Ladies Radley Watches

Radley London is a brand I am sure all us ladies know about by now. They started in 1998, so still a baby in the designer world yet they have grown very popular. I think an element in our minds enjoys the 'cute' aspect of the Radley designs, and knowing they are designed for adults we can enjoy sporting these accessories guilt-free.

They make exquisite collectible bags and purses, with extended ranges into accessories such as umbrellas and handy tote bags that pack into a teeny tiny bag. More recently I discovered the range of Radley watches.

Radley has beautiful stores dotted around the country with several stores in London. However, I happened to get my latest Radley fix from the Goldsmiths Boutique. 

The watches are presumably a standard Japanese movement –so fairly well made and nothing fancy on the inside. What matters to me, is that it ticks and the hands go round. If I can tell the time, I am happy. It has to look nice, too, as watches these days are more of a fashion accessory than they are an item of jewellery.

Radley Watch, RRP £89.95

This particular watch, RRP £89.95, has a soft mink-colour strap made of genuine leather. The face is big enough for my un-spectacled eyes to read and it has a very clear face with a dotted dial.

There is currently an offer on the watches where you can get a free Radley keyring with a retail price of £19. 

However, this offer is not obviously advertised online so make sure you ask in store. The watches don't appear to be available on the Radley website, so maybe ring the store in advance if you plan on making a visit to try one on, if just to ask if they do indeed stock them. 

Also, what is bizarre is that my keyring isn't for sale on the Radley website either, so it's probably not part of their mainstream in-store collections.

In the past, Radley has designed some lovely pieces. I even had a bag for my 21st birthday and I was gutted when the handle stretched out after a few months. Despite this one occasion, I persisted to use another Radley purse for several years before changing it. I even had a Radley wallet for my London Oyster Card for 5 years, which I only recently stopped using when I passed my driving test in March this year. I also have a mini-heart purse on a keyring which is useful for keeping toll-booth coins in or even a folded up fiver for emergencies. 

If you've not tried out a Radley product yet, give them a go. They are an iconic English brand and I look forward to seeing an Art Deco range in the future, using the lovely font from my watch dial.

I dream about the day when they release a modern, yet classic raincoat. You heard it here first!

With thanks to Goldsmiths for the image.

*This product was purchased by myself and was not provided gratis by the brand*

Garnier Ultimate Blends 'Silky Smoother'

At last... an affordable shampoo and conditioner that I don't have to special order from the darkest corners of the internet...

Garnier recently launched a new series of specially formulated shampoos and conditioners that are the baby of seven long years in the lab.

I had been buying the Dumb Blonde Shampoo and Re-constructor by Tigi, which was really costing me a fortune and the re-constructor did not come in the same ML as the shampoo, meaning I had to spend even more.

I took the Ultimate Blends Diagnostic Quiz and was prescribed the Silky Smoother. My god... does it work? Yes it does. One very pleased citizen of planet help-my-hair and at last a fine excuse to change shampoos. Note I say change shampoo, though. The downside to the matching set it that the conditioner is a bit of a boner... it's very watery and I find it doesn't really condition as well as my beloved Tigi. It's a real shame, and confusing to me. If you have every used Garnier Olia hair dye you may have used the tube of conditioner - this consistency is lovely and I only wish the Ultimate Blends (Silky Smoother) conditioner was more like it. Note well, Garnier!

My hair used to be terribly dry and brittle and every time I brushed it, it would shear off into tiny pieces and get shorter and shorter. After several years of trying every so-called damage repair shampoo known to womankind, trying a different one every other month, I finally stumbled across the Aussie 3-Minute Miracle products, which helped a little bit although the smell seemed to upset me a little and make my eyes sore.

A couple of months later I discovered the Tigi products, and hadn't stopped using them since.

Now, 3 or 4 years later I've cheated on Tigi.

I am not ashamed.The relationship was bound to end sooner or later, when a more exciting, more affordable product came on the market. I had heard of papaya extract before, and it being good for silky hair.The Silky Smoother range contains Madagascan Vanilla Milk and Brazilian ‘Fruit of the Angels’ Papaya extracts according to the Garnier website.

Ultimate Blends 'Silky Smoother' Range

My hair genuinely felt really soft and silky (so, exactly as it said on the tin) after the first couple of washes. My husband said it looked shinier than usual. I asked him to have a feel (of my hair, of course) and he said it definitely felt soft, like strands of fine silk. Maybe that sounds too good to be true, but I can honestly tell you that's what he said!

