Kiddicare Woodland Baby Collection

A little while ago Finley and I were asked if we would like to try out and test some of Kiddicares lovely new woodland range! Knowing Kiddicare and their great products we of course agreed and were sent three lovely items. When I was pregnant I turned to Kiddicare and bought a lot of my little newborn essentials from Swaddle Blankets to a his Thermometer :D 

We were kindly sent the Woodland Playmat, Woodland Chime Ball and my favourite the Woodland Snuggle Blanket *

Our trusty postman delivered them and the first thing that we dived in and opened was the playmat, of course I had to let my little helper join in...I don't have a choice these days...he sees a letter, package and card and he has to open it! 

It is sooo much bigger than I imagined, when Finley was tiny we had a Lamaze foam mat and it was tiny in comparison to this. The mat itself has different textures for babies little fingers to explore and beautiful little characters dotted all over. Plus its patchwork...who doesn't like patchwork? We are currently using it as our reading mat in the living room, our floors are wooden throughout downstairs and its perfect for us to sit on whilst playing and reading our stories. Its lovely and plush so would definitely keep those little baby arms cushioned during tummy time....and may even encourage those tummy time tinkers (Finley was one) who aren't the biggest fans. I could see this being a perfect playmat to take you from newborn all the way through to toddler'hood.

When I saw a picture of the chime ball online I imagined it to be one of those spongy balls you can attach to a pram, about the size of a orange maybe but it is almost the size of a football! This really is to its advantage, Finley is loving it and is chasing it all around the house. He has since discovered throwing and I am so glad we have this, its light weight, soft and saves me chasing after him grabbing his humongous singing penguin off him before it lands on the cat! Its no wonder they want to be outdoors 24/7. The ball itself is squishy, and has all the same textures as the playmat, plus the little taggies and ropes that all little babies love....the same kind off attraction that they have to remote controls, telephones and keys??

My favourite of the three items was the Woodland Blanket - just look at that little owl face! Does anyone else have that one little animal that so appeals to them? I love the way they look, their round faces and squishy bellys...even our bedside table lamps are owls! So as you can imagine I was extremely happy to see this in the parcel, begrudgingly I parted with it for Finley....it was for him after all! What can I say, he has fallen in love. He used to have a little teddy blanket he slept with (I say used to because 'Teddy' has now been relegated to the bottom of his cot) but Little Squishy Owl has become his firm favourite. It all ties in with the theme and sports the same patchwork style and even and little hole underneath so you can use him as a puppet! I have been spying on the Kiddicare website and I am eyeing up a matching owl beanie teddy...which may just happen to end up living on my dressing table!

  

I was really impressed with this range and although everything is targeted from Newborn Finley is 16 months old and still getting some great use out of every item, I just wish they had been around when he was that little wobbly bobbly baby. 

I would highly recommend this range to all new mums, especially those who are expecting a surprise as the prints and colours are suitable for either a little boy or girl! A great idea would be if you are having a collection for a new mum in the office buy a few items from the set and present them as one big present bundle! Perfect!

 Here is a little secret for you, if we were to have had a little girl her room would have been a vintage woodland theme, with a massive tree wall mural hiding podgy owls and tiny robins. Bunting hanging allover the place and of course a giant patchwork bedspread! This set is perfect for anyone who is planing that theme or already has something similar.

Hope you enjoyed the review and thank you to Kiddicare for letting us get the chance to play and test a wonderful collection.

Love Kayleigh x

Carboot Sale Finds

Well its the weekend and in the UK when the sun is shining on a lovely Sunday morning you can find people up and down the country, parked up in fields setting up their tiny boot sale stalls from as early as 5:30am! Carboot sales usually run from April-ish to August-ish (I have to add on 'Ish' as like most things in the UK the weather does dictate) and of course we LOVE them. You all know I love a bargain and a carboot sale is THE place to find bargains. I'm not sure if you have carboot sales in the US, I am guessing they are like a garage sale but a huge one with loads of different sellers...please let me know though?

Last week with it being a bank holiday we had an extra day of boot sale hunting so we set off as early as we could, obviously Finley wanted to eat everything in the fridge that morning so we arrived a little later than planned but still early enough to beat the rush of buyers....a good boot sale tip...arrive as early as you can, you stand a great chance of picking all the best things up before the late crew arrive.

