Lou's Reviews :: Sleek PPQ Me, Myself & Eye Palette

Aloha Bloggerinos,

Yep, as with all my posts for the next few days, I'm pretty late on this one. Florida and family life prevented me being as on the ball as I (like to think) usually am.

So without further ado, here is the latest Sleek MakeUp eyeshadow palette, just waiting to be added to your collection. Does anyone else collect the palettes?

Sleek's Me, Myself and Eye Palette is said to be inspired by PPQ's S/S11 collection and aims to toughen up a soft feminine silhouette- oh lala.

With a mixture of frost and matte and a wide variety of colours, you would think this would be a winner. For me it isn't. I'm all for lots of colour if it works, like in the original palette, but this seems all a little haphazard. Mint, red, peach and olive all in a row for example, there isn't a happy flow there, in my eyes anyway.

Also, (haha as if I hadn't finished being negative!), matte colours aren't my bag. I'm all for a bit of shimmer and I find matte colours can be pretty chalky with poor pigmentation. Saying that, there will be people out there in the big wide world, who prefer matte shades, so who am I to talk?

Some shmexy swatching for you there m'dears. I think the bottom deep green colour will look beautiful for Christmas.

Apologies for not going into too much detail for this beauty review, but I don't want to rave about something that doesn't float my boat and I'm not in the business of full on slating products. Beauty is only an opinion after all.

-----

In other news, before Baby Glitter pootled off to her cot for nightnighttime, she very kindly picked the winners for the OPI Mini Stems Kit Giveaway. If you have been listed below, well done!! Please drop me an email (louise.pentland@hotmail.co.uk) with your full postal address and I shall pop those in the post for you asap.

Danielle |

@NeonPinkDuckies

and

Laura |

@LovelyLollyB

Thank you everyone who took part in Baby Glitter's Giveaway, she really appreciated it :)

I plan on doing a pretty hefty giveaway if and when I reach 5,000 followers, as a huuugggee thank you for all of your support! I've got a while to go yet though, so give me time!

Have you tried the PPQ Shadow Palette? Are you and OPI Nail Polish fan?

Toodlepip!

xx

Happy 2nd Birthday Sprinkle of Glitter

Aloha Bloggerinos,

Wow! I've been writing and loving this blog for two years (and nine days- haha with all my aformentioned Baby Glitter time, I missed it!) now. It's a toddler!!

This blog has brought and continues to bring me so much enjoyment and that is largely down to you, you sitting reading these words right now, yes, YOU! Thank you for taking time out of your life to read my musings, thank you for making the effort to comment, thank you for being such a wonderful part of my glittery world of goodness. I appreciate it more than you know.

Hapy Birthday little blog, what a journey we've been on! First year a wedding, second year a baby, third year a ....?

Toodlepip!

xx

Image: www.weheartit.com

Whole Load o' Watsamabibbins

Aloha Bloggerinos,

I'm a bad blogger. Slap my wrists and sit me on the naughty step. I'm sorry. My poor little blog has been pretty neglected of late. I do have good reasons and I'm going to use this post to get everything out and then start afresh and with renewed vigour. Viggggourrrr. I love that word. I like to kind of shake my face when I say it. Haha.

As you know, I attended two super snazzy blogger events (Illamasqua and Glossybox) before jetting (yes, jetting oh la la) off to Florida for a week! I came back last week but felt it important to spend some real quality time with Baby Glitter, rather than the norm, which is to have her kind of fit into my day. So I took her on walks in the pram, to baby groups so she could play with other babies, to a special baby and toddler show where I bought her Christmas present (I'll do a post on this when it arrives) and to my chum's house who has a baby boy and a big trampoline- oh the fun! All that baby time, plus wifey time (I mean cleaning and cooking, not rudeytudeywifeyhusband time there!), sitting down time and sleeping time, meant there was very little Sprinkle of Glitter time. As well as all of the above, we have been out of town to a very glamorous wedding and then I came home to find I had been hacked (I made a video, you can watch it HERE if you are interested), so that took more time out. I feel busier than a bee on speed.

