A Jar Full of Love

It was my friend Sarah's birthday last week and I wanted to make her something special, as it was a bit of a milestone birthday!

You might remember Sarah got me a gorgeous, personalised Nails Inc nail varnish, which I posted about here.

I remember reading a post by Becky from Milk Bubble Tea, where she created recipe, where a whole cake (rainbow coloured at that) was mixed and baked in a glass jar. I loved the idea of creating something lovely in a jar that I decided that was the way to go with Sarah's birthday present.

Like me, Sarah is a huge fan of beauty products. We have had many a conversation and many a Boots trip involving lipsticks, mascaras and beauty balms, oh my! So, I decided to make Sarah a jar of beauty!

First I went to Cargo and picked up a Kilner jar. These are those rustic looking jars with the clip latch, which look lovely in a country style kitchen. They are not the cheapest (between £3-£4 a jar) but they look so pretty! I then headed to Poundland and picked up a bag of iridescent scatter stuff and mini eggs. The pretty sparkly stuff is perfect for lining your jar and making it look like a a jar full of magic and sparkle!

I then headed to Boots and Superdrug and picked up a load of lovely beauty things like nail varnishes, Maybelline Baby Lips lip balm, vintage looking nail files, a face mask and a few other bits.

The next step was to line the jar with the sparkly stuff and then arrange the items in the jar. I carefully placed them in, as I wanted you to be able to see what was actually in there. Then I scattered the mini chocolate eggs in the jar to fill up any spaces...and because girls need chocolate...fact!

The finished result looked so pretty and I was so excited to give it to Sarah! It went down very well and I have already started planning the next jar.

The best thing about them is that you can spend as much or as little as you want on them and make them completely personal to the person you're giving them to.

What do you think of this gift idea? Would you give it a go? Enjoy x

Barry M's Gelly Hi Shine Nail Paints

Splurge Alert!

Wow, just realised that this is my third nail polish post in three weeks! Sorry about that, obviously becoming a bit obsessed.

I am now 6 days past my due date and I need things to keep me occupied so I don't get bored out of my mind with the waiting game.

That being said, I'm using the time to read, watch movies, see friends and catch up on all of my favourite blogs. I wanted to buy myself a little something, as I haven't bought anything for myself in ages, and with spring in the air, and the fact that I can't really buy clothes at the moment, I felt that some new nail colours were in order.

After reading my usual blogs, I quickly picked up that the nail varnish du jour are the Barry M Hi Shine Gelly Nail Paint. Lily, Lily and Becky have all been raving about them, so I thought a trip up to the high street to my local Superdrug was in order. Lucky for me, there is currently a special deal on these polishes - 2 for £6 (they are usually £3.99 each)...so naturally I bought a few...5 to be precise...I missed out on number 6 because their stock was low, but I was told I can come back in with the receipt and pick up another colour as part of the deal, when they get more stock in.

These nail paints are supposedly so good because they provide a hi shine, gel like finish, which looks super shiny and lasts, chip free, for a few days more so than a regular polish.

The colours I opted for were: Satsuma, Dragon Fruit, Greenberry, Blueberry and Prickly Pear.

From left to right: Blueberry, Satsuma, Prickly Pear, Greenberry, Dragon Fruit. 

Satsuma is a really gorgeous almost neon orange. In this picture, it looks more pastel then neon, but the effect is definitely bright and loud in real life. 

Prickly Pear is a super pretty soft lilac. It reminds me of the colour I wore on my nails on my wedding day, but this is slightly more concentrated, and I can't wait to try it out.

Greenberry reminds me a bit of Pool Party, my favourite colour from Topshop's nail varnish range. It's a vibrant mint green with a hint of blue - perfect for spring time. 

Blueberry is a gorgeous sky blue. I've painted my left hand with this shade (apart from my ring finger, which is Dragon Fruit) in anticipation of the possibility of Titch being a boy. 

Finally, Dragon Fruit (as shown on my right hand in case Titch is a girl) is a pretty candy pink - a little bit brighter than the baby pink I used in my last post.

So I've used two of the Gelly paints and I was really impressed with them. They glided on easily, dried quickly and I applied two coats of each. The end result was so shiny that I didn't even have to use a topcoat.

Now the test, let's see how long they last without chipping. I'll let you know either here or on twitter so make sure you follow me - @cbelleoftheball 

Have you tried the Gelly varnishes? What are your thoughts? Enjoy x