We ended up going to two different sales that day, we are at an advantage living in/very near to the countryside, as loads of fields = loads of carboots. The first was a little pants if I am honest, not many stalls and the ground wasn't very forgiving, it was all shingley rocks which Finley wasn't impressed with. But we still managed to pick up a few items...with a little haggling. Don't be scared to haggle, Matthew hates it and thinks why ask for 50p off, its only 50p? Well all those 50p's and £1's add up so it is worth a go. Plus remember, those people selling all their stuff don't want it anymore, they don't want to have to re-pack it all, drive it back home and put it back in the downstairs cupboard...and because of that I'm 99% sure you will get a bargain.

We didn't find anything mind blowing there but we got a few good bits and wanted to show you our 'steals of the day' :D

A little bit of a random purchase but we just had to have it. Finley loves and I mean LOVES our washing machine and if we let him he would happily sit all day opening and closing the door, pressing every button and of course pulling all the washing over the kitchen floor! The seller must have thought Mathew and I were mad because we were like 'wow look at that' all excited about a tiny plastic washing machine...they saw Finley's cute little face and we explained his love for kitchen appliances and they gladly parted with it for one golden pound! It is sitting proudly with his other toys and has been scrubbed within an inch of its life with Milton....another tip...scrub and spray everything with soap and antibacterial spray, you might want these peoples second hand goods but we do not want any of their second hand germs! 

 Mummy's one and only purchase and I splashed out on this dainty little ring holder for my new dresser...once it arrives! It caught my eye on this little old couples stall and they offered it me for a pound, how could I refuse. Looking back I wish I had picked up a few other pieces, they had some lovely glass pieces perfect for make up brushes and little cotton pads, but hopefully I will bump into them again when we next pop down.

Books, Books and more Books! There were sooo many books for sale but if I bought all of them I would have been able to open a little children's library. The majority of them are all board books as Finley still hasn't grasped the idea of 'no ripping' so until he realises why 3 pages are missing from Mrs Tiggywinkle we are sticking to the sturdy variety. I picked up a little potty training book for when the time comes, a cute little pop up book and my fave is the Oxford Picture word book. Its like a little dictionary type book and it has some seriously retro illustrations! It was published back in 1979 :D These were bought off two different sellers but casting my mind back for all of them together we paid £3.50.

Plastic plates were on my shopping list already for Finley as he currently using my Little Mermaid selection and although the tail of Ariel and Eric is the greatest of all time I felt Finley needed more of a variety and a few boy options to choose from. So when I saw these lot I snapped them up for a pound....oh yes! They are all in great condition and after a blast in the dishwasher they were as good as new. 

A massive car mat...for £1!!

We bought this from the same stall as the washing machine so no doubt they knocked the price down a little for Finley but to be honest we would have paid a little more. It is double the size of that above as I had to fold it in half to fit in in the picture. It is definitely an item for him to grow into but for £1 I don't mind storing it away for him :D You can see a theme to our carboot trip...more like a 'shop for Finley' day! To be honest that's how I find my life nowadays, I am meant to be buying a pair of shoes for me and I'm scanning the boys section on Next! I cant help myself!

Our most expensive purchase of the day but is defo my favourite. I first caught sight of this on a stall and a lady was fishing through it, grrr I said to Matt 'Oh I would have had that' next minute he walks over with it :D the lady wandered off and we gazumped her and paid up. It is a huge massive box of jigsaw wooden train tracks, cars, people, trees...anything and everything. I have seen these online and always shyed away because a huge set can be close to £30-£40 but for £5 Finley is all set and ready to go. He can even team it up with his play mat...

That was the sum total of our morning and we even enjoyed a sneaky butty before we headed home. I hope you have had fun looking through or treasure (does anyone else always say treasure in their head in a pirate voice? I don't think I say it normally anymore?)

I hope you are out looking for some bargains this summer and if you enjoyed this post let me know and I shall share more of our boot sale finds in the future.

Thanks for reading everyone

Love Kayleigh x

A rainy rhyhm kind of afternoon

I have got quite a bit to tell you all in this post including exciting news, a spectacular review and a cheeky competition you can enter so lets get comfy and have a good ol' Chin wag shall we?