(Just a little snap from a chum's mobile of Baby Glitter enjoying some good old ballpool time. How can anyone tear themselves away from a ballpool for a laptop? Haha)

I usually put Sprinkle of Glitter time fairly high up in my 'important stuff' list, but seeing as I had just had a fabulous week away, I felt it better to let my things sit by the side for a time, whilst I gave Darcy my all.

I had a few little bibbits and boppits to blog about, but then I felt guilty that I hadn't written my GlossyBox and Illamasqua posts, had a tonne of things to review AND a giveaway winner to announce. It all added up and felt like a huge battle so I hid behind it.

(International Bouncing Team, here I come!)

 

So here's what I'm gonna do:

I'm going to breath. Then, I'm going to aim to have my Illamasqua and GlossyBox posts up asap and not worry that they are very late and just tell you what I thought and give you a bit of 'the world through my eyes' time (if that's alright? I hope so because I haven;t got any other eyes apart from my own, tehe I'm just too funny).

Then I'm going to blog about all the things I like lots, like Autumn and Baby Glitter and Crafts and Glitter.

AND whilst all of this is happening, my blog will slowly be having a bit of a makeover, to tidy it up and give it a bit of extra pizazz, aaannnddd my Dad has lent me his oh so fancyshmancy camera, so good photos, here we come!!

 

On top of all of that, I'm still doing my secret project with Zoe and I also have a very special interview lined up for you all. Any guesses on who it might be? I'll give you a clue, she's not a blogger and is in the beauty industry....

 

Phewf! That's a lorra lorra info for you all! Hope you're all happily updated and I look forward to getting back into the sparkly swing of things soon!

Toodlepip!

xx

PS- Bubblegarm only has 2 days until her little baby is due- eeeeeeee! Excited!!

Florida Girl So Far

Aloha Bloggerinos,

I'm sat on a balcony, looking out onto a huugge lake, where people are fishing and mooching about on little boats and letting my hair air dry in the 28 degree heat, oohhh yyeeaaahh!

I know I still need to write about the Illamasqua and Glossy Box events I went to, but I just felt I wanted to have a bit of blog time, I missed you!!

So, I'm giving myself license to ramble on and on. I have no pictures yet because I have just been filming everything instead- it'll be vlog-tastic once I'm home! If long, rimblyrambly posts aren't your bag, I think it best you pop along to some other blogs you enjoy because that's what this will no doubt turn into.

(weheartit.com)

Sunday

I spent the day running about like a crazy chicken, packing, un packing, re packing, umming and arring, squishing Baby Glitter because I knew I'd miss her and cleaning my house for the in laws, who are staying to care for Darcy whilst Matt goes to work.

Monday

Baby Glitter woke up at 4am, but I was secretly pleased because the fatherman was picking me up at 6.30am to drive to the airport, so I had a little Mummy-Daughter time and felt a whole lot better about leaving her. She said, "Mummy, it's fine, you go and have a bit of well deserved R&R, I'll hang out with Grandma and Grandad, keep Daddy in line, and you just make sure to bring me home plenty of presents". Ok, so she didn't say that but in my head she did.

6.30am and we were off to the airport!! Now, at this point I ought to tell you something pretty nifty, otherwise the next few paragraphs will leave you thinking I live some sort of jet set life, which unfortunately, I do not. My Dad flies to America about once a month because a lot of his business is out there, so he has a frequent flyer card that entitles him to lots of lovely upgrades and swish treatment. Since I was flying with him on a companion ticket (another swishy thing, he gets one free ticket a year, and this year, I had it- hurrahh!!), I also got to shmooze around at Heathrow. Yay!