Garnier has really shone down on the vast population with the creation and launch of Ultimate Blends and I won't stop using this shampoo now! Well done Garnier, another perfect product for a reasonable price that many more people can afford out of the salon.

Use the Diagnostic Quiz to find out your Ultimate Blend.

Look after your hair with regular trips to a quality hair dresser to maintain the health and quality of your hair. Most salons recommend visiting between 6-10 weeks for trims. I visit every 8 weeks to prevent expansion of split ends, which may cause your hair to appear dull or dry.

*This product was purchased by myself and was not provided gratis by the brand*

Olay Essentials Beauty Fluid for Sensitive Skin

A few months ago I bought Olay Essentials Beauty Fluid, for sensitive skin.

I've been using it on a daily basis as a dry-skin-primer before putting on my make up. The foundation I have is full coverage, so it's quite thick and takes some effort to blend at times.

I love it.

I had never tried it before and I cannot fathom why, now! I remember as a child my mum always used Oil of Ulay, which is now simply called Olay. It came in the same style bottle with a very fluid 'milky' consistency. The smell is similar to what I remembered all those years ago.

To apply, cleanse / shower first then pat-dry your face with a dry towel; preferably a soft, fluffy one. Blob out about a five pence sized portion into your palm, then run between your hands for a second to spread it out. Massage the lotion into your face and around the edges of your jaw bone and neck. This helps when blending your make up as you won't get a tide mark effect around your chin.

The fluid seems to absorb quite well and it isn't greasy at all.

I would definitely recommend it. When you come to washing you make up off at the end of the day - especially a hot, sticky day as the weather has dictated recently - then you'll still feel the moisturizing properties come through. Stick some more on before going to bed.

I've had this bottle for a few months now and the sensitive skin formula doesn't seem to give a burning sensation like other high street lotions I have tried, not naming names of course!

I think I may become an Olay regular and would certainly consider trialing some of their other products if they are all as good as the beauty fluid. It has really become an essential part of my beauty regime now - I do not wear my make up without it!

You can buy the Olay Beauty Fluid from most good supermarkets, so you can pick some up this weekend in your weekly shop. Otherwise, you can readily order the product online or by visiting a good high street pharmacy.

Very reasonably priced, considering the amount you get. Less than a fiver. Less than an hours wage with substantially more benefits...

Buy Olay Beauty Fluid now by clicking here.

*This product was purchased by myself and was not provided gratis by the brand*

GHD Eclipse

Remember back in naughties' when GHD styling tongs first came onto the market? For those who don’t know, GHD is the acronym for Good Hair Day. Great name for products that really are a cut above the rest.

The craze that swept the nation has truly remained vibrant and strong, with some people collecting the various shades of special edition colours.

I got my very first (and until today, only) pair in 2010, so they have done very well to last this long. After one year of use, the fuse popped (due to a new plug socket in stalled) but within a week or two I had been sent a brand new pair by GHD at no cost to me whatsoever. This was a nice surprise as I was expecting only a repair to my originals. Since then, the replacement pair lasted three fabulous years, through moments of tears and joy, whether it was my redundancy, my wedding, several jobs, a funeral or even an array of birthday dinners, holidays and anniversaries – they have been there for me.

They have travelled with me many times; to the Canaries, to Hawaii, San Francisco and even Poland, where I used them as curling tongs for a wedding. 

Coincidentally, I just discovered after getting the tongs home that GHD designed the voltage to give optimum styling wherever you are in the world – perfect! 

The GHD Eclipse also comes with a rubber guard. If you happen to be clumsy (like me) then put this guard on to stop the plates becoming chipped if you knock them onto the floor…. Just remember to let them cool, first! The two year guarantee should put your mind at rest, especially combined with the knowledge that mine lasted 3 years! They still work, I just dropped them too many times onto my array of plug sockets and chipped the plates.

So today was a feasibly momentous day; I replaced them with a new pair called GHD Eclipse. Oooh are they something special. The Daily Mail dubbed the GHD Eclipse tongs as the “Rolls Royce” among styling tongs. I have to say... I did sense this when I opened the box. It was as though I was opening the garage door to a black and chrome vintage car, with a bow on it.

The plates have become damaged and although they still work the same as when I first bought them, two chips in the plates are snagging my hair and it’s not right to keep them alive when they really ought to be laid to rest.

GHD Eclipse, RRP £145

Alas, I bought the new ones that have super-dooper magic plates on them. They heat up super-fast as well, in 5 short flashes of the new-style light. They don’t has the same on-switch as the old design, it’s on the outside now and you push it in and wait a second or two for the white light to flash on. When it does, it makes a charming polyphonic sound, a chime each for on, ready and off.

