Nails with Serenity beauty- Bury

I thought I’d share this hidden gem, with you ladies, as we all know a bad manicure can be disastrous…..

Up until a year ago, I visited my local nail salon for a quick nail fix, every few weeks. The Chinese salon specialised in acrylics more than a normal manicure & having seen ladies leaving with beautiful nails, I thought I’d give it a try. I prefer my natural nails but acrylics last longer & are much more forgiving for girls like myself who are always on the go & don’t have much time to focus on pampering themselves.

I visited the salon earlier this year, after work, for some TLC on my nails but it was only a few weeks later until I had them removed that I realised the damage to my own.

I’m not quite sure if they used a stronger solution of acrylic than usual but I was left with massive dents in my own nails which felt quite painful to touch. I tried to paint over my damaged nails but I was left disappointed when the dents still showed through. From that day on I knew I had to find a new salon who would look after my nails and give them the extra care they needed.

After searching online, I found Serenity nails which was voted the best of Bury. Admittedly I have to get 2 buses to the salon but after looking at their social pages, I knew they would be the best people to fix my nails.

The beauty salon is tucked away on the streets of Bury and to be honest, if you didn’t find it online you’d probably miss it. They offer a range of beauty treatments for those who love to treat themselves. From spray tans to facials and hot stone massages, they’ve got something for everyone.

From my very first visit, I was made to feel welcome from the ladies at the salon. I usually opt for shellac nails as they last longer than a polish & after visiting Serenity every few weeks my nails are now looking the best they ever have.

As you can see from the image, I get this pretty rose design on my nails but they’ve literally got hundreds to choose from. If your polish accidently chips whilst drying, they will go over your nails until they’re looking anything less than perfect. I couldn’t recommend this salon enough…. If you fellas are looking for a gift card for your missis this Christmas, I’d choose Serenity!

Have you been a victim to a bad manicure?

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Vivienne Westwood- Mon Boudoir perfume review

It’s been another long but exciting week working at The Milton Club, so when the weekend came, I couldn't wait to treat myself to lots of lovely things from the Trafford centre. (It was officially pay day, Friday, so I couldn’t resist)

Today on my weekly blog post I’m reviewing my Vivienne Westwood perfume- Mon Boudoir. To be honest I’ve had this perfume a good few months, I just haven’t got round to reviewing on it here.

Anyone that knows me will tell you I’m a Viv Westwood enthusiast. I love the story behind her career and how she made it big into the fashion industry. I just still haven’t managed to save up for one of her designer bags yet...... When I was browsing in The Perfume Shop a few months back I noticed the perfume sat on its own in the sale rack. I instantly picked it up and started jumping around with joy as it was only £21.99 which is an absolute bargain. Having never had a whiff of the perfume before, I asked for a sample but to my disappointment the shop only had the 1 bottle left.

After much consideration I dragged myself out of the shop and thought it’d be best to have a look online at reviews. Five minutes later I was back with my card ready to buy the perfume... It was a bit of an impulse buy due to my obsession with everything Westwood, but it paid off.

The delicate floral scent and musky notes of this perfume have me hooked. I’m already half way through the bottle and will be re-purchasing another when it runs out. This perfume is perfect for day to night use. The floral scent keeps me smelling fresh all day while the musky notes are strong enough for night time wear. As you can see from the photos, the bottle is the classic Viv Westwood style, which can be found on many items of her jewellery and clothing.

I would give this perfume a big 5/5. I’ve had far too many comments from ladies on my commute to work asking me what my perfume is. I think it’s important to be able to have an all-time favourite perfume you can wear whatever the season.

What’s your favourite perfume?

Joules Design a Welly Competition

A few days ago I was kindly emailed from the team at Joules about their fun design a welly competition and as a big fan of the brand already I thought I’d share it with you lovelies.

If you’re a budding artist, wellington enthusiast and love doodling this is going to be right up your street. All you have to do is design your own wellies; you have up to 5 entries too which means you can go a little crazy and you’ve got until the 5^th of December to enter.

