Little Ondine Natural Nail Polish Review

When it comes to me and nail products..... it never really works out overly well! My nails are pretty cr*p and I struggle to find polishes that last more than a day and/or don't make my nails more brittle than they already are!

Fast forward to September 2015 and a brand new natural beauty brand that has come into my life and I may have just found something worth shouting about!

Little Ondine Nail Polishes - Nivarna & Second Wish*

Little Ondine are a fairly new brand on the block and after hearing all about their products and being offered to try a couple I thought it sounded like a fab idea. 

From what I was told these polishes sounded almost too good to be true and I couldn't wait to give them a go.

 To start they only have 3 ingredients! 3! 
Water, natural resin and organic colourants. Just 3 little things make up these unique polishes and what's best about that? It means they are odourless - fantastic for when your painting in public especially AND quick drying - something everyone wants in a polish!

The packaging (shown above) is fabulous too, great fold-up cardboard containers which then unfold to reveal all the information you need about the polishes and how to use them #genius!

After shaking the bottle well and washing and drying my hands as instructed I sat down ready and raring to transform my short, stumpy boring nails.
The consistency of the polishes are fairly 'gloopy' which worried me at first but the style of the brush makes it so easy to sweep the product on. (Even on my tiny little nails!)
As promised the product is totally odour free (so no moans from the boyfriend who was sat next to me!) and after a few coats and just a few minutes they were totally opaque and dry - I couldn't believe it.

The instructions also mention to keep your hands dry for the first hour after painting.... I can't remember whether I did or not to be honest (I'm a bit of a serial hand washer I'm afraid) but I'm going to remember this for the future. 

I couldn't believe how brilliant this polish looked. So even that it looked like it could be shellac or gellish, I was paranoid that I was going to chip it and ruin my fabulous work BUT I have to say this lasted probably ten times longer than any high street polish I've used in the past on my nails. (like I said before I never have much luck, but this really did work!)

When you're ready to change these polishes removing it couldn't be easier - you literally just peel it off! 
No nail polish removers or acetone required! Something else which always makes my nails even worst and with Little Ondine I can avoid it! 
When I came to take it off I did have a few nails lifting ready to be peeled already so it couldn't have been easier, plus I didn't feel like I was damaging my nails at all.
Since using these two shades my nails have grown and actually feel a little stronger, which is something I was not expecting at all!

I was surprised by how many shades are in the Little Ondine collection - over 60 (all found here) - there is literally something for everyone, every season and every event!

Please let me know if you try them out and what you think - I can't wait to invest in some more shades, at £9.20 each they are a little more expensive than your usual Barry M the for the quality and the fact they are all natural I'll happily pay a little more.

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Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G. Love Bite Lipstick

Holy Moly! Look what I finally own - a Charlotte Tilbury lipstick! 

I have been drooling over these from a distance for months now and I was incredible lucky to actually WIN one earlier this month! (I know, lucky right?)
From the moment I laid eyes on this I was in love - slightly emotional about a lip product I know - but everything from the packaging to the finish is just gorgeous.

 Charlotte Tilbury has slowly, over the last few years, become a brand which every beauty lover wants to get their mitts on - me included.
This is one of the lipsticks from her signature lipstick range - K.I.S.S.I.N.G. - a collection of 11 shades curated with modern and classic icons in mind.

Everyone needs a classic red lip and although I own more red lip products than I can count, this shade is something special! I'd probably even go as far as to say it's the perfect pillarbox red - great for near enough every skin tone.

(Opps dodgey fading fake tan alert...#sorry!)

Creamy, rich, highly pigmented and super long-lasting - this is, in my opinion, worth every penny of the £23 asking price. I think I'll be treating myself to some more CT products very soon.....

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Bleach London Reincarnation Mask Review

Bleach London are a brand I've drooled over for so long now.

 Their funky wash in-wash out dyes are a dream and I WISH I was in a line of work that made it okay for me to dye my hair whatever colour I fancied now and again - but I think if I rocked up to work with bright blue hair they probably wouldn't appreciate it. Boooo!

(I do think I may go pink for when I head to Germany next month though #whynot?)

Anyway enough about the fact I can't have cool hair......... the hair that I can have is blonde and blonde is what I've been for a long while now!

I decided to go a bit blonder recently (I fancied a Teresa McQueen look!) and even though I knew what affect the bleach would have I went ahead and did it anyway!