If you follow me on Facebook (you can find me here if you fancy a look) you will have seen that back in March I entered a competition to be one of a group of Bloggers to work with a company called The Toadstool and become one of their 'Toad Testers'. I completed my entry and submitted my form and didn't really think that I stood a chance with such popular bloggers entering but guess what, I received a lovely email from the managing director Niki advising me I was one of the lucky bloggers to be picked :D Wahoooo! If you fancy checking out the other bloggers you can see all the other Toad Testers here, I am always looking for new reads and there are some fab bloggers in the group. Keep your eyes peeled for more upcoming reviews from The Toadstool and if you would like to be a Toad Tester for 2014 head over to the website and send them an email asking for them to let you know when to apply - Exciting times! Plus if you sign up to their newsletter you automatically get 10% off your first order.

That's the Exciting News now onto the review.

We have had these beautiful wooden instruments for a while now as Niki knows how much Finley loves his music...I think its just making any noise possible to be honest. haha. As well as the Haba Rythmik set she even added a wooden shaker to the mix!

Well as the sunshine has been out since the weekend so have we, soaking up every last little ray we could and have hardly been indoors. But as the weather took a turn for the worse yesterday, we decided to delve into his music box once again and start making some music.

As you can see from the pictures they are lovely and chunky perfect for his little hands to grab. They look seriously cool, Finley has other little maracas etc but they are all plastic, nothing as fancy as this set. Plus they are wooden!! Wooden Toys = a very happy Mummy. I am a little old fashioned that way, Matthew and I love wooden toys, the look, the feel and also the durability.

We all sat down and grabbed an instrument each, which Finley then swapped with us every 2 mins until he decided he would tap the drum with the triangle..hmmmm! But its not about being perfect, what I want for Finley is to improve his fine motor skills, teach him about rhythm and the biggest thing - have a whole lot of fun. Another major benefit of musical toys is they keep him so occupied, he is one of those children who is only still when he sleeps....seriously! I want to encourage his concentration and 'sitting still' play, I love chasing him all over and that he loves bouncing from me to his dad but when he starts staying with the grandparents I'm not too sure they would love chasing him for hours on end haha! The set itself says that it is best suited for little ones aged 2+ but Finley is just shy of 16 months and I personally think it is perfect for him and a toy he can definitely grow with...getting your moneys worth! All for a bit of money saving!

Another great point is they sound beautiful, not like some of his toys we have...does anybody else own a rather annoying CD player with a women singing nursery rhymes a little too over eagerly! Wow *crosses fingers the batteries run out soon* haha. I'm sure there is always one toy in every house like that. 

But the great thing is you decided what to play, how to play it and what songs to sing along too. My favourite was the triangle, it took my straight back to primary school. Finley was in charge of the drum, he banged it with the triangle, the little sticks and his rattle...anything that made a noise he liked.

And for when he is a little older the set came with a booklet of songs we can play all together, fab idea!

Finley and I are seriously loving this set and I cant wait to see how he develops from his now random bangs and shakes to hopefully copying rhythms and learning little tunes. If you fancy buying either the Rhythm set priced £21 at or Rattle shaker priced at £7.90 you can here and here.

 We had a great afternoon but unfortunately the weather hasn't improved today, in fact it was worse - Shucks! So I am off searching for more indoor activities to keep that little mind of his busy and occupied until the sun is well and truly shining again.

Here are a few snaps of Finners playing with his toys and also Matthew drumming with Finley's head...which randomly he quite enjoyed.

 

For some reason Finley was not feeling the 'photo vibe' and the only face on shot I got of him was this one. His little hair tweedle sprouting out and a tiny pouty lip...that boy!

And Finally who fancies entering a competition :)

The prize is £20 off any Haba Summer toys at The Toadstool, they include some very cool sand sculpting toys...like a sand cake!!! I want one haha. So if you have a sandpit or fancy some new funky cool toys its worth an entry. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I think that is just about everything for today folks, thanks for reading and I hope you have a lovely day whatever you are up too!  

Love Kayleigh x 

What's in my Changing Bag - Toddler Version

I am sure that this is not going to be THE most exciting post you have ever read, but an intriguing one none the less. I love 'whats in my bag' type posts and videos, I cant get enough of them and the majority of time everyone has near enough the same things...just like mine. 

