banana scientist

So I know my posts haven't been their usual hard hitting, gritty, informative, penetrative flap in the past few days and I was lazy on Sunday and did a very heavy, picture heavy post but I have been up to my armpits all in the name of scientific discovery....and bananas.... 

When the beau got some coconut conditioning shampoo from Lush it got me thinking of the merits of natural products and DIY products. The downside of all these products that are so so good for you is that they are sometimes not so so good for your purse. Anytime that something says "Organic" or "Free From" it seems like they wack another couple of quid on the price..major big bumder... So when I had some bananas that looked older than Ghandi's face I had a bit of a science/beauty experiment day. Bananas are famously great for hydrating so I thought I would attempt to make some products and after some research and a bit of help from beautylish.com for the basics, I came up with my exfoliator, conditioner and face pack.

First up- Moisturising Exfoliator.

1/2 cup soft brown sugar

1/2 desiccated coconut (which I spelled wrong in the picture but can't be flapped to change- my illiteracy is endearing..) 

1 very ripe banana with those nobbly end bits cut off

1 tablespoon of honey

1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

Smash them all together with a fork so its as lump free ass you can get it and then DEFINITELY get in the shower for the next bit. Rub it all over your thighs, arse, hips etc- anywhere that you would normally rub an exfoliator with the same circular motions..... then leave it on there for 3 or 4 minutes to let the banana, honey and olive oil do their thing... Then rinse rinse rinse really well!!! 

Afterwards my skin felt so soft! and for pence!!! I think this might have cost me maybe 50p to whip up a batch and you get an absolute ton of the stuff. Soooooooo using this bad boy again.... Next up- 

Moisturising face pack:

I had a very unwilling, and now thoroughly anonymous guinea pig to aid me in this. My anonymous man gets dry skin on his cheeks from his grufty beard so he was the perfect test subject.

The recipe is-

1 small, too ripe banana with those knobbly end bits gone

1/4 cup of blueberries

1 tablespoon of honey
1 tablespoon of edible lavender

1/4 of oat bran

(the snotty looking hair is his banana conditioner..how fit!!!It's like looking at Clooney isn't it?!?! Who could this be?? Hmmmmm..) 

My logic behind this one is that 'nanas and honey are moisturising, oat bran is famously very soothing and blueberries are full of antioxidants- the more good things the merrier surely?? Slap this paste on- make sure your wearing something old that you don't mind getting crap all over, and sit with it on have a little chill and maybe a cuppa for 20 minutes to let the ingredients go about their business. Again, rinse, rinse, rinse...

Afterwards his skin looked brighter, it was less flaky around his beard line, smoother and a little softer. 

Last but my no means least, the snotty banana conditioner:

Please don't let the look put you off, it worked a treat!!!

In a bowl you want to mash together:

1 very ripe banana with no ends

1 tablespoon of honey

1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons of natural yoghurt

(how much does he look like he's weeping in these pictures? I think he was close..poor little toad...) 

These pictures don't show the hair brilliantly but I hope you can see that theres a little bit of dandruff up in there and it ends get quite dry and flyaway...

Again, just smush everything together. It feels beyond wrong when you touch it but just bare with- its worth it in the end... get it on the hair, more towards the mid lengths and tips and less at the roots as that olive oils just gonna get straight at the roots and could be greasy if you let it build up- a little won't do much though....

Leave this on your wig about half an hour and then try and rinse it out as best you can, then get a wide tooth comb in there and give it a good going over to help get out any more banana. Then give it a shampoo with a nice light shampoo to get all the banana-ey oily residue out et voila!!! 

(How awkward does he look??? - christ....) 

I hope that you can see that a lot of the dandruff has gone and that his curls look tighter and more nourished. Subject T even said that it was worth all the flapping about and that his hair smelt great afterwards. Also price wise, what did I spend, maybe £1.50 on the whole lot?! Hello winning!! 

I'd love it if any of you guys decide to give them a go and let me know what you think and if you have any success with them!! I definitely trying that face pack when I get hold of another manky banana, his skin looked great! 