The winner will get to see their design put into production, with all proceeds going to Joules charity partners. If that’s not already amazing enough, the winner will also win a luxury forest holiday worth £5,000. 10 runners up will also win a £250 Joules gift card.

Admittedly I haven’t done any drawing in a while, although I’m not a proclaimed artist I will be definitely entering this competition soon.

To enter here’s the link: http://getcreative.joules.com/

Good luck ladies!

Hair Development Competition- Brand Ambassador 2016

Hair can be such a sensitive subject amongst us ladies. We always want what we’ve not got. If you’ve got incredibly thick and curly hair you always want naturally polka straight hair and vice versa. It can also be the same when it comes to the length of our hair.

Since a little girl I’ve always dreamt of long flowing locks but unfortunately after straightening my hair a bit too much I usually have to have more cut off at the salon meaning my dreams of naturally long flowing locks are pretty much non-existent.

Hair extensions are a god send for people like me because you can really have the best of both worlds. At the moment I have some real clip in hair extensions which I usually wear on special occasions such as parties and events. However these days, it’s becoming easier and easier to make our hair extensions a permanent fixture rather than having to mess around with clip in extensions.

I’ve been contacted by a PR company to let you lovelies in on an amazing competition. If you’re hair obsessed like myself this is going be right up your street.

Hair Development are one of the UK’s leading hair extension brands and they’re offering you the chance to become a brand ambassador for their company.

If you’re aged 18-45 and live in the UK you have until the 31st October to enter this amazing competition.

The winner will win a full head of extensions fitted by a specialist as well as professional photoshoot. The best bit about this competition is it’s really simple to enter. All you have to do is #takeaselfie and tag Hair Development on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Just make sure you use the hashtag #HDGirlCompetition.

Hair development are following the ‘real woman’ trend by using a normal member of the public like us in its 2016 campaigns instead of a high profile professional models.

Janis Levy, Creative Director of Hair Development said, "We want to celebrate the everyday woman in our publicity- after all, that's who we are marketing to. Real women, who has busy lives but like to look their best, that's who our extensions are made for. If you'd like the chance to promote our high end hair extensions, then why not enter for the chance to win an extension makeover?"

Here's my selfie:

So what are you waiting for? Have you entered the HD competition?

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Living with the C Word

2015 has been a year of promise for me so far. After finishing at my old job, I secured a new job at an award winning law firm as a Marketing Executive. I've been enjoying life and to be honest I've neglected my blog, my last post was a good 6 months ago but it’s not without reason.

2014 was a big celebratory year for me as I graduated with a 2:1 from The University of Huddersfield, turned 21 and managed to secure my first job a month after graduation. My life was running smoothly along and then all of a sudden my 2014 ended with a bang, an unimaginable bang I couldn’t possibly explain without tears drawing to my eyes as I type. My mum, aged 61 was diagnosed with breast cancer.

I was unprepared for the news I received on my lunch break at work. All day I sat worrying at my desk frantically typing away waiting for the good news from my parents. I received a text from my dad saying we need to talk and I just thought it was to confirm that everything was ok.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. I took the call in the back room at my works and as soon as I heard my mum’s broken voice stammering the words ‘I've got breast cancer’. I broke down in uncontrollable tears. I could hear the fear in her voice as she told me the bad news. My life had been turned upside down for the worst.

Of course we hear all these news reports about people getting all kinds of cancer but I never imagined my mum would get it. Breast cancer doesn't run in the family but perhaps I was a bit naive thinking it won’t happen to me or any of my family. If we all listened to the scary statistic that 1 in 5 people get a form of cancer in their lifetime, we would never sleep at night.

The last few months of 2014 were a blurry haze which meant I didn’t feel like doing a blog post, or anything else for that matter. On December 5^th my mum had a mastectomy to remove her right breast and the surgeons believe her cancer had been there a good while as all of her lymph nodes had been affected and the cancer growth was 11cm by the time they removed it.

I watched as the gurney wheeled her down to surgery on the Friday morning and I couldn’t help but cry as she left the room. A few hours after surgery, she was losing too much blood and the same day she had to go back down to theatre.

