Getting Your Feet Summer Ready

Seeing as though Summer in the UK is now here, what better time to get those feet out and give them a little pamper session. As we all know England doesn't have the best luck with the weather and we never know what its going to do. But with the sunny spells we are getting at the moment why not give our feet some care and attention so were not afraid to wear those sandals we've been keeping in our wardrobe. A lot of people neglect their feet throughout the winter time and when it comes to summer they get a bit of a shock, so here are some of my tips to get your feet and tootsies looking there best.

The first and most important thing when giving yourself a pedicure is to remove all the dead skin from the bottom of your feet, as nobody wants dry and hard soles. Removing the dead skin makes your feet feel so much softer and lighter and its so easy to do. I use a foot file which come in all shapes and sizes and are available in places like Boots and Superdrug for very affordable prices.

The next thing I like to do is exfoliate the feet. I like to do this after I have used the foot file as the exfoliater will remove any last flakes of dead skin and leave them feeling silky smooth. Any exfoliater will do the job but the one I'm loving at the minute is the Soap and Glory Scrub of Your Life. This is great for giving your feet a good old scrub. It has little pink beads in it which help to really get in there and they also leave the feet smelling nice.

After I have exfoliated my feet I will wash the excess product off in the bath under some warm water. Then it is time to moisturise those feet. One of my favourite all round moisturisers in the Soap and Glory Righteous Butter which is a lovely thick one and perfect for the whole body. But for something just for the feet I've been using the Soap and Glory Heel Genius foot cream. This is a much thicker cream made ideally for the feet only. I like to gently massage this into the soles of my feet and my heels then slip some socks on and let it do its magic overnight. Keeping the socks on overnight will help to lock in the moisture.

Once your feet are all smooth and soft its time to give your toe nails and cuticles a bit of work. Its important to keep your toenails straight at the top to avoid in-growing nails as that can be very painful. You should always look after your cuticles as it keeps them looking neat and tidy and not overgrown. These are some tools that will help take care of them.

Then its time to paint those toes! My favourite colours to paint my nails in summer are definitely pastel shades as I think they look great with a tan. I always try and give bright colours a go but I cant be parted from my pastels. One of my favourite colour combinations at the moment is the Models Own Hyper Gel nail polish in Pink veneer which is a beautiful baby pink. I also like to add a bit of glitter every now and again and one of my favourites is the Barry M Rose Quartz Glitter which is a polish full of biggish chunks of silver and pink glitter and it shines in the sun. Also carrying on with Barry M I like to use their Basecoat, Topcoat and nail hardener all in one as I can be quite lazy when it comes to those steps so this one does it all for me!

We shouldn't be afraid to get our feet out in the summer months, sometimes they just need a little TLC.

Hope you enjoyed my blogpost

Katie ♥

Lush Bubblegum Lip Scrub

The Lush Lip Scrubs have always caught my eye whenever I've been into Lush but for some reason it took me ages to buy one. It seems silly because I do suffer from dry lips quite a lot and I'm always on the hunt for new lip products to change that.

The main aim of this lip scrub is to leave the lips feeling incredibly moisturised and smooth by removing all the dead skin and flakiness. This product reminds me very much of the 'toothbrush trick' where you apply sugar to the lips then get an old toothbrush and brush the lips and this is suppose to work a treat. I did try this a couple of times but soon realising that it didn't really make a difference and did also make the lips a tad sore. The product is very very sugary and can be quite crumbly, but once applied and then removed from the lips it makes them look so healthy and plump.

The Lip Scrub is make from caster sugar to act as a gentle scrub and jojoba oil to help moisturise your lips without leaving them greasy. The scrub smells absolutely amazing, it smells like a mixture of candy floss, fizzy bubblegum bottles and the snow fairy shower gel (delicious). It also tastes amazing, I could literally sit and eat the whole tub, its totally edible, as it is basically just sugar in a pot. All you have to do is apply as little or as much as you want and rub into your lips until your lips feel soft, then just lick off the excess. I originally thought it would just be like any other lip balm, but it makes a great base for any lip product.

The only downsides to this product is that its not very good for on the go if you don't have a mirror. Sometimes it can look like you've just eaten a ton of sugary doughnuts and left the remains on your lips and around your mouth. Also, the price could be debatable. This product is £5.50 which personally I think is a little overpriced for whats just caster sugar and oil, but I know I won't waste any of the product as its just too yummy to leave.

I do honestly really love this lip scrub, I think its very addictive and I always find myself wanting to take more and more out of the pot. If you love pink, love bubblegum and anything sugary definitely pick this up next time you're in your local Lush shop.

Have you tried any of these Lip Scrubs, which are your favourites?

Katie  ♥

Topshop Cream Blush

Topshop cream blushes have been around for a long time now, but I never use to be much of a blusher wearer so I decided to invest in some. I had heard a lot of hype about the Topshop makeup range and the blushers were some of the first makeup they brought out. I have had this blusher for a while now but never really had the hang of it. Because this was my first cream blush I was a bit confused as to how to apply it without getting a blotch stuck to my face then being unable to blend it, or what brush to use. But since then I have tried other blushes and I find that creams are are definitely appearing in my makeup bag a lot more.

Neon Rose Blush - £6

I am a really big fan of the Topshop's makeup packaging as its cute and simple with the plain white colour all over and then the black polka dots. But one of the downsides to this product is in fact the packaging, it gets so grubby so easily and as much as you think 'I will not get it dirty' you do, and its impossible to keep clean. It is very similar to Nars packaging in the way that it gets so dirty so easily. With that aside it does a great job of holding in the product and also has a handy mirror covering the whole inside of the lid.

Neon Rose is a bright coral shade with yellow undertones making it pretty much suitable for all skin types, although darker skin tones but have to build up the colour more. In the pan the colour looks quite scary and at first I thought I would look ridiculous, but once on the skin and blended out it sheers out and gives a natural flush to the cheeks. One other interesting thing about the blushes are that they go from a cream to setting as a powder when on the skin, but doesn't look matte.

These blushes are very soft but not greasy feeling and never feel like they will melt off your skin. The colour pay off is very strong so the 'less is more' approach would be best and is it difficult to remove when set on the skin.

There are many ways that you can apply cream blushers but I like to use my fingers or a Real Techniques buffing brush if I want a bit more precision. It's great for on the go because of the handy mirror, if i was in this situation I would use my fingers. They build and dry to a dewy finish, certainly not matte or wet looking. I have Oily skin (especially in the summer time) and I find that by the end of the day I can still see the colour on my skin and they still appear fresh looking. I definitely want to try out some more of the Topshop makeup range, the Topshop glow highlighters, also in cream form look incredible!

Katie  ♥