At home beauty - Pedicure featuring Soap and Glory

I've been really in the mood for pampering the last few weeks. I blame the awful weather but I love staying in and putting on a mask or giving myself a manicure. This week, I though I'd share with you a few tips for getting a great home pedicure.

Pumice available here, orange wood stick and Soap and Glory Heel genius available here

First up, you'll need a large shallow bowl. Simply pop your tootsies into some warm water first to give them a good soak. You can add a foot soak to the water, some of which have a brightening effect on nails.

Next, use a pumice stone to slough the underside of your feet (careful this might tickle!). This one is from Wilkinsons and cost just a pound. You can either do this first on dry skin or on wet skin, it's up to you.  If you have any around, then use a foot scrub too. If you want to save some pennies, you could even make one using sea salt and olive oil for extra moisturising benefits.

Next, push back cuticles using an orange wood stick. This one came in a pack from Bodycare and was less than a pound. One end is also rough which is good for getting into the corners of the nail. Obviously, cut and file your nails next.

Last step! Use a cream such as Soap and Glory Heel Genius to soothe and moisturise. Don't forget to give yourself a little massage too, you deserve it.

If you're doing this at night, pop your feet into a pair of cotton socks and leave overnight for super soft skin the next day.

And you're done!

If you've got any other great tips then please share them in the comments :)

November Empties feat Soap & Glory, Armani Code, Clinique Chubby Stick and Chanel Le Volume Mascara

Okay so I admit, this isn’t all my empties from one month but actually a collection from the last few as it seems to be taking me ages to finish any of my make up at the moment!

Soap and Glory Off Your Face, Soap and Glory Clean On Me, Armani Code, Per Una Perfume, Clinique Chubby Stick Two Ton Tomato, Carmex, Le Volume De Chanel Mascara, Carmex, L'Occitane Hand Cream and GHD Thermal Protect

Soap & Glory Off Your Face Cleansing Cloths – An absolute must have! Although you should always remove your make up properly, I’ll use these if I’m falling asleep at the sink. At around £5, they’re great for emergencies and sleepovers and I’ve already repurchased them in the new packaging.

Soap and Glory Clean On Me – Probably my favourite shower gel, I can’t get enough of this scent. A bottle lasts me so long that I literally only need to buy a few of these a year. At the moment I’ve got loads of miniatures to use of though so I won’t be repurchasing this for a while.

GHD Thermal Protector – It’s so important to protect your hair before using heat products such as hairdryers and straighteners and this is one I’ve been using for years. However, it’s getting harder and harder to find and I really want to try a new one. Does anyone have any suggestions for good heat protecting products to try out?

Per Una Perfume – As you can see from the 2 empty bottles of this, I adore this fruity and sweet perfume! I get so many compliments when I wear this even though it’s a high street perfume. I love buying the purse sized sprays because they’re small enough to carry with you but big enough so that they don’t run out too quickly. I’m steadily going through my stockpile and I’m onto my last full sized bottle before I can use a Dior perfume that I’ve still got from last year.

Clinique Chubby Stick in Two Ton Tomato – Chubby sticks are ridiculously easy to use. You don’t even need to use a mirror to put these on so I always have one in my handbag ready for a touch up after work. I love this ripe red shade and the finish is shiny and sheer enough to be easy to use but saturated enough to make a statement. The only downside with these is that they don’t last long and at nearly £20, I wish they lasted longer. That doesn’t put me off them though and I’ve already repurchased.

Armani Code – I think I got this in a boxset a few years ago and I’ve only just got round to using it as I’ve got a bit of a perfume backlog to get through. This is a really sweet vanilla tinged scent and although I like it, I don’t think I’ll be in a hurry to repurchase it as there’s so many other perfumes I want to try.

L’Occitane Rose Petals Hand Cream – I think this scent is now discontinued as it’s not only and I saw them in Bicester Village recently which is a shame because I love roses! I’m always using L’Occitane hand creams as they’re so rich and nourishing, perfect for wearing just before bedtime. I’ve got a few more waiting to be used already. 