So, we arrived at the airport, checked in, had a quick look round duty free (I ummed and arred over buying a few bits restrained myself) and then we went to the Heathrow Upper Class Lounge. Oh me oh my it. was. SWISH. Think 1960's glamour meets James Bond meets luxury meets space travel. Yep, weird but good. If you fancy, google image it. I was dying to film it and take a tonne of photos for you all but everyone there was so "oh yes, this is perfectly normal and not in the least bit thrilling", that I felt I couldn't jump up and down with glee and joy and shout.

In the swish complimentary restaurant bit- yes, you could order everything on the menu if you so wished, and not have to pay a penny, we had a lovely breakfast and smoothies and then I headed off to the Cowshed Spa area for a massage. I won't go too much into that because I am actually doing a separate Lou's Reviews on that, which will be coming up in a few days. Needless to say, it was great!

Before I knew it, it was time to board our flight. I could have easily spent all day in the Upper Class lounge and one day, if I win the lottery or make a squillion pounds somehow, I will take us all on a first class holiday and we can go crazy in that place. The even had a table, with massive jars filled with tonnes of different types of sweets that you could just help yourself too!! It really was luxury.

On the plane we had the middle bank of seats, so we were both on an aisle and there was a spare chair between us that nobody had- very cool as we could then dump all our stuff there are spread out. We flew Premium Economy with Virgin Atlantic, so that's not upper but not economy, it's in the middle and very nice it was too! 

(OK, remember I'm sitting on the balcony by a lake? The lakehouse building is now blarring out a Dirty Dancing Techno remix- hahahaha "Cos I'm haaavv'n the time of my li li li li liiii-iife" hahaha)

On the plane I watched Bridesmaids (funniest film EVER, I actually did an outloud laugh and the woman across the aisle looked at me!), Dr Who, The Simpsons, TOWIE and Gullivers Travels. I'll be making a conscious effort to watch something a little more high brow on my return flight.

We touched down in Miami and as soon as I realised there was an airport monorail, I was excited! Whenever I see monorails, I think of the song in the Simpsons where they sing, "monoorraailllll". Anyone with me there?

The airport was big and hot and we were flagging a bit so I was really glad when we arrived at our hotel and freshened up a bit. By this point we'd been up about 20 hours and were pooped. A quick dinner and bed for Monday night.

Tuesday

Tuesday morning we were up bright and early and I accompanied Dad on a day of meetings. I actually rather enjoyed them. I'm really the mechanisms of business (how thrilling of me), so I enjoyed being a fly on the wall of my Dad's. Hopefully one day, I'll be hosting fancy boardroom deals and Baby Glitter will be at the end of the table listening and watching too. :)

Tuesday night we hit the Dadeland Miami Mall and I had my first Sephora experience. I went a tad mad in there and was putting things in my basket with wild abandon. I've made a huge haul video on my purchases, so I hope you'll enjoy watching as much as I enjoyed showing. We had dinner in The Cheesecake Factory, which is a cool restaurant where they do actual food, and not just cheesecake haha!

Wednesday

Wednesday we left our hotel at the disgustingly early time of 5.30am (urgh) and began our 4 hour drive up the coast to Orlando. My Dad tried to talk it down as, "a long drive", but clearly he wasn't aware of my love for roadtrips! I loved watching the word go by, seeing Miami skyscrapers turn into suburban houses, then huge trees draped with Spanish moss, and then eventually civilisation again as we approached Orlando.

As there was a little bit of time before his first business engagement, we went to a GORGEOUS little town called Celebration (please google it, you won't regret it). Celebration Town was built by Disney, but there isn't a mickey symbol in sight. Instead there are stunning ye olde houses painted white, pink, mint, blue, with porches and shutter windows. There are twee shops, with cute cafes and a huge lake and fountain thing that you can run through. I was so lovely that I stayed there for the morning whilst Daddio went off to work. I've filmed a little bit of it so with any luck, you'll spot it. It reminded me of toy town.

A few hours later, work was over and Dad came to find me and we went to check in. We're staying at the Marriot Grand Vacation Club and it's gorgeous. I'd love to bring Matt and Baby Glitter here.

