage....they have stuck since I was pregnant so they were next on my list after Finners. They even said they might be able to get a shark for Fin Yay. What name would you choose to have on a T-shirt? 

Overall I am so pleased with this and would happily purchase another for me Finley :) the total cost is £17 and for all the hand crafting and time that is clearly input it is so worth it, and postage is free. I am even going to frame Finley's once he has grown out of it. These would be perfect for presents, party's and just general fun!

You can check out the MiniMe Baby website here and follow them on Twitter here for all the updates and any new promotions.

Vikki was kind enough to include some extra goodies for Mummy which I have been putting to good use and also a fab organic shampoo body wash combo for Finley that I may actually review separately we are loving so much. Thank you :D

Finley showing off his new bestest top

I just want to say a massive thank you so much to MiniMe Baby for sending us such a wonderful item to review, we are so lucky and Finley is extra happy he can show off his fancy new top. Please head over there and show them some love, the company is a supporter of small businesses and other mums like us, they source UK handmade items so not only will you receive an amazing item through your door you are also helping out the little businesses who could be part time crafters or mum's setting up their business on Maternity leave.

Hope you enjoyed this post and if you have any questions or would like to see any more pictures please let me know and I will be more than happy to help.

Love Kayleigh x