Happy Birthday

I know your not meant to have a favourite, it's the unwritten rule, like picking your favourite child or something but my favourite Beatle is George Harrison end of. I know he wasn't the most popular and was overshadowed by John and Paul..not Ringo though, Summer from 500 Days of Summer is the only person I know that favours Ringo but I just love George. "Here Comes The Sun" is a joy and is rather grim to talk about but the song I want played at my funeral and "My Sweet Lord', even though I am not remotely religious fills me with a sense of something "bigger" when I listen to it. Also I'd just pretty much love to become a hippie and travel India playing a Sitar... It's not everyones dream but it's something... Well, all of this wittering is because today is Georges birthday and I just wanted to send out a little happy birthday wish to someone who was so sadly taken from his path before his time was really due. Hare Krishna Georgie boy and Happy Birthday. 

In a galaxy far far away, two sisters are pratting about...

Since this week seems to be "Bea does nails", I couldn't let it slip by without at least attempting to do a galaxy nail print in honour of the amazing Vivienne Westwood Galaxy print bag that I blogged about recently. 

Well, I tried stippling and it just looked crappy and bumpy and I couldn't get it looking as good as I wanted it to. So then I thought I would try dip dyed nails and Hurrah!! What a success. I got the idea from a post a while ago from here, at the phenomenal home of Syl and Sam, a pair of ladies who also seem to love galaxy print and Jeffrey Campbell's as much as I do! 

With my little sister staying for the week I thought it would be the perfect time to test it out as it seemed a bit of a two man job...and by god it was! The end result was amazing, it looks beyond excellent and your never going to get a nail that looks the same, the downside- uurgh the mess... I don't know if its because we are just ridiculous and struggle with even the most basic of tasks but yeah...messy! 

First things first, equipment list; you will need

Kitchen Roll

Bottled water, not tap- apparently it works better...

A glass you are willing to sacrifice. If you don't have a glass you could cut the bottom off of a plastic bottle to create a cup. Cheap, chearful and does the trick

Your chosen nail varnish colours, 3 minimum. 

Cotton buds, Cotton Pads and Cocktail sticks though of course a small pointy stick from the woods would work brilliantly if you happen to live near some woods or in a Disney cartoon... 

 Fill your glass an inch or so up, suppose this will depend how long your nails are. Hollie's were quite short so we only needed a few inches. If you have talons worthy of picking up field mice then a bit more water will be needed. Drop your first colour into the water. It should separate into a ring. I found that my more expensive nail varnishes did this but the cheaper thicker ones stuck together. It doesn't matter too much as your going to agitate them with your cocktail stick in a minute. Work quite quickly, I'd suggest having all your colours unscrewed first, and keep dropping each colour into the centre of the previous, creating rings or blobs close to each other. Also you need quite a bit of colour on the brush, I found it easier if you tipped the bottle on the side and then scooped a bit out with the brush.

When you have added you colours, pull the cocktail stick through it gently to make swirled patterns.

Find the nicest part of the pattern you have made and from the edge of it, gently and slowly dip your nail into the water. The water should push the varnish onto your finger and the pattern up the nail.

Leave the nail under the water for 30 seconds or so to adhere the varnish to the nail. The next step is where it is handy to have a buddy to help, especially if you were onto your second hand. You need to take a cocktail stick and run it across the top of the water to pick up all the excess colour sitting on the surface. It should stick to itself and the stick as you move it across the water and then you can lift it out onto the kitchen roll.

After you have cleared the water surface you need to hold back any varnish attatched to your finger  with another cocktail stick so that it doesn't slip down your nail as you take it out of the water and you end up with a double dipped effect. You will have a sort of tail of nail varnish coming away from the cuticle so hold it up past the cuticle with the cocktail stick. Then pop your finger onto a piece of kitchen roll or old news paper to let it dry for a minute or so while you get the next set of colours ready.

They do take a while to dry up to about half an hour as the colour is quite thick so pop a Friends episode on or Extreme Knitting, whatever takes your fancy and sit back and have a natter for a bit.  The next bit is the biggest pain and its cleaning your fingers. It does take an age and we have mutually decided that the whole thing may be a bit easier done onto some false nails but since both of us are useless with false nails and they last about ten minutes on us so we decided to be patient and stick it out the old fashioned way. Another idea that may work would be masking your fingers off with some tape? So after the great clean up operation you get.... 