In the afternoon my Dad wanted to go the Mall and I wasn't going to stop him! I didn't buy much, I actually didn't really see anything that stood out, but I picked up a couple of bits for Matt's birthday. I looked in OshKosh for Darcy but there was nothing that we couldn't get in H&M or Mothercare, so I just left it. I'd rather spend my dollars on her at Disney or something. My Dad on the other hand, treated himself to a few nice Ralph Lauren bits, so was pleased as punch.

In the evening, we went for a business dinner at a fancy little place who's name I've totally forgotten ahaha! It was a white linen table cloth and lady playing on the piano kind of place. I didn't really get too involved with the chithchat, so I had a lot of thinking time in LouiseLand haha.

Thursday

Dad's gone to a really important meeting this morning which wasn't something I could attend, so I'm enjoying the Marriot complex. I had planned to have a wander about and enjoy the lake and pool but it's beyond hot and instead I had a luxurious long shower, read some of my book and watch Teen Mom. And here I am now, talking to you oh lovely Bloggerino!

Tonight I'm hoping we can go to DownTown Disney, so I'll try and keep you updated, time and internet connection providing.

I hope you're all having good weeks and you managed to read this exceptionally long blog post!!

Toodlepip!

xx

Baby Glitter OPI Mini Stems Kit Giveaway

Aloha Mummy's Bloggerinos,

I recently spotted these pink and sppaarrkly kits in my Mummy's stash so I thought it was about time I made my debut blog post. What better way to start than with a Giveaway!!

Me and my Mummy are going to be giving away not one, but TWO of these beautiful OPI Mini Stems kits, containing 4 gorgeous colours, sure to make your grown up nails sparkle! I can't wait to be a bit older and for Mummy to paint my nails too :)

I asked Mummy to take a proper photo of the lovelies, before I got my tiny little hands on them. As you can see, they're not so mini to me!

You might have seen my Mummy made a video on these a few days ago. She luurrvvess them and has a kit herself!

As with all grown up people's giveaways, there have to be a few rules, so here are mine (I'm such an advanced baby!).

RULES:

As this is my Giveaway, it would be great if you could be a follower of my Mummy's blog. 1 entry.

Tweet a little something to say you have entered and provide a link if you're feeling generous and want to share the luurrvvee. 2 entries.

If you don't have twitter- you should! It's fun and free!  :)

That's it. Nice and easy is how we like it!

Eeeeee I'm so excited I lent up on my elbows to see who was tweeting about me and my giveaway!

This will be open internationally, and my Mummy and I will pick the two winners at random, when she get's back from her trip (in about a week) and I'm done being spoilt by my Grandparents! Please leave a little comment to let her know you've entered and how many times (ie. whether you followed and or tweeted!).

Wooohooo! Good Luck everyone! I'm going to go and have a snooze in my cot now, it's hard work being shamelessly exploited for my cuteness! Hehe!

Toodle-dribbly-pip!

xx

Fly Me To The Moon...or maybe Miami??

Aloha Bloggerinos,

As those of you who watch my YouTube Videos will know, on Monday I am jetting off to America- woohooo!

I'm going on a business trip with my Dad to Miami and Orlando and whilst it will be a working trip, I'm still beyond excited. Baby Glitter will stay at home with her Daddy and his parents will be staying for the week too, so she'll be spoilt rotten and my Mother-In-Law will be in her seventh heaven- she loves Darcy to absolute pieces! So, I know she'll be well looked after and won't miss me.

(Image:weheartit.com)

Seeing as I love to write lists so much, I thought I'd share my joy and tell you some things I'm uber excited for:

1. The airport. I love airports, particularly duty free.

2. I'll be having a massage at the Heathrow Spa before the flight, to review for Sprinkle of Glitter, so that'll be rather lovely I hope.

3. Aeroplane food. I hope it's not ust me, but I adore the way the food all comes in perpendicular square containers on the tray. It's so neat and compartmentalised!