Carmex Lip Balm – Not much to say here besides I’m always using Carmex! I am trying out a few different lip balms at the moment but I think Carmex is a classic and a staple in a lot of make up bags!

Chanel Le Volume De Chanel Mascara – This might only be a sample size but I love this mascara! It’s great for thickening lashes and giving them a very dramatic look and I’d be tempted to buy the full sized version as a splurge. 

Mammoth Empties Part 4: Body care products

Veet Hair Minimising Body Moisturiser – A good everyday basic but I don’t think it made any difference to hair growth.

Vaseline Essential Moisture – Ideal for everyday if you just want to put it on and go.

Soap & Glory Clean On Me – My favourite shower gel and I swear it lasts at least 10 weeks.

Imperial Leather Precious Night Blooming Jasmine and Cotton Milk  Shower Cream – I loved the smell of this as jasmine is my favourite scent. Worked well and only cost a pound!

Sure Clear Aqua Crystal Roll On – No white marks! Not sure if I prefer roll on or spray but at least a roll on is smaller and easier to carry around.

Sure Crystal Clear Aqua Spray – Again, no white marks! Does the job very well.

The Body Shop Coconut Body Butter – I love this! All the nutty flavours are winners in my book and this is tropical and smells like sunscreen. That’s before I even get starte on the intense hydration these butters deliver.

May 2012 Empties – Must try harder

Here’s my paltry offering to the gods of empties. Nothing but a Sure Roll On Deodorant and Soap & Glory Righteous Body Butter. The body butter has been on the go since Christmas so it really does last, but I’ve got loads of body lotions to use up, just in time for summer when a butter is too rich. Needless to say, these will both be repurchased!

Next month I promise to try harder!

April empties – Soap & Glory, Elemis, Batiste

This is the first time I’ve done an empties post, as I’ve seen so many bloggers doing these and I love having a peek at what you guys really use! So here goes, it’s not massive as I can never seem to actually finish my products, and those that I do are of the usual shampoo/conditioner/shower gel variety.

Soap & Glory Clean On Me

I adore this shower gel, not least for the gorgeous scent (I think this one is scented with the infamous Original Pink?). This 500ml bottle is amazing value for money at £5.50 and it’s lasted me 3 or 4 months which is amazing considering my £1 bottles last less than 4 weeks, and a little does go a long way with this.

Repurchase? Definitely, once I’ve got through my hoard of shower gels.

Batiste Coloured Dry Shampoo

I don’t even need to say anything about this, other than it’s great. Repurchased in a larger size before this one was even finished!

Elemis

The reason I have so many Elemis travel size products here is because I was gifted a BA in flight toiletries bag which contained all these goodies. They are small though so I couldn’t try them out for very long before they finished! I’ve never used this brand before but have heard great things about it so I’m looking forward to purchasing some full sized products in the future.

Elemis Balancing Lavender Facial Wipe

Just the one wipe, but this was a decent size and has a gorgeous relaxing lavender scent. As for effectiveness, it did remove my make up and left my skin feeling comfortable, but with a slight sticky residue.

Elemis Pro Collagen Eye Renewal

A tiny sachet containing 0.5ml of a semi opaque gel. This was quite good, but no match for my favourite eye cream, Origins GinZing.

Elemis Skin Nourishing Hand and Body Lotion

A decent quality cream that is more effective used on the body as it’s not quite rich enough for hands. Pretty good as a body moisturiser, a pleasant scent which is a bit old fashioned though (reminds me of something my aunt used to wear). Not up to my usual hand cream, Clarins Hand & Nail Treatment Cream as I love an intensive product for hands. Also prefer any of my usual body creams/butters.

Elemis Pro Collagen Marine Cream

This smells nice, moisturises well but I woke up with a very shiny face!

Elemis Lip Revive

Quite a sticky formulation, but it is very moisturising. Oddly, it does have a grainy texture, which I’d imagine is down to exfoliation purposes.

Sensodyne Total Care

This probably shouldn’t have been included in this post, but my empties were looking a bit thin on the ground and since we’re in a sharing mood… But yes, this is my favourite toothpaste and I will definitely be repurchasing it!