How pretty are they!! I can't say that they have all come out Galaxy Print they seem to be galaxy meets tie dye but I bet you could improve it with practice and patience...Regardless, Im so pleased with them, so is Hollie and it was fun to play about with and waste an afternoon of sisterly bonding. What do you think? Were our efforts worth it or should we have just kept watching Extreme Knitting instead. Would you try them??

Review: Lush's Charity Pot

Well here's what my night consisted of, pretty happy days really... For my Valentines present the ever amazing beau got me a ton of Lush goods so I was in heaven as you will know if you saw the post- the best thing about it aside from 1- now my house smells amazing and 2-I have the nicest baths and showers at the minute, is that I have so much blogging ammo!! 

The beau's selection had quite a few bits and pieces that were new to me so needless to say, in the name of scientific research, anyone who has come near me in the past week has been drenched in lushness.

The first thing I've been playing with is this little "Charity Pot". I'm an absolute devotee of Karma Kream so getting me away from that has been a bit of an ordeal-we're very attached...but I've done it for you kids. Soooo what did I think? First thing that hit me was the smell, between me, my sister and the beau it took us a day and a half to figure out what it smells like and the answer is.......Fry's Turkish Delight!! It smells exactly like that yummy squidgy stuff that had chocolate round it. My grandma loved those so that was a nice little thing to be reminded of.  Im guessing it's the combo of almond oil, ylang ylang and geranium- all quite "eastern" smells, plus a nice hint of chocolate, so smell wise if you like Turkish Delight your onto a win.

I love that Lush, minus the VAT, send the whole of the money from this pot- not just the profit but the whole sale price to charity. If that isn't an incentive to buy it, I don't know what is. My pot was supporting Sims Hill Shared Harvest so big up to Sims Hill- woop woop!!!!  For a 100g tub you will be paying £6.95 or £12.75 for 240g and you can buy it by clicking here!

It's quite messy I do have to say, I think it's something to do with the consistency. While its not watery by any means, it does seem to be more liquid than say, the Karma Kream. It got all over the rim of the lid and got a bit sticky and messy so that was annoying.

Like I said the consistency is slightly "loose" but it is a lotion and not a body butter...The picture above is me with my hand upright and it holds it's own so it can't be that runny can it??!! Personally it sank it quite quickly and wasn't overly sticky. We all have been putting the Charity Pot on before bed and it can still be smelt in the morning so I'm pretty impressed with that. I do wonder if it would last throughout the day when your up and about; only further testing will tell so I'll update on that at some point... 

I can't tell if it's very moisturising as I am always dowsed in cream so have damm soft skin! I do know that I get dry skin, especially on my hands if I don't use a cream and I haven't gone dry since using this so it must be keeping my skin nicely hydrated. I'd like to try it on someone who does have dry skin to see that happens there but with cocoa butter being so famous for keeping skin deliciously soft I can predict it would be a good outcome. 

After our weeks use:

My 17 year old sister's sum up was: "nice smelling but messy. Its slightly tacky until its dried which took a couple of minutes. The price is good, I don't mind paying a little extra for products if they're from Lush 'cos they smell so yum and it's a bonus the money goes to charity."

24 year old hub said: "nice smell and I like that it supports a good cause. Its a bit of an effeminate smell for a guy though but i'd buy it for Bea."

and I'm saying: "delish smell, good price, would recommend but I'm still a Karma Kream girl."

Im such a Karma devotee that I can't say I'd give it up for this, the messyness put me off a little too but otherwise it was an absolute treat. If I was in the market for a present for one of the girls this would be a great go-to and the charity aspects allows you to have a warm 'n' fuzzy feeling that you have done your bit for a little while. 

Evil Queen

So I'm on a bit of a roll it would seem. I loved my Little Mermaid nails so I thought I would try another Disney inspired look. So here are my nails inspired by the Evil Queen from Snow White.

First layer is the amazing Nicki Minaj's "Did it on Em". Its a yum acidic green colour.

Get nice thin coats on there to take it to full opacity. 