For the first few washes after having my hair done I'm not going to lie my locks felt extremely knotty and dry (you know that slight cotton wool feeling? - eek!) - even with lots of conditioner and my beloved tangle teezer, so I knew it was time to invest in something a little more intense.

I had heard about this conditioning mask from Bleach a while ago was always intrigued to give it a go so when I spotted it in Boots half price at just £3 I snapped it up with utter delight.

The Reincarnation Mask is a treatment to help resurrect and hydrate thirsty, bleached or coloured hair - Ding! ding! ding! Winner!

The sunflower seed extract and micro wheat proteins help to improve the elasticity of the hair aswell as giving it great shine and helping reduce colour fade.

I followed the instructions on the packaging and after shampooing and rinsing my hair I slapped this all over my locks root-to-tip! It says to leave on the hair for 10-20minutes .... I was actually doing this in a slight hurry so I probably only just managed 10 minutes (next time I will leave it on for alot longer!).

It also says explains a great way to enchance the amazing results - by wrapping your hair in a warm towel and leaving it to work it's magic - I will definitely be trying this out at some point!

As soon as I rinsed it out and ran my fingers through my hair I felt an immediate difference! I grabbed my tangle teezer and enjoy brushing through my hair for the first time in a week or so!

This stuff is a god send for my bleached hair - it literally feels brand new! I'll be using this at least once a week from now on. If your hair is in need of some TLC and moisture then I highly recommend this stuff - it's only £6 normally and I think you'd get a good month's worth from each tube!

p.s. aren't you just loving my new camera? I'm obsessed!

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Jurlique #12daysofGlow : Aromatic Rose Duo

I have been so excited to get on my laptop and write this post for weeks now and now it's finally time - wahoooo!

 It was back in October when Jurlique first started talking Christmas to me, I blooming love Christmas and the lovely lot at Jurlique alike so to be asked to join in with a fabulous December campaign of their's was so exciting!

I've used Jurlique products before (you may remember this post) and, of course, fell in love with them straight away! They are one of those 'how have I not tried anything from these people before' kind of brands!

Anyway back to what this is all about! This year Jurlique have created some amazing goodies and gift sets full of their best selling products and with Christmas just around the corner, it's all about giving the gift of glow!

Know someone who's a skincare addict? Want to treat a loved one? Or maybe fancy something new for yourself? Then keep on reading! 

For 12 days this month a different blogger is going to be sharing with you one of Jurlique's fabulous sets .... and I, Kirstie, here at A Yellow Brick Brick am Day number 2!

So sit back, relax and check out the Aromatic Rose Duo! 

Aromatic Rose Duo*

The rose range was what I tried before from Jurlique and I love love loved it so I had high hopes for this lovely duo!

The set comes in a lovely gift box and as you can see from photos at the top, came beautifully wrapped! I love the little touches like from companies, especially if you are giving i to someone as a present!

In this duo you get the 125ml Rose Hand Cream and the Roll-on Rose Fragrance Oil.

First I'll talk about the hand cream! 

This tube is huge! Well... it's 125ml but it feels so big compared to all the other hand creams I own, which is fab! I always carry a huge handbag so the fact it is a little bigger doesn't bother me in the slightest! 

The cream itself is so thick and creamy, without being greasy at all it is seriously lovely! I use so much hand cream at this time of year, the cold weather makes my hands so dry and working with the public I tend to over-use that trusty anti-bac aswell which causes havoc with my hands too, so hand creams are life savers!

The scent is beautiful, just like my other rose products from Jurlique, the smell is soft but strong and lasts for ages! 

I can imagine my Mum keeping this cream by the sink for everyday use.... she always has hand creams near the sink and I know she would LOVE this!

The other half of the duo now and the roll on fragrance which comes in a convenient 11ml bottle.

The powerful rose scent includes top notes of Rose Wardia and Rose Anatolia blooms and the smell is so long lasting on the skin!

I find the smell of rose really soothing and calming and it has really been helping me relax after a hard days work recently! As you may have seen earlier this week I talked about products that have been helping me sleep better.... this is one of them!

 After having a shower I have been putting this on my pulse points and relaxing on the sofa! If you wanted to have it as an everyday fragrance it's also great  layered with the other rose products Jurlique has to offer!

Convenient, quick and easy this is a fabulous product!

