Good afternoon to all of you beautiful ladies out there...

It has been a LONG time since I've blogged, but I've just got sooo much to share!  I'll have to say sorry for my absence from the blog, but I'm now working full-time, studying towards an MSc in Medicinal Chemistry and having to run my household.  So quite a bit to be getting on with.  I really miss blogging so will try to do it in between whenever I can.

So without further ado....a belated Merry Christmas!  I hope you've all had a wonderful festive time that is filled with all the good stuff that Christmas should be all about.  Lots of blessings from my house to yours.

I really wanted to share what I got for Christmas and loads of other posts that I've organised for the next few days, so I'd love to see you peering in and reading what I've been up to.

All my gifts together

My giant 'cow' slipper that warms your feet and my Teradactyl warming beanie

From left to right: Benefit's Primed for lovin' kit, Urban Decay Black Market 24/7 mini pencils, Naked Basic/2/3 dual ended pencils, Hugo Boss Nuit Fragrance set and body lotion and Nails Inc Sexy Dressed Nails Mini Polishes

The Benefit Primed for Lovin' kit contains: Sugarbomb Lipgloss, High Beam Highlighter, Porefessional Primer and They're Real Mascara (a huge favourite!)

These are all my Urban Decay Liners...the Naked duel-ended babies are absolutely gorgeous!

The Best Dressed Nails Kit by Nails Inc includes from left to right: Hampstead Court (silver hologram fibre optic polish), Old Street (rainbow graffiti polish), Regents Park (new red sprinkles polish), Westminster Bridge Road (deep violet galaxy polish) and finally Kings Road (rose gold foil effect polish).

My oxblood Zara Mini Tote (LOVE IT!) and two tickets to Harry Potter Studios in Watford (my husband added the interactive tour by Draco Malfoy and the commemorative book). Super lucky girl!

I got the Lee Stafford Poker Straight Hair kit and the Toni & Guy Kit too.

The Lee Stafford kit includes: Dry Shampoo, Dehumidifier Spray and the Flat Iron Protection Spray. You also get a handy comb and little hair bands in pink.

Closer up ....

The Matthew Williamson for Toni & Guy Hair collection also includes the Dry Shampoo, Extreme Hold Hairspray and Heat Protection Spray and as a bonus you get the spiral hair grips and pretty Matthew Williamson bag that you could easily use for makeup!

I also got from left to right: Body Shop Vitamin E Night Cream, Lush Turkish Deligh Shower Smoothie, Mrs Frosty pack, Lush 'The Honeymooner' massage bar, No 7 Body Shimmer Aftersun and Body Shop's Vitamin E Eye Cream

So as you can see I've been spoilt rotten and am so greatful for all the amazing gifts that my husband and all our family gave both of us.  I also got loads of Lush bathbombs including my favourites 'Golden Wonder' and 'Cinders'.

Hope you've all enjoyed this look into what I got for Christmas and that you got some wonderful gifts too.

Lots of Christmassy Cheer

Special GIVEAWAY [CLOSED]

I'm finally doing my much talked about GIVEAWAY!  Part of the giveaway will be shared with you my amazing followers. However, some parts will be kept secret to allow for this to a little bit exciting!  I'm very excited to offer you the chance of winning this lovely prize, and hope that you will enjoy the process of entering the competition! 

The main prize will be the Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette!

 

Other prizes include:  Naked Starflower Crush Body Wash, Foam Bath and Body Butter.  Then there is a fun little photo album with the funky gerbil on, a handbag hook, Hello Kitty keyring, handbag tissues, metallic red nail wraps, Montagne Jeunesse Chocolate Face Mask, Kiss Lashes, Soap and Glory's new 'A Great Kisser' Lip Moisture Balm in Juicy Peach and a little hamster pen. 

What does the secret giveaway mean?

It basically means that a part of the giveaway will be shown here, and another part will be kept secret.  I've listed the brands below to allow you to see whether any of the competition is worth entering. 

So, what brands are going to be in the giveaway?

Urban Decay, Benefit, Soap & Glory, Naked, Kiss, Nail Wrap, OPI, LUSH and Montagne Jeunesse. 

How do I enter?

The rules are pretty simple and straightforward:

1. Be a member/follower of the blog via Google Friend Connect (the box in the left hand column)

2. If you can't follow the blog via GFC then I will accept email entries at the normal address (buttonsfriend85@gmail.com)

3. Leave a comment on this post telling me what you would like to see more of on the blog and/or what you find the most useful (i.e. add video tutorials/do more nail posts/fashion is important)

4. Leave a valid email address or Twitter handle for me to contact you on in case you are the winner

5. Spread the word via Twitter or Facebook to all your friends and family - This isn't really an entry requirement and you won't get any extra brownie points but if someone you know wins, then maybe you can divvy up the prize.