4. The whole plane experience. Films, little mini drinks, the lot.

5. Chatting to my Dad. My Dad has his own business and works so hard at it, that we rarely get a chance for much quality time. It'll be really nice to just catch up now that our lives are so busy.

6. Nutter butters! Nom nom.

7. Looking at American makeup. I need to make a list of things I want that we can't easily access in England- any suggestions?

8. American food. I love IHOP so hopefully we can go there again.

9. Driving from Miami to Orlando. You can't beat a good roadtrip.

10. Being in Orlando. It's my second favourite place on earth (my house being the first!), so I'm pleased as punch at being there.

11. Christmas shopping. I'm going to get a good wedge of it done whilst out there. Call me Mrs Prepared.

12. On the Saturday we're going to go to Harry Potter's Wizarding World of Adventure!!! Alohamora!!

13. Swimming in the hotel pool. Ooohh swishy.

14. Coming home to Baby Glitter.

Oh and of course, bringing in lots of business! hahaha!!

I will be taking glittercam so there will be plenty of vlogs and blogs along the way/on my return, so keep your sparkly eyes peeled.

Toodlepip!

xx

The Catalogue Game

Aloha Bloggerinos,

Baby Glitter is snoozing next to me and so really, this would be the perfect time to write my Illamasqua Theatre of the Nameless post. Buuuuutt, I'm not going to. I want to write something detailed and well thought out, and today my brain is working at half speed so I fear I wouldn't do that kind of post justice.

Today I just wanted to share with you some of the little things in life that have been making me happy of late.

1. Catalogues. Ever since I was a little girl in corduroy trousers (why, Dad? Why?), I have loved catalogues. I find it really therapeutic to flick through the pages and play my little game. The rule is, with money as no issue at all, you have to pick ONE thing off of every page to buy, even if that page is the shower curtain page of the Argos catalogue. Yep, it's quite lame, but to this day I quietly play it by myself when I flick through.

At this time of year there tends to be a new surge of catalogues, showcasing the latest Autumn/Winter trends, so I love to get cosy with a stack and do a bit of from-my-sofa-window-shopping.

2. Boots Vouchers. Every now and then, Boots do their brilliant deal where they give you a £5 off voucher for No.7, when you spend £10. For me, it's really easy to spend £10 because I regularly buy nappies, wipes, baby milk and of course, beauty and cosmetics products, so I take full advantage of this deal. My usual purchases are the Cleansing Wipes which rrp for £7, but with my voucher, they're a much nicer, £2. So far I have 3 packs, but I have 2 more vouchers so I shall be well stocked!

The voucher deal ends on Sunday so you still have this weekend to get in there. I'm half tempted to try their Cleanse and Polish Kit (usually rrp £9, but would only be £4 with the voucher). Hhhmmmmm.


(Rather than post a picture of a list, I went for what is right next to me instead...much cuter! Plus, I can't bare for you to see my everso boring list ahaha 1. Stroke Cat, 2. Empty dishwasher, 3. Zzzzzz)

3. Making Lists. I am a self confessed list-aholic. I could spend my life, making lists. I make To Do lists, Things to Pack lists, Shopping lists, Places To Go This Month lists, Christmas lists, the list (haha) goes on. Now that my life is jam packed with being a Mummy, Wifey, Blogger, Vlogger, Worker, Human Being with Friends and suchlike, I find a list really helps clear my head and I feel quite a sense of accomplishment when I can cross something off.

Bit of a muchness of a muchness post today, but I would have done no justice to a review or 'informationy' post.

Do you play the catalogue game? Or will you be putting it on your list to do tomorrow?

Toodlepip!

xx

Lou's Reviews :: Liz Earle Sheer Skin Tint

Aloha Bloggerinos,

A few weeks back, Liz Earle sent me the new Sheer Skin Tint to have a play with and let my gorgeous Bloggerinos know what I thought.