Get a sponge (I just used a regular kitchen sponge, cut a chunk off it) and paint you second colour onto the tip of it and stipple away. The colour wants to be heavier at the tip and lighter towards the cuticle. You only need a little nail varnish on the sponge or it will become too runny and you wont be able to do sod all with it!!

The black layer needs to look like its bubbling up through the others so angle it in a rough triangle. Keep the stippling on the green really light, just a few flecks like little bursting bubbles. Just think of the black poison running down the apple; Perfectly evil! 

Also clean any nail varnish off the skin with a cotton bud dipped into some remover.

The Little Mermaid Nails

Probably because she was a fellow red head and Ursula looked surprisingly like my mother when I was younger, Ariel has always been my favourite Disney Princess. I am the biggest Disney Kid out there and grew up on a diet of disney films and chocolate fingers- heaven! So as my homage to The Little Mermaid I thought I would do a Mermaid inspired nail. Its so pretty and lagoon-ey...that is a real word yes...

My weapons of choice. Try to get a base coat that is lighter than your second colour, it just makes life a little easier with less stippling to do...

Apply nice thin coats till you get a good coverage, 2 should do it.

Get a sponge (I just used a regular kitchen sponge, cut a chunk off it) and paint you second colour onto the tip of it and stipple away about 2/3 of the way up your nail. The colour wants to be heavier at the tip and lighter towards the cuticle. You only need a little nail varnish on the sponge or it will become too runny and you wont be able to do sod all with it!!

Dipping the cotton bud in nail varnish remover could work too...maybe :)

Well for a first try at any nail look that is remotely artistic I don't think its too bad!! If you had gloriously manicured nails I'm sure it would look so much better than my tiny stumps but I'm pretty happy and Im sure Ariel would work it if nail varnish wasn't such a shit to put on underwater.... 

Just because she looked so ridiculous, I thought I had to share with you some pics of a very sleepy and upside down Dolly Pug..... Oooooh I just couldn't love her more... She's my shadow, or as Me and the Beau call her, my "Tiny Chef"- she has this habit of sitting in between my legs when I'm stood cooking.

 Pugs seem to be a Marmite dog you either love them or hate them, as you can tell I am firmly in the love camp!! She is also a dedicated follower of fashion....

Working Sequins...

and Polka Dots....

and stripes......Oh Dolly you tiny ridiculous little maltloaf <3

I want, I want, I need, I need...

I don't know about you but if I see an item of clothing that I want, I don't just want it, I NEED it. "I want, I want, I need, I need" is the spoilt little child within me that won't rest until I see some of this hanging off'ov me.

Blue Tropical Print Cropped Top

£28 @ River Island

Love the print, Love the stitch detail, Love the chunky zip.

Flamingo Print Tank

£12.99 @ New Look

Obsessed with Flamingo's so anything with them on is a win! 

Cream Block Heel Sandals

£60 @ River Island

Yellow is my favourite colour and that mixed with the aqua blue is heaven. Also so into a block heel..goodbye stiletto's 

Grey Floral Print Skirt

£18 @ River Island

50's print perfection. Im in Hawaii with a cocktail- poy'fect! 

ASOS Pastel Colour Block Bucket Bag

£35 @ ASOS

Great size, loving the work with the pastel colours. YUM! 

ASOS Patent Colour Watch

£25 @ ASOS

That lime with the gold looks sweet ass... 

White Heart Leopard Print Tee

£15 @ River Island

Really want all of RI's Leopard print looks this season, this one especially

Pink Scarf Print Blazer

£40 @ River Island

This with some vintage looking rolled and faded jeans and my studded Topshop 

ballet pumps; pretty much my spring wardrobe

Floral Embroidered Playsuit

£75 @ Topshop.

Sooooo in love with some embroidering

Rocking Horse Crop Tee

£14 @ Topshop

Could wear this with so many different looks, ideal utility tee

Tropical Leaf Print Cigarette Print Trousers.

£35 @ Topshop

Club Tropicana is officially back and drinks are free..wish these trousers were free too as I would be wearing them as I type.

Lisbon Buckle Wood Heel Sandals

£68 @ Topshop

I had last seasons version of these little babies in tan leather and I am obsessed with the update. The perfect chunky shoe.