Worth £50 in value this gift box saves you a whopping £15 being only £35! Click here to check it out! A gorgeous present for a loved one this Christmas (or yourself!), I must say both these products have been such a luxury treat for me.

Make sure you check out the rest of Jurlique amazing blogger #12daysofGlow - I know some amazing girlies that are just waiting for their turn to rave about their products they have been trying! 

To see each day being revealed make sure you are following Jurlique on twitter - @JurliqueUK and see how many blogger and vlogger faces you recognise!

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POTW #21 : TFIOS

Happy Friday my beautiful readers! Thank you for taking the time to come over to here - A Yellow Brick Blog.... I feel like I don't say thank you enough! And don't forget A Yellow Brick Vlog is up and running fully now - 5 videos up and having so much fun doing it!

Anyway that's enough thanking and plugging for one post - it is my Product Of The Week time once again - how on earth are we at #21 already, these weeks to seem to float by month after month after month, we are in July - the wrong side of the year!

Sorry you beauty lovers but this week I have a non-product product! 

As you can probably tell by the title of this post - it is a book/movie - duh!

Yes it is the ever popular and totally emotional damaging The Fault In Our Stars.

I've had this on my kindle for god knows how many months and with the film coming out I just had to knuckle down and read it before I saw it.

 In the end it took me less than 48 hours to read it - when I want too I can read alot and fast!

It was brilliant, laugh out loud funny and hysterically-crying sad all at the same time - and then 2 days later I went and saw the movie.

A fantastic construction of John Green's amazing words and ideas, it broke my heart all over again! 

There were a couple of scenes which I think would have been really powerful acted out but unfortunately they seemed to have missed the cut which was a shame!

I urge you all to go and read the book/see the movie - I think the 2 friends I took to the cinema with me STILL have puffy eyes from all the emotions! 

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Katy Perry's Prismatic World Tour : OOTD & Concert

If you follow any form of my social media or have heard from me in the last 24 hours you will clearly know that last night (Friday 30th) I ventured up to London and went to the O2 to see the incredible Katy Perry!

Now this was the 4th time I'd seen her so of course I knew I was in for an amazing show from an amazing artist!

 Me & my friends had bought these tickets back in November when they were released so for the last 6 months we have just been doing a constant countdown to May 30th - and I can't believe it's been and gone already!

So I thought I'd share with you a few magical photos from the evening and my OOTD (because they are always fun!)

Boat journey done we headed for our train to Waterloo - as you can see ... we all love a good statement piece! We also thought we'd make some memories and jump in a photobooth before our train left!

We had Reflection Section tickets we meant we were in the pit in the middle of the stage!

OUTFIT

Necklace : New Look

Top : New Look

Trousers : New Look

Shoes : New Look

So yeah.... it's all from New Look!

In the Reflection Section!

So there you are.... an another amazing night of my life complete thanks to Katy Hudson Perry! She really is so so talented and the amount of thought, effort and detail that goes into every second of her shows is just outstanding! 

Praying they'll be another chance for me to see the Prismatic World Tour again before it ends next year! 

KATYCAT FOREVER.

Thank you Katy xxx

Kirstie's Travel Diaries #13 : The Tonight Show

Catch up with #12 here.

DAY 13 (12/03/12)

6 months or so before our trip I was sat at home on the Isle Of Wight thinking of all the things we could do whilst in the US.
 Something that popped into my head was being in a TV audience. There are so many shows daytime and evening in America that have a live studio audience and I thought what an amazing experience it would be!
So I started looking in to how to apply to be in there (if that was even possible) and what shows would be near to where we were staying!
After alot of research I decided that The Tonight Show...aka Jay Leno would be amazing - he always has such amazing stars on there and he is a funny guy! So I e-mailed the show and explained what me and my friend were doing and why we would love to have tickets to the show!

A couple of weeks/months (can't quite remember) I received a reply and a confirmation of our tickets to the Monday show on 12th March 2012!!!! SOOO exciting! And what was even more exciting was finding out WHO was going to be on the show.

We found this out when we were in New York as it was a week before the show and the main guest was JESSICA SIMPSON! 
THE Jessica Simpson was going to be on the show promoting her then new show Fashion Show, her Elle cover and oh yeah - she was about 8 months pregnant! 
Me and my friend had always been Jessica fans so we were obviously ecstatic that we were going to be just a few metres away from her!