I don't have anything overly exciting lurking in my changing bag, just the essentials. All the exciting things (especially those that are breakable) go in Mummy's bag so if you would like to see whats in my handbag let me know and I shall upload that too :D 

First off my changing bag is the Yummy Mummy Changing Bag in the Lovebirds design, I bought this when Finley was around 4 months old and debated getting a blue boy type bag but I thought, I will be carrying it 90% of the time and it kinda is a present for me so why not have it a tad girlie?! It is a little pricey at £79 but it has stood the test of time and has loads of features! Finley's old bag barely fit his Dr Browns bottles in the dedicated slots so they had to go in loose and were just roaming around the place, leaking everywhere! Gah! The Pink Lining Bag has two handy bottle holders that are also insulated...perfect. It also comes with a padded changing mat however it does take up a lot of room so depending where we go I might not take it out with us. A little pen holder...for all those notes I am taking at playgroup....yeah! More like stopping Finley hitting poor Scarlet over the head with a maraca. A tiny clip for your keys and a fancy mirror for keeping yourself, preened, beautiful and well, yummy...or in my case 'top knot, leggings and no mascara' YES!

1. Spare Clothes

Yup...a necessity for any little person aged 0-maybe7. Now Finley is a little older and seems to have grown out of his reflux and isn't being sick every 20 minutes I tend to take a spare pair of trousers of jeans, a little all in one vest and a T-shirt...I must have whipped out the t-shirt the other day for something so you shall just have to use your imaginations for that one. A spare pair of socks....which happened to be odd. I always put matching ones on when we go out but these little tinkers slipped in...but I was keeping it real for you all! When he was tiny we took out sooo many vests, onsies, muslin squares, bibs, outfits! His whole wardrobe was in that bag. 

2. Nappies and Wipes

I always have a handful of nappies stowed away in his changing bag, we tend to opt for disposables out and about for ease of use. And a pack of THE best wipes everrrrr....check my best wet wipes review here. I love them and I bought a 12 pack bundle for £12 from Chemist direct recently as I can never find them cheap enough in the big supermarkets. We also have nappy bags too, but a flimsy plastic bag wasn't floating my boat when I took the pictures so it was removed from shot haha. Once you have seen one you have seen them all I suppose. 

3. Snacks 

Snacks, Snacks and more Snacks....now Finley is a little better with his eating I like him to have something to nibble on if he fancies it so I always stock up with plenty. His current faves are fruit puree pots, little nibbly biscuits, flapjack type bars, raisins and smoothies! Yum! We always have a juice on standby too, I wish he would drink just plain water but no matter how much we tried he wasn't having any of it, so I trick him...sorry Finley. I fill his beaker almost to the top with water and splash in a tiny bit of fresh juice like Apple or Orange. I am guessing it just takes that 'plain' taste away. 

4. Changing Mat and Little Red Book

I mentioned before that his changing mat is a little bulky and it takes up so much space, its a great thick plush thing but now he is older he is double the size of it anyway. We only usually take this out if I'm not sure of the changing facilities but it is always stored in here to keep it safe. 

We also keep all his little appointment slips and any of his medical details like his Little Red Book in the plastic wallet. I had no idea what a Red Book was before Finley and had never even seen one before, but it is a handy booklet that you take to all your Health Visitor and Doctors appointments. It has all his weights logged in there from when he weighed less than 6 pounds. All his injection details, just anything medical or developmental. I was wondering if you have anything like this in the US? 

5. Toys and Books

Soooo many toys, to be honest some often end up in my handbag we take that many...anything to keep him busy and distracted. On a side note here, Finley has started playing with them so well recently, not just bashing them around (even though he still does do this) but crawling around driving his cars, sitting and pressing buttons but then waiting till a song has finished and presses a new one, he will even sit with a book and turn the pages one by one pointing out Peppa and George. Too much cuteness for me to handle.