I would certainly recommend GHD styling tongs to anyone, as they come in different widths for certain hair styles, for example short hair and fringes use the tiny pen-width tongs, which I imagine are good for stylists that do vintage hair as it could make a good tight ringlet style curl. Then you get the standard (traditional) GHD straightener which is straight up and down and suitable for all hair, up to a medium / long length. 

My hair is a lot longer at the back, although the sales assistant said the medium width is still suitable. For very long hair I would recommend the wider paddle-like styler as the plates are probably at least twice as thick as the medium size and cover a wider area of hair on each stroke.

The ones I bought are as pictured. They are fairly new on the market and I had personally never seen them until I bought them today, having been egged on by my husband to buy them. They were £25 dearer than the pair I was going to buy, but more suitable to my hair type. I was told they can cut through a thicker section of hair, and are very good at smoothing out frizzy, thick hair.

And old hairdresser once told me my hair was “like fluff” after it had been dried but tended to retain a lot of water after it had been washed. I am somewhat of an advocate of the hair turban, and leave it in for at least thirty minutes to soak up excess water before attempting to blow dry it.

For blow drying I use a Parlux salon dryer, but I’ll post about that when I replace it with a new one…

For guilt-free styling and an opportunity to donate to a very good cause, why not opt for the limited edition pink tongs, of which a fresh design is released each year? A portion of the sales support Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

Buy with confidence directly from GHD to ensure authenticity. There are too many cheapskates producing fakes out there, and it’s far better to be safe than sorry! After all, we get what we pay for.

View the GHD Eclipse styler now. 

With thanks to GHD for not only for the use of their pictures, but also for designing these ever-fabulous products!

View my range of everyday and occasion jewellery now, hand crafted in England.Use code WOW10 for £10 off when you spend £30 or more in a single transaction.

*This product was purchased by myself and was not provided gratis by the brand*

Fashion & Lifestyle Blogging

If you would like me to feature your brand, shop or company on Flora's Boutique blog, please don't hesitate to get in touch!

Simply Tweet or Post by clicking on the links. I'd love to hear from you!

I currently blog about absolutely anything that can be used for weddings and special occasions. If you work in one of the below industries, I await your message!

Fashion & Lifestyle
Fashion, clothing, accessories, shoes, bags

Beauty & Cosmetics
Hair care, make up, cosmetics, skin care, beauty tools

Travel & Culture
Afternoon tea, theatre tickets, tours, excursions, red letter days

Homewares
Baking equipment, garden accessories, home detailing and accessories

How I work is very simple. You provide a product or service to me as a gift (e.g. afternoon tea in your new hotel, or a pair shoes from your new range) and I write about it in return, at no further cost to you, other than (of course) P&P for my gift. You may even send me vouchers towards my personal purchase of something in your range which I will then buy and write about.

Blogging is free advertising for your business that is viewed by thousands of people, potentially millions with good use of descriptive key words and pictures. Social media is used by millions on a daily basis, with the power to share products and services they like.

I am an honest writer and will include the pros as well as the cons to provide an accurate, true and fair report to my readers. I do reserve the right to blog about certain products, if I honestly would not use the product myself.

All blogs will state whether or not the gift was promotional, gratis or purchased on my own terms.

Get in touch any time - flobo.blog@gmail.co.uk

BlanX White Shock & Sensodyne

Let's think about all kinds of things to do with weddings. Not just weddings, but also special occasions when we want to dress up or spruce ourselves up and feel extra special.

Back in April I had to have a surgical removal of coronectomy debris. I was prescribed some rather strong (nasty tasting) mouthwash by the hospital, along with Penicillin, and went on my way. The mouthwash, I had to use once or twice a day at least, until I had completed the course. I recently had to buy some more and was looking at Corsodyl (the next closest to the hospital stuff) when I stumbled across quite an assortment of other options.

The hospital solution was strong enough to sting and numb my mouth a bit but far too strong to use on a general day-to-day basis... good only for numbing the area where I had stitches put in

My teeth are a bit yellower than I would like them to be, i.e. not yellow at all. Although I don't smoke and never drink red wine, I did tend to drink a lot of tea, coffee and cola drinks in my youth, as they were supplied in abundance for free or next to nothing, to keep us all going on our twelve hour shifts come rain or shine.