That's it!

Like I said, the rules and regulations are straightforward and all entries must fulfill the requirements or else it won't be counted. If you don't leave a comment, name, contact info or be a follower then you are automatically taken out of the loop and lose the chance of winning. It's only one entry per person so if you've left a comment then you don't need to email me your entry because it won't count, and vice versa.

The giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY and is now live so you can start leaving your comments from here on. I will close the giveaway on Wednesday 29th February at 9pm so there is enough time to get your entries in. Remember, you snooze you lose!

I look forward to reading through all your entries and remember, keep an eye out on Twitter for information about more brands being added to the giveaway.

Ready... Set.... GO!

Lots of 

Golden Wonder

It is no secret that I'm an absolute Lush-aholic!  Lush makes some amazingly organic bathballistics, soaps, bubble bars and much much more.  If you haven't ever tried any of their products, then take a look at their website.

Over January, I popped into my local Lush store, only to realise they had a 50% off sale on all the Christmas stock!  I picked up loads of bits but there was one item that stood out BIG TIME!

Golden Wonder

This ballistic is like a pass the parcel gift – each layer has something different to offer. This is not for a quick bath because it takes its time, this ballistic, its wonders to unfold.

First take some time to shake it, listen to the little rattle from within and try to imagine what’s in there. Then drop it in your water and gaze in wonderment as gold turns to yellow, turns to blue and spits out soluble stars along the way.

This isn’t a bath – this is an event !

This ballistic smells of a light fizzing champagne cocktail, and contains sweet orange oil, cognac oil and lime oil.  This ballistic contains edible gold lustre and soluble paper stars – so there’ll be no sparkly bits left to clean out of your bath afterwards.

I highly recommend this baby if you fancy something different!


Which LUSH products are your favourite?

 Bisous

Merry Christmas

I'd just like to wish everyone a belated Merry Christmas and hope you all enjoyed every moment of the festive season!  It is such a special time and so much fun to spend it with your family and friends. 

It is officially the party season and I can't believe that christmas is over.  Atleast we still have the new year to look forwards to!  I've received some amazing presents including my much talked about LIZ EARL! 

Here is a look at my christmas table, which I laid out for me and my husband and some of my more exciting presents:

Lovely Liz Earl Christmas Face and Body Package

Great goodies to enhance my baking including this cook book

Lush's Pow Wow Lip Scrub, which smells scrummy!  *Zesty citrus goodness*

My little hats from River Island which my husband got me!

More Lush goodies....my house smells amazing.

My wonderful amazing Amazon Kindle that my hubby bought me :)

So I've really been spoilt rotten really!  I hope you have all received the goodies that you really wanted as well as getting some fabulous memories!  I stuck to very classic colours for my Christmas table.  What did you think of it? 

Please keep yourself tuned in to my blog which should be getting much more exciting in the next few days.  I'm going to be doing a mega giveaway and also be showing you some amazing makeup I've acquired!  Including another christmas present :D

Hope you have a fab day! 

Competition

Hi everyone...as it stands we have exactly 13 followers and that is at 08:17am on Tuesday, 31/05/2011.

Make sure you get following before the cut off time of 17:00pm today!

Keep in tune, you may be a winner!

So as promised on Twitter, I've decided to run a competition on the blog.  There will be two prizes and they will be special, I promise! 

The first prize will be a random draw made on the 31st of May from all the followers that follow on the actual blog.  The winner stands a chance to win a Lush "Greetings From" gift pack filled with goodies.

This scrumptious gift is packed with honey, vanilla and lots and lots of sugar. You will relax in a creme brulee scented bath with Vanilla Fountain Bath Bomb, wash up with the toffee scented Honey I Washed the Kids soap and scrub down with Sugar Scrub.

The second prize will be when the actual blog reaches 50 followers.  The 50th person to follow will win a second very spiffy prize.  This will again be a Lush gift box filled with goodies, however this time it will be the "Bunty" gift set.

The winner can choose from peony pink or butter cream yellow. The pack includes two bubble bars, mini Comforter and Creamy Candy and two Bath Bombs, Keep it Fluffy and Butterball, this is a gift for anyone who appreciates a long soak in fluffy luxury.

I hope you like the possible prizes and that you will follow the blog.

Have a really nice day :D