6. Toiletries and Creams

I am always lugging around some kind of lotions and potions for Finley...and I even found a toothbrush buried deep at the bottom. The health visitor gave us this and a little tube of toothpaste because she said not to use any baby toothpaste with less than 1000 ohm? Not sure what that stands for exactly. They have to have at least 1000 'units' of fluoride in to be doing any good, so she gave us this tube but said just use our normal grown up toothpaste and he will soon enjoy the minty taste :D I also have a tube of the world best tea tree cream which is my magic cure for anything and everything...I love it! A little mini Sudocrem that I received in a Bounty pack when I was pregnant, luckily Finley has had Nappy rash less than 3 times so we hardly use this, but still handy to have to hand. A tiny Olbas oil for sniffly noses and a 50+ suncream as the weather is starting to pick up and the sunshine is out!

7. Spare Change

I found this lurking around in the bottom of my bag...that shall be topping up the piggy bank.

That was the grand total of what was hiding inside my changing bag, if you have any staples or essentials you think I have missed out then please let me know what they are and I shall pop them in. I'm sure as the seasons change so will my bag so any tips are welcome here for what to pop in for Summer all the way to Winter. 

I hope you enjoyed reading and if you want to see my a 'Whats in my handbag post' please let me know and I shall get snapping and showing you the amount of rubbish I cram into one bag haha. 

Whilst I was taking the pictures little Finley was peeking over his gate spying on what Mummy was up too and I realised that he hasn't appeared in recent posts so I put together a little photo collage of him being cheeky for you all to have a gander at. I promise this is the last picture in this already very heavy pictured post. Have a great day everyone!

Love Kayleigh x

Taking the plunge....cutting off my long hair!!

Yes that's right, you heard me loud and clear...I have only gone and had my hair cut, and not a trim a whole bunch has been taken off. 

If you know me you will know I have a little fear of having my hair cut...not a phobia or anything like that but when I was around 14 or so I had hair down to the bottom of my back and some wannabe trend setter hairdresser decided it would be a snazzy idea to chop it all off into a weird bob type boy haircut! It wasn't a good look for a young girl, who didn't yet have access to GHDs and so I wore my hair in the tiniest little bunches on top of my head for around a year...so much so my school friends said they looked like shrek ears. So as a result ever since then every time I visit a salon the usual 'trim please' blurts out as I have flashbacks to the whole 'shrek ears' phase. *Shakes it out* If you would like to see my horrendous boy hair please let me know and I may even do a hair story post to give you all a good belly laugh.

Anyhow, I had been thinking for months to cut my hair but never had the bottle to call up and book myself in. When my local Saks salon put a message out on their Facebook page saying that they were looking for models...only hair models otherwise they would be in for a shock when I walked in haha. Perfect I thought, they wanted someone for a certain cut a square layer if you will and suits mid to long hair. Great....so I messaged them and they booked me straight in. I also asked if I could blog all about the morning and they happily said I could :D

I have been a hair model a few times before but it has always been for colour, back in the day there weren't many people who would put themselves forwards for a bright red all over colour with purple slices. I once told school I was going to the hospital for some kind of made up appointment and walked back into ICT with flame red hair swishing behind me...oops!

The following week I popped down to the salon and a lovely lady who is currently an apprentice at the salon was all set up to get cracking on my Barnett. She talked through the cut I was having and if I had any questions, then the dreaded question came up "how much can we take off" I was brave and held up 5 inches ready to be chopped.  No going back now....

She was great, talked me through the whole process and there was a stylist with her to answer any questions she had or give her any hairdresser tips or tricks.

I could see the cut coming along nicely and instead of feeling anxious about saying goodbye to my long hair I was excited to see it being cut into a real style again. I even admitted to cutting my own hair which I have done for too long...and they could tell *slaps wrists*. And to be honest looking back I can tell, my hair never sat right and don't get me started on what my fringe was like...splinge alert. But since its all been styled properly and they corrected all my mistakes it falls so much better and my fringe has been fixed. Hoorah!

From This                                                                        To This  

To This :D

Bobbie-Jay, the lovely lady who re-did my whole do was fantastic and did this curly masterpiece blow dry with only brushes? Say What? I love it, I love how it has gone from random lengths all over the place to a lovely blunt cut at the bottom...I am even tempted to get another 2 inches cut off so it is officially mid length but it might take me another 8 years to pluck up the courage.

Curly version

Overall I am so pleased I took the plunge and finally cut more than a millimetre off my hair, I would recommend it to anyone that is contemplating it.

I now want to change the colour but one step at a time otherwise Matthew may not recognise me.