Luckily my mum has made a good recovery after surgery, but this is the toughest road ahead. The odd few people may not need any treatment after the tumour is removed; however my mum has to face 6 months of chemotherapy followed by 3 weeks of radiotherapy.

At the moment she’s had her third treatment of chemotherapy and I’m not going to lie and say it’s great because the side effects of chemo are gruelling. About a month back she started to lose her hair, and she decided to shave it off as a result of this which was traumatic enough.

At first every time I heard the C word my stomach churned into knots, I clammed up and wanted to run away from everyone. I couldn’t bear to face it so I locked my feelings inside and threw away the key.

I’m coming out today about my mum’s illness because I've sat here long enough in silence. I wanted to share my story and tell everyone about my mum’s journey because although she probably doesn't feel it, she’s the lucky one.

I want to urge other women to check their breasts every day for lumps and bumps and don’t hesitate to go to your GP if you do find something or need a second opinion. A mammogram is currently offered for women aged 50-70 every three years. The mammogram didn’t show any signs of her 11cm growth only the biopsy results showed this. I feel her cancer could have been caught earlier if a biopsy was offered to her at her last mammogram appointment three years ago.

Miss VintageVibe- Blogger updates

Hello lovelies, 

Sorry if you have been popping back to my blog and wondering why I haven't wrote a blog post for a while. The next few weeks have been crazy to say the least.

After graduating and applying for jobs for months, sometimes not hearing a peep, I secured my self a full time job at a Legal Brokers doing Copywriting, Marketing and Social Media.

I am also in the middle of learning to drive and as my instructor cannot fit me in during the week this means most weekends my time is spent driving.

The past week or so I have also been very poorly too which has left me resting in bed.

I would really like to apologise for my absence on my blog. I have really missed sharing my reviews with you about beauty products but in the next few weeks I promise I will make more of an effort to fit blog writing in my new routine as I have bought lots of lovely new things with my first wage!

Looking forward to be blogging very soon!

Hope you enjoyed your weekend.

Miss Vintage Vibe xo

BB seaweed fresh face mask Lush review

 A while ago I took a trip to my local Lush store and purchased BB seaweed fresh face mask. Now months after I decided to give my honest review of this product. Lately I have suffered from dry skin and a few spots which I thought was stress related. However on closer inspection by the doctor I had a form of mild acne. This meant I stopped using my weekly dose of facemask treatments from Lush for a while until the situation had settled down.

Usually every Friday night has become my relax haven and it is known as pamper night (Since not being a student I have ditched the alcohol and my dancing shoes) which I hope this means I am not suffering a mid-life crisis of some sort because although I currently present on 96.5 Bolton FM and have had amazing blog opportunities lately I am still unemployed (It really sucks)

This week I turned into a baking diva and made some homemade chocolate chip cookies and a Victoria sponge. Whilst literally sticking my head in the fridge, there it was staring at me and looking rather unwanted (My BB seaweed face mask). Of course Lush fans know you have to keep them in the fridge to keep the fresh ingredients from rotting.

Lush say, “Relaxing, Reviving- mineral rich mask to cleanse, soften and beautify. Fresh nutritious seaweed, cleansing kaolin, antiseptic honey, calming aloe vera and rose absolute makes this a great mask for everyone.”

Tuesday night became my pamper night this week, I ran my- self a lovely hot bath, plonked the last of my comforter bubble bar in and covered my face with well erm... seaweed. It was a rather odd thing to put on my face but once I got past my worries it felt lovely. The Seaweed face mask doesn't have a very strong scent which is great because I didn’t want to aggravate my sensitive skin. However unlike other Lush face masks it lacked that bit of oomph for me I’m afraid. After I removed the mask, apart from soft skin I didn’t really notice much difference unlike Catastrophe Cosmetic but I was using my Catastrophe on a weekly basis and since I don’t need to use cream for my mild acne anymore I haven’t tested my BB seaweed mask on a weekly basis.

I would rate BB Seaweed face mask 3.5/5, it isn’t a bad product but it isn’t my one of my favourites out of the Lush face mask range.

Have you tried BB seaweed mask?