Product Review: Soap & Glory body products

I’m sure you’re all completely au fait with Soap & Glory, but that’s not going to stop me posting it! It’s all about how you use it, or something like that, and I’ve come up with a pretty good routine that leaves my skin smelling so scrummy that it seems a shame to cover it up with perfume.

First up, Clean On Me, (described as a creamy clarifying shower gel). This was actually the first product I ever tried from Soap & Glory when I borrowed some from a housemate (sorry!) but I did buy my own immediately! It feels so luxurious on, lathers moderately well (could do better) but smells gorgeous (apparently that’s their own Original Pink fragrance).

Soap & Glory, £5.11

Next is Pulp Friction (foamy fruity body scrub).  Although I do think this is really good for general areas and backs of arms, it isn’t as effective on tougher areas such as thighs. It foams up really well and has different sized grains inside which aren't too harsh. It does work however but I’m still looking for my Holy Gail scrub and I’ve bought The Breakfast Scrub (also Soap & Glory) to try out as  it was recommended in the Look Beauty Awards 2011.

I’ve previously used Scrub Actually which is full of sugar grains and really feels like it’s buffing away dead skin cells as it’s quite tough. I prefer the smell of Scrub Actually (more sugary) although Pulp Fiction is lovely too (more fruity).

 Soap & Glory, £8 

Last but not least is The Righteous Butter (body butter).  I’m a big fan of body butters and usually use The Body Shop’s Shea Body Butter for the long lasting moisturising effects and gorgeous scent, which is almost cocoa but not as sickly.  I prefer to use body lotions in summer though as they’re lighter but never perfumed body lotions as they usually smell so synthetic and the ones you get free with perfume sets are rarely good quality.

Soap & Glory, £10.21

This however is possibly better depending on what fragrance I feel like using! It’s soft, sumptuous, tick like triple whipped cream and goes on really easily. It’s absorbed quite quickly (I usually wait about 5 minutes before getting dressed) and is the last stage of my three stage Soap & Glory body routine.

What do you guys think of Soap & Glory? What are your favourite products? I’d love to hear your recommendations and try them out too!

January Sales Buys

I don’t usually rate the January sales, too much pushing and queuing for my liking but this year was pretty good. Shopping for clothes in the sale is never that fruitful so it was mainly beauty products that I got from Boots (first four items).

Soap and Glory Yum at Heart set. I had to get this as I’ve been dying to try out The Breakfast Scrub. The set was £8 and that alone is £9.45 so seemed worth repurchasing the Hand Foot cream. Will let you know what it’s like once I’ve tried it out.

St Tropez Taster Collection. I’ve never properly used fake tan besides an ill advised encounter with some mousse. I’m a bit tentative about using it but at £7.50 it seemed like a good buy. Inside is a Self Tan Bronzing Lotion, Body Polish and Body Moisturiser.

Umberto Giannini Glam Hair Style Loving Hair Kit. Pretty much bought this for the black box clutch but it also contains Glam Hair Morning After Dry Shampoo and Glam Hair Rock N Roll Extreme Hairspray (both 30ml).

Armani Code gift set. Described as containing orange blossom, Madagascar vanilla, honey (?!), and Sambac jasmine, this is a gorgeous fragrance, quite sweet but not sickly. Lovely box too!

Accessorize Nail Polish in Indian Ocean and Tuscan Clay. Stunning colours, a deep rich blue and tawny nude. Look out for product reviews and swatches.

Tess Daly – Daly Body Glow (from M&S). I’ve only tried this on my hand but it gives a fabulous light gold luminous glow. This will be perfect when it gets warmer on legs.

The main picture also shows a multi coloured Aztec scarf from M&S and a purse sized perfume from there called Gold Glow (citrus, pear top notes, jasmine, orange flower, honeysuckle, white musk and sandalwood). It does smell familiar but I can’t quite put my finger on what! Very fresh, light and citrusy though.

What did you guys get in the sales? Are you waiting for the last sale bargains?