I totally recommend taking a look in your local Saks salon and asking if they have any apprentices that need models for cuts or colours. Why not get pampered and possibly a whole new look whilst saving yourself some pounds as well. You can check for your local Saks salons here. Alternatively if you don't have a local Saks just ask your nearest or most fave salon if they have any opportunities going.

Straight Version :)

Wahooo for new hair :D 

Love Kayleigh x

Becoming a Stay at home Mum!

I held off writing this post for a good few weeks just in case the world wasn't on my side and our plans maybe fell through...luckily everything went swimmingly and guess what....I'm now a stay at home Mummy!

As some of you may know I only just returned to work at the end of January after my Maternity leave finished and wrote about my inpending return to work and my first days back, but after the initial 'OMG I have to leave my baby and start wearing work clothes again' (what...no more comfy pants) it turned out to be really great. The team I work with are all super stars, we all get on soooo well and talk about all the things you shouldn't really discuss in an open office, especially when your headset can beep any second! 

After being back a month or so the option for Redundancy reared its head, at first I didn't really think twice about taking it but after speaking with Matthew and also my friends I came to the conclusion that it could be a great opportunity to soak up all of Finley's first years with me being at home with him. 

Even though I have so many great friends at work, when I think about the job itself, was I still enjoying it...not really. Before I had Finners I used to love my job and put sooo much effort to be the best I could be at it...a keeno if you will haha. But since returning, I have too many other daily worries and thoughts to properly delve into advising on how to manage an employee who has shown up drunk at work...again! 

My mind is pre-occupied thinking about if Finley has eaten his breakfast okay?, is that sniffle he had before I left got worse? Has he started walking today and I missed it? eeekkk! Plus the fact he woke up every hour the night before is not helping my productivity today. 

Perhaps if I was working more than only two days it may have been easier to dive into work and really get involved in some juicy cases, but with me only being there a tiny snippit of the week I never managed to get that work head screwed back on fully. Plus I worked a Friday...that's not a proper work day...we got Bacon Butties and it was Dressdown, who can concentrate with all that going on.

After a weekend of calculating and discussing we took the plunge and decided that I would become a stay at home Mummy! Aggghhh!

I admit it I am a little scared, and had a slight mental panic attack when I singed the official leaving letters but feel very lucky that we are in a position that I can take this time with Finley whilst he is still so tiny.

Luckily one of my bestest friend Keri also left on the same day....we had a fab day of cakes, McDonalds breakfasts and maybe a few tears! We were spoilt rotten by the team and then headed out after work for some tea, a giggle and a few drinkies....now I hardly ever drink, maybe two or three times a year so after 2 glasses of Wine me and my friend Becky were expecting a lifetime ban from pizza express for laughing way too much and way too loud! Oh well, we still manged to sweet talk a discount from them hehe.

Of course I will miss my job so much, I have been there since I was 18 and achieved so much in the 5 1/2 years I worked there but everything comes to an end at some point and I have a really positive outlook for what the future holds. I don't know if I will be a stay at home Mummy for the rest of Finley's toddler'hood, (its all money dependant and possibly how sain I stay) but for the foreseeable future I can say that we will be having lots of family fun times. Lets just hope that the Sunshine is on its way so we can make the most of this time and have a fab Summer. 

If anyone else has any tips how to survive being a stay at home Mummy please let me know :) or if you are contemplating it I'd love to hear what you plan on doing in the future.

Love Kayleigh x

Springtime Nail Saviours

I am still sitting here in hope that some sunshine is on its way so in an effort to coax him to pop his hat on I shall brighten up our day with a little bit of nail varnish chat. I have only just recently rekindled my love with polishes....I think if you ask a new mum how they manage to paint their nails they will more than likely say they don't due to lack of time haha. Now Finley is in bed early and sleeping great YAY I can finally paint those fingers and even include a base and top coat....its the little things.