Before we even begin, I can tell you it's a thumbs up! My last Liz Earle review (found HERE) was a bit negative. I felt awful for not being jolly-hurrah-yippee about it, but knew I would feel terrible if you were to purchase it on my recommendation and not like it. As I said then, reviews on Sprinkle of Glitter are and will always be 100% honest, even it it means the brand in question fall out with me or put a picture of me on a board and throw darts at it! Tehe.

Since starting her business two decades ago, Liz had planned to created a beauty line, as well as her already fabulous skincare range, and so, Liz Earle Colour has arrived!

First up is this little number- The Sheer Skin Tint retails for £21, for 40ml.

First impressions of this product are that I love, love, love the packaging. Each tube comes in a chic navy blue box, the colour of which was inspired by sea surrounding the Isle of White, where Liz lives, and is patented- special! I love products that come in boxes, they feel extra luxurious and I rather struggle to throw the pretty packaging away. Anyone else have that problem?

The glossy blue tube has a basic squeezey nozzle, which I think is a shame as a pump would have been less messy, but I can always decant. Something I did notice that I liked, is the sticky label on the box. It's perforated so that I don't have to rip it off, ripping with it half the box and making it look all horrid and ruined. As a box lover (oh my!), I like to keep things in as perfect condition as possible. The devil is in the detail, eh. Or maybe I'm just a bit sad....hmmm.

The Sheer Skin Tint is available in three shades, Bare, Beige and Beach. Below are swatches of Bare and Beige, which is what I am when I'm sporting natural or tanned skin, respectively.

Enriched with vitamin E, avocado, borage and an SPF of 15, this lightweight foundation feels smooth, non-greasy, dewy and fresh on the skin. It gives a light- medium coverage and as a rosy-cheeked girl, I'm always on the hunt for something to even out my skin tone, and this does- Hurrah!

It feels light and unclogging (urgh, horrid word there) to the skin and coverage really did last all day- something even my beloved MAC Studio Sculpt can struggle with.

I have been wearing this for about a fortnight and can happily say I have had no breakouts, no strange dry patches and no irritability. I don't know how true this is, but I actually feel like it does my skin good.

I think in the winter, when I don't use so much fake tan, I would need a foundation with a fuller coverage, but with a tan, this is perfect for me. Literally, perfect.

Another great thing, to support their "Reduce, Re-Use, Recycle" campaign, when you order online, Liz Earle will send you a sample of each shade, so that you can try it out and ensure it suits, before opening your full size tube. That way, if it doesn't suit, you can return your unopened tube and safe faff, mess and waste- genius.

There is only one flaw inthis product (that I have found so far) - I think there needs to be a more varied range of shades. Whilst Bare, Beige and Beach suit me perfectly, someone with darker skin, would really struggle to make this work. My halfsister has dark skin and I know this is something she couldn't use. Perhaps Liz Earle are busying away in their labs making more shades as I type. We'll wait and see!

The Liz Earle Sheer Skin Tint is being released into the world as of tomorrow. Will you be making a purchase?

Toodlepip!

xx 

Lou's Reviews :: Sleek Au Naturel Palette

Aloha Bloggerinos,

This September (my favourite month by the way), has seen the launch of Sleek's latest collection- Nuuudeee. Yes, it's actually 'Nude', but I like to say nuuuuuddeee in a high pitched sing-songy tone. Nice and normal then.

The collection comprises of a 12 colour palette, a lip conditioner and a blusher. Fabulous.

With a mixture of matte and shimmer pressed shadows, large mirror and double ended sponge brush, the palette promises something for everyone.

Ever since the first Original Palette, I've been a huge fan of the waffle texture the shadows have. I know it's not to everyone's taste but there is something about it that pleases me immensely. I even like the word 'waffle'. Mmmm waffle.

I'm sure you will have seen other people swatch these better (note to self- do smaller swatches to fit 12 on one arm!), but Sprinkle of Glitter wanted a chance to show them off too!

Top row, L-R: Nougat, Nubuck, Cappuccino, Honeycomb, Toast, Taupe.

Bottom row, L-R: Conker, Moss, Bark, Mineral Earth, Regal, Noir.