Additionally, ten years of taking a concoction of medication has caused other problems, including weakening my teeth and eroding the enamel to almost nothing. I have spent years trying various brands of toothpastes in all their different formulas. In the months leading up to my own wedding, I certainly spent some time looking to home-whiten as much as possible, as a clinic whitening procedure simply wasn't an options; in terms of cost and practicality.

BlanX Intensive Stain Removal

My own dentist genuinely recommended that I used an enamel hardening toothpaste for sensitive teeth, which I found in Sensodyne Pronamel. They said it could help whiten the teeth as well, provided that for teeth with little enamel, a super soft brush wash used. I certainly jumped onto this advice and still use soft brushes and enamel hardening pastes. I do sincerely think my teeth are whiter now than they were when I was a teen, due to years of using the right formulas for my teeth. Brides - remember that you can't naturally whiten you teeth in a day or even a week! If you smoke or drink a lot of tea, coffee, red wine and/or cola, then certainly consider either reducing your intake or rinsing your mouth afterwards by having a glass of water, to cleanse the palate and wash away any potential stains before they sink in.

Think of your teeth like a white lace top... you wouldn't wash it with mixed colours, and if you got a stain on it you'd wash it out immediately rather than allow it to sink in and destroy the beautiful top. You only get one set of adult teeth, and nobody wants dentures, right?

I did use Sensodyne Pronamel for several years until I discovered BlanX. I absolutely love the stuff and wouldn't consider changing it any time soon!

There is a fairly new one BlanX released, called White Shock. It's a blue gel-like paste from a squeezy tube. The more you smile, the whiter your teeth get as the little thingies in the gel react to natural UV light and speed up the whitening process. There is another tube advertised on the website that comes with a light to brighten your teeth. I wouldn't know if this really works, so if you're happy and you know it, smile plenty!

BlanX White Shock

I just really wish it came in the same pump dispenser as their other pastes.

This gel style paste was a recent purchase and lasted me at least two months. I would strongly recommend trying it even if you think it's expensive. After all, you get what you pay for... 

I liked this formula as it was quite a clean, fresh taste without tasting too strongly of mint. It lathers up nicely without turning into a thick foam that's hard to rinse out. I would love to try it again... but BlanX, if you're out there, please consider a dispenser for it or a tube key!

The whitening power comes from an ingredient called Arctic Lichen... which I assume is a type of lichen found in the Arctic. The great thing about BlanX is that they don't put abrasive particles in the polish, so there's no damage done to your gum-line or the surface of your teeth. It's all natural, baby!

There are some strange competitive pricing wars going on... most weeks ASDA sells the enamel one for £7.00. In Tesco, for the longest time it was half the price and I always made a trip to buy it from there until they hiked up the price to £6.00.

At the weekend I bought the enamel paste, which comes in a nice pump dispenser. It's lovely and white, spreads nicely and isn't too thick. The density and texture is just right, and your teeth do feel really silky afterwards. I do feel it helps whiten and as it's 100ml or less, you can shove it in your travel bag for your honeymoon or weekend away.

The only qualm with the enamel paste is that it lathers into quite thick foam which it hard to rinse out unless you use mouthwash to get it all out... However, it is still a great paste/polish and I strongly recommend to all who would rather practice good oral hygiene than pay for someone to bleach their teeth. Most of us have seen idiotic celebrities sporting a row of insanely white toothy-pegs that are just as hideous to look at as a row of wonky brown gravestones.

Sensodyne Sensitive Mouthwash

Again from Tesco (I am not a 'lover' of Tesco since my weekly shops there always cost more than ASDA for the same stuff, bar the toothpaste of course) I bought some Sensodyne mouthwash for sensitive teeth. It was on a special offer - quite a good one at that - so I bought two bottles. 

It doesn't smell particularly pleasant at first but it has a great taste of delicate mint when you first rinse, then a warming licorice taste after you have rinsed. If you like licorice, such as soft-eating (old-school) bites or Pontefract cakes, I really think you would love this stuff. I think it sways more towards the warming taste of BlackJacks.

My husband is an avid lover of old fashioned licorice and will happily sit there chomping on his soft-eating licorice as a special treat. I will not be surprised to see him using quite a lot of this mouthwash over the next few weeks, as he satisfies his taste for guilt-free licorice.

Just to clarify, the solution is clear - you'll never have post-licorice brown teeth!

On the other hand, if licorice isn't your desired flavour, then perhaps it's not for you!

View the BlanX range for 2014.

View the Sensodyne range for 2014 and try out the product finder for your teeth.

Please give thanks to Sensodyne and BlanX for the images, and links to their websites.

*This product was purchased by myself and was not provided gratis by the brand*