For ages I had bottles of polish dotted all over the house, some in the Bathroom, a few in the sideboard drawers and even some in the attic!! Well, to my surprise when I finally managed to get them all together it seems I have more than I need...a lot more. So I have split them all into seasons (in my mind that is) am I the only one who has done this? And as we are in the midst of Spring I thought I would share my fave spring shades, if you fancy I shall do the same for the rest of the year :)

Mavala Pastel Polishes*

Mavala Polishes Left to Right - Lagoon, Lemon Cream, White, Aquamarine

I love these subtle Spring/Summer Mavala pastel shades, they are inspired by laid back feminine, beachy fun, achieved with playful candy and pastel hues. I have short nails and think shades like the white really pop on a shorter squarer nail. They have a slight shimmer only visible in the direct light which is definitely a plus. Sometimes I find shimmer can overwhelm a colour but in these polishes it really compliments each shade. Out of all the 4 colours I am loving the Lemon Cream Yellow which I am currently wearing, I even got complemented in my local Newsagent! Loving the consistency also, they haven't gone the slightest bit clagy or gloopy and the brush is the perfect width for easy application. I am loving these polishes and they come in at a great price range at £4.50 each and available here

O.P.I New York Mini Ballet Collection

O.P.I Laquers Left to Right - Dont touch my tutu, Care to Danse?, My Pointe Exactly, Pirouette my Whistle

I bought this set of polishes around 12 months ago and LOVE them, you will probably notice from the polishes swatched I really enjoy a solid colour and a good nude oo-err! These lacquers as O.P.I call them are very sheer, if you are looking for an opaque finish you will be looking at nearly 5 coats. But I love that sheer wash of colour, it is such a classy effortless look that will suit all skintones. O.P.I are famous for their great lasting power and quality and all though these are minis they are still as fab as the larger size lacquers. These would also be a perfect wedding nail colour, sheer, feminine and a little pearlised what more could you ask for. LOVE! You can get yours here for £12.95 for the whole set.

A Spring Mix and Match

Mix Match Left to Right - Barry M Strawberry, MeMeMe Sensuous, Eyeko Rain Polish, Leighton Denny Babydoll

From left to right Barry M - Strawberry 309. This is an amazing baby pink, you only need two coats and it has phenomenal lasting power. The consistency has never changed in the 2 years I have owned this bad boy, they only thing I would change is the strong varnish smell it gives off..but I can live with that for the colour.
MeMeMe - Sensuous 97. This was another fab Glossybox polish I received months back, the shade is a soft peachy nude that starts of sheer but is easily buildable within 3 coats. 
Eyeko Rain Polish - This is from the days when Eyeko was just too amazing, their skinny mascara was only £7.50, they did jumbo lip crayons and they stocked an amazing range of nail polishes. I really wish you could still get hold of these and I will be so sad when it runs out so I am using it sparingly. Its a gorgeous muted grey/blue that looks stunning on the nail.
Leighton Denny Babydoll - A deeper but still pastel pink, that is so easy to apply. I have a bit of a soft spot for Leighton as I am always watching him on QVC showing off his fab nail painting skills. His polishes are so long lasting, if you don't have a top coat to hand always grab one of his colours as they will be sure to last.

Models Own Collective

Models Own Left to Right - Snow White, Fuzzy Peach, Lemon Meringue, Beth's Blue, Buff Pink, Jade Stone, Lilac Dream

I am a massive fan of Models Own polishes, I own way too many but just love everything about them. They stock an amazing array of colours from nudes to shocking pinks and to top it off the price is fantastic. I tend to stock up when they have their massive 50% off sale - who else joins in on this?
One of my fave shades I have been wearing this spring is Jade Stone, it looks darker in the bottle but when its painted on it is almost a dupe for Essies Mint Candy Apple. :D
Lastability is really great and if you start getting a few chips here and there you can pop over one of their glitter polishes for a few extra days before you have to re-apply. 
One thing that really stands out for me is the shape of the bottle, the lids are so chunky you get a great hold of the brush so you aren't wobbling all over trying not to hit your finger. If you haven't already head over to the Models Own Website to check out their fab range of colours and glitters.

There you have it, my recommendations for this Springtime and my most fave polishes at the moment, I'm thinking of running the same feature for Summer so let me know if you would like to see it?

Ohhh I had to swatch on little nail thingys because no-one wants to see the ends of my fingers lol. My poor cuticles are not in great shape so for every ones benefit I used these plastic swatchy thingys. Plus I quite enjoyed sitting there painting away, just remember if you are going to do this please open a window....I soon realised swatching 20 nail varnishes makes for a very dizzy Kayleigh...oops.

Love Kayleigh x