We had our driver again, the hilarious Harry (who told us he looked like the Armenian Jay Leno... which he actually did haha!),  he sent a snazzy black car with blacked out windows to make us feel important!
 We had been told that it was first come and first served with the e-mailed tickets so we rocked up a couple of hours early and joined the queue!
 After about an hour or so we were taken in the studios and put into another queue outside the stage with a number each. These were the numbers that were going to get us in!
After another, what felt like a lifetime, wait - we were heading in!

We walked in backstage and after one of the crew looked at us they pointed to a bit of paper (which was the layout of the seating) and had a guide show us to our seats..... and guess what - we were FRONT MIDDLE!

We literally could not believe it, about 4 metres away from the seats that Jay Leno and his guests were going to be sat in within the next hour - how was this real life?!
We had a few people come out and get the crowd warmed up, asking who had come the furthest..... we obviously won that one - with a few gasps from the rest of the audience which made us laugh!
Jay himself the came out and introduced himself and how the show worked! 
It was then time for it all to begin time for lots of clapping (I swear my hands were red after), lots of laughter and lots of smiles!

Because we were front row we got to get up at the beginning and approach Jay at the stage when he came out for high fives - amazing!
After Jay's comedy opening and he first guest had been and gone, his name was Adam Carolla I think he had been on Celebrity Apprentice or something it was time for a break and to prepare for Jessica! (I think this was how it went... it could have been the other way round... but you get the jist!)

Throughout this experience I kept having to look at my friend and say... is this real? It was bizzare - we were in LA, on the Jay Leno show waiting for Jessica Simpson, not many people for a little place in England can say they've done that!

That's right the first brunette there is me and the blonde next to me is my friend - Hiya Jay!!

Here she came - through the gap in the wall and down the walk-way. Wowee she was pregnant but looking stunning and in still wearing amazingly high heels - impressive!
I couldn't believe it is was actually Jessica Simpson!!!
She chatted about her Elle cover, her new show, her pregnancy and her obsession with Slutty Brownies.... which sound incredible!

After her interview it was time for the band Soja to play and then it was over! 
We had had the best afternoon! We hung outside the NBC studios waiting for our ride back to our hotel and in the process we spotted Jessica leave and also saw Jay for  bit as he pulled over his car to chat to us all!

Home we went and it was time to pack, we were leaving the day after next and we wanted to make sure we were all ready for our flight to San Fran before our last day in LA so we could enjoy it to the max!

NEXT POST : Horse riding in the Hollywood hills & the 21 Jump Street premiere - yup that's right.. Channing!

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Kirstie's Travel Diaries #4 - Capital City

Catch up with #3 here.

DAY 5 (04/03/12)

Today started SUPER early, 5:30am kind of early. Today was a day we had been really excited about but in which I was also slightly dreading. We were off on a day trip to Washington DC (amazing right?) BUT it was a 4 hour coach trip each way and I am prone to getting travel sick (not so amazing). But even though I felt a little panicky I thought to myself... shut up and get on with it! 
We had to be at Grand Central Station at 7am to meet the coach, so at about 6:40ish we went outside our hotel where luckily a taxi was already waiting! We found our tour and our coach and before we knew it we were on it and off! (Before I forget this trip was booked through the company Viator, a truly fanstastic company which we use more than once on this trip - click here to find out more)

We found the seats near the back with the extra leg room - we always have to get them and I was happy that the coach wasn't at full capacity. We were the only British people on board, mostly other American's and the rest German or Spanish or something or other ... we'll say European! 
I wish I could remember our tour guides name but I just can't but nevertheless - he was great. We left New York City and he was off - telling us so many facts and stories we couldn't keep up.
 New Jersey was a funny one as I think he probably said the words "New Jersey" at least 58 times in one part of his speech, ever other word was "New Jersey".  It was so nice having someone to listen too as we drove through all the states and aswell as distracting me from the fact we were stuck on this coach for hours I was actually learning some pretty interesting information aswell.

After a couple of hours we stopped off in Delaware and I couldn't believe we were half way already - it was 9am and it had gone so so quickly! Me & my friend grabbed some food and had a quick toliet break before we had to get back on the coach again. 
A lot of tree's and freeways later and we saw it, a sign saying 'Washington' we knew it wasn't far away and we were so excited to go and see all the tourist attractions! We drove past the Pentagon and Arlington Cemetery and the tour guide did give us some of the basic information on them but unfortunately we weren't able to stop off at them, but got got a couple of snaps anyway! 