All of the above are one swipe swatches- I wanted to be equal. As you can see, the matte colours are not as prominent as the shimmery shades. I'm quite disappointed in the matte pigmentation because the majority of my eyeshadow collection is shimmer or glittery, so it would have been fun to experiment with a more matte look. Never the less, as usual, the other shadows have come up trumps and have excellent colour pay off. Good old Sleek.

Sleek Moss vs MAC Pressed Olive and Sleek Noir vs MAC Carbon.

 

My favourite colours from the Au Natural Palette are Moss and Noir. I was so impressed with them that I compared them to the holy grail- MAC. I think it's safe to say, they fared well.

I've noticed a bit of a trend with the Sleek palettes. I love they way there is a kind of gradiation. Granted they threw in a few curve balls with the Caribbean and Monaco collection, but if you are less out there with you eyemakeup, this could be the cosmetics company for you. Above is the Limited Edition Paraguaya Avoir La Peche Palette, Oh So Special Palette (still available) and the Au Natural Palette from the Nude collection, which, hip hip hooray, is going to be in the permanent line!

All in all, I wouldn't say this is one of Sleek's best, due to the lack of pigment in the rather chalky matte colours, but for £6.49, the other colours are worth it, especially since the some of the colours outshine MAC.

You can pick yourself up a treat from the Sleek Nude collection either from you local Superdrug or the Sleek Website.

Are you into the Nude-ness? What are your thought?

Toodlepip!

xx

First Wedding Anniversary

Aloha Bloggerinos,

Today is mine and Matt's first wedding anniversary. How time flies! This time last year I was enjoying the most magical of days and today we had a great time remembering it.

To celebrate, we gave each other lovely leather bound books that on each page have titles like "Our funniest moment together" or "Where I see us in 10 years". The idea is that you write your thoughts on each page and then the recipient has a brilliant keepsake. I gave Matt a black one with "My Beautiful Groom" on the front, and he gave this white one.

I loved reading it and even shed a little tear. I will treasure it forever.

The silver plaque says, "Louise Alexandra Watson", which is my married name, although I still use my maiden name (Pentland) for most things.

It was so funny and heartwarming to read Matt's answers and we were pleased as punch to see that some of our answers were the same.

Matt bought me a really gorgeous card with some pretty sentimental words inside. As it's a bit personal, it hasn't made it onto the blog, but look at all those kisses inside. Ahhh.

Later on, my chum Charly (my Maid of Honour for our wedding) popped over with a card from her and one from her parents (thanks Dawn and Robert!!). I just had to share Charly's card with you all. She made it on moonpig, it's so personal and such a great idea. I really appreciate it. I may even frame it!!

I love that she included Darcy in the card, because she was a big part of our wedding day (I was 11 weeks pregnant) and an even bigger part of our marraige.

Also, during the week, a surprise parcel arrived!! My friend Faye (click on her name for her blog) had made me this beautiful pressed flower arrangement in a shabby chic heart frame. What's really special is that the petals and leaves are actually from my wedding bouquet- yes, Faye was the lucky lady/lady who jumped high enough and caught it on the night.

I was so touched that she a) remembered our day, b) took the time to hand make us a gift and c) used my bouquet- it has so much meaning and stands very proudly in our hallway.

I feel so privileged to be happily married and also blessed with a little girl. I know so many of my friends who would love to be, and a few who are trying for babies and struggling, so I am all too aware of how lucky I am. I'm very grateful of my life.

So dear Bloggerinos, please do raise a sparkly glass, Happy First Anniversary GlitterFamily!!

Toodlepip!

xx

Lou's Reviews :: Hensmans Hair Salon

Aloha Bloggerinos,

Good old twitter. A couple of weeks ago, I saw a snazzy little tweet from a PR Company, asking if any Beauty Bloggers lived in Northampton. Hello!! I do! I do!

They asked me if I would pop on down to a swish salon called  Hensmans and tell my Bloggerinos my honest, unbiased opinions on my experiences there.