Our first stop was The Abraham Lincoln Memorial, which I would say everyone has seen on TV or in a film at least once in their life and I was really looking forward to seeing the real thing! We hopped off the coach and we were told too be back in about 45minutes/1 hourish (If I remember right). We went straight towards the memorial and definitely got camera happy (you have to at times like these!) Obviously it was busy, it is a huge tour attraction but it wasn't like you felt it was busy! It was easy to get your photos and see everything without people being in your way or you being it there's.  (I would like to apologise now for my hair/afro/frizzball and lack of make-up transformation that is about to occur in the rest of the photos - it was a long long day.)

From the memorial aswell you can also see the Washington Monument but that was actually closed off for repairs! After taking in the Lincoln Memorial we headed back down the steps and across the park to the Korean War Memorial which the tour guide had also advised us to do. Had a really embarassing moment when my scarf blew off and into the memorial! Lucky someone found it and came and gave it back to me .... it was really windy!

Back on the coach now and our next stop was... The White House! Earlier on in the day the guide had informed us that alot of the time you can go right upto by the fence and get some really good up close photos, but other times you can't get anywhere near it.... guess which time it was for us? Yup there were police surrounding it! Although it did make it a bit more exciting as we knew The President was in there and apparently having a meeting! The police were very strict (obviously) and even one step off of the grass we were on and they had the megaphone out and asking us to move back - which really mademe jump! 

We didn't stay there too long and then we were on the coach again and heading to a gift shop. (I'll cut to the chase now.... it was crap!) We both grabbed a few postcards and a snack and got back on the coach knowing our next sop would be a funny one - Madame Tussauds.

This MT features mainly waxworks of previous presidents and obviously there are celebrity statue there aswell! From what I remember we didn't have much time there but it was fun! There was a set up of The Presidents office with a professional photographer which ended up being hilarious - he got my friend on top of the desk lying down and pretending to answer the phone, thank god I didn't have to do that! 

Next stop on out whirlwind trip around Washington DC was the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. This is huge museum and I really loved it. It was so so interesting, especially all the space and universe stuff (because I'm a geek like that!), there was so much to see and do and I would 100% recommend it to anyone who is in the area, it was fantastic. While we were here aswell we made sure we had some lunch/dinner and being healthy as ever we had.... MacDonalds, because what museum is not complete without a Maci D's inside?!

After this we were all off to our last stop of the day - The Capitol Building ( is the meeting place of the U.S. Congress, the legislature of the U.S. federal government.) This was super fun as it was all outside and we got to have a bit of time out in the sunshine (even though it was still a little chilly!) After getting some photos with the famous building me and my friend stretched our legs out on the grass in front and then went and had a chat with the tour guide. Of course we were talking about the UK and he was telling us all the stuff he'd watched on TV from us, including Fawlty Towers (one of my favourite shows!).

So now it was time to say goodbye to Washington DC and head back to New York City and our hotel! The coach journey again went super quick (never been so grateful for anything in my life!) we stopped off at the same service station in Delaware again and got some snacks, by this time it was really dark and we were starting to get really sleepy! The tour guides (yeah there was two of them.... forgot to mention that part but the other one was an english translator!) at this point put on a DVD for all of us to watch. This was a film we had both never head of called Old Dogs starring Robin Williams and John Travolta and beacuse it was getting so late we both fell asleep before the end... I still don't know what happened!

New York City just minutes away we got the option, to be dropped off at Times Square or back at Grand Central Station! Obviously we picked Times Square as it was closer and made the trek back to our hotel and thankfully to bed!

NEXT POST - SOHO, SPENDING & SERENDIPITY 3 - our last day in NYC for now.

30 Day Snap #6 - Walks in the park

I took this photo whilst I was walking my dogs earlier in my local park! (yup that's one of them in the photo) This park is literally a 5 minute walk away from my house and leads down to my favourite beach ever. So many amazing childhood memories here!

 One thing I've never noticed though is this tree! My brother, who I was with, said it's been there for a couple of years now, but I had no idea! The top has been carved in too some amazing owls and I think a squirell aswell - thought it would be perfect for today's 30 day snap!

Catch up here, Days - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.