So that is precisely what I shall do. Are you sitting comfortably? Then let's begin.

Hensmans hair salon is located in central Northampton, ideal for those arriving on public transport or if you fancy a spot of shopping afterwards.

On arrival I was pleasantly ushered over to a plush lounge area, where I perused a magazine. The atmosphere was really relaxed but not in an 'everyone-must-be-uber-hushed-and-well-behaved' fashion.

After a few minutes, a rather lovely chap (steady on, I'm married!) called Gavin came over and I was led downstairs to a quieter area of the salon to discuss my treatments and have a chitchat.

Whilst we went downstairs, I had a quick nosey around and was surprised to see that there was such a variety of ages there. I usually find salons cater to a certain age groups, like young trendy salons or ones more preferred by the blue rinse ladies, but here there was a young boy, me and an elderly lady. I mentioned this to Gavin and he said this was a great part of the job and of course all the staff cater their conversations to their clients, so it makes for a more varied day.

So, the treatments. I had a seah head massage, a luxury conditioner treatment, a wash and a blow dry. Yum.

After a bit of basin time, the conditioner was applied. Yes, it looks like something that came out of shrek's nose, but I promise you it was delightful! All smooth and rich, mmmm. Gavin told me that there is the option to apply heat the to hair which would open up the cuticles slightly and allow for a deeper conditioning experience. Fortunately, my hair isn't super dry (although I have just had it ombred- ooopsie) so this wasn't really necessary. There are also different strengths and formulas of conditioner, so there'll be something for everyone. Hurrah.

The seah head massage was huh-mazing. After Gavin applied aromaoilum (which I oh-so-hilariously described as 'hair lube'...why do I say these things!?!), he worked his magic. A seah head massage is 14 step treatment aimed to relax and sooth. What more could a girl ask for?

Being the snazzy little (or not so as the case may be) blogger I am, I asked for some info about the 14 steps. For all of you that are interested, I will be writing all 14 steps in the Extras page, which is coming very soon!

In a nutshell, it was fabulous. To reaffirm this, let me just tell you something- I am NOT a tactile person. I struggle to hug chums, I hate shaking hands and kissing on arrival/departure is a chore for me. That being said, I not only coped with the massage, but very much enjoyed it.

And look! My drink was bought to me on a little silver platter, fancy.

After pinging back to reality from my swishy massage, we went upstairs to the busier area, so I could have the oils and conditioners washed out and my hair blow dried. I don't think it's customary to have all this upstairs downstairs business but Hensmans wanted to show me all of the salon, so don't fear, you won't be moved about so much if your visit!

Upstairs was bustling and busy, a stark contrast to the more subdued downstairs area.

With squeaky clean hair, it was blowdry time. I asked for something with body and movement.

Gavin used Moroccan oil as it defrizzes and reduced drying time, the flatliner for a sleek finish and grip mousse for extreme hold and volume (although I must say, it was very light and not at all 'crispy' like some mousses can be).

As I was reviewing these treatments, I was a very lucky girly and they were given to me complimentary, but should I have paid for them, I believe the whole experience would have cost around the £40 mark. I think this is reasonable for a luxury treat. It would even be quite nice to book something like this as a present for a Mum, Sister, Chum etc.

This is the part where I have to apologise for my camera. Macro setting, yes yes yes, regular setting, yuk yuk yuk. I'm working on a new camera, phewf!

Anyway, this was the final result. I loved it. It was gorgeous and bouncy and I kid you not, my actual hairs felt strong. Hmmm, sttrrrronnnggg is a good word isn't it?!

Gavin and Hensmans Hair Salon get a great big 10/10 from me. If you are ever in the area and fancy giving yourself a treat, pop in and enjoy.

Would you like to see more spa/salon treatments and experiences reviews on Sprinkle of Glitter, or are you all about the products? If it's a resounding 'yes', I shall do more for you :)

Toodlepip!

xx