I'm back! What have I been up to?

Hi Everybody!

Wow, this feels a little bit weird, it's been a while!

First of all I'd like to say, thanks for sticking with me while I took a much needed break from all things Truly Polished. I needed some time off but I've still been checking in on Blogger every now and again and to see my page views still going up has been unexpected but lovely.

Secondly, my return begs the question of where I've been since before Christmas, so I thought I'd fill you guys in on what I've been up to!

The main reason is the most exciting... We're expecting a new addition to the Truly Polished family! We found out just before Christmas, and my energy was gone, just like that. I've been napping every day, totally unable to function without a crazy amount of sleep and generally useless. Trying to look after a nearly two and a half year old livewire, keeping my house looking like humans rather than pigs live in it, and actually having some me-time meant that blogging had to go for a while... But I'm itching to get back into it, and certainly haven't been slacking on the haul front so have plenty to show you once I get it all swatched!

Here's a little picture of Baby TP number 2 from a couple of weeks ago! We find out in just over a month what we're having so that's exciting.

So what else have I been up to?

I never watched Entourage when it was actually on, but in January I decided to start from the beginning. I'm up to Season 5 and loving it!

One of my New Year's resolutions was to learn to crochet. I've been having a good go at it, I've learned how to make a granny square, and a granny triangle to start some multicoloured bunting for Caleb's room. I've also made a flower headband for myself, as well as making some little flowers and stars. I want to take the next month to make something for Caleb, and then when I find out the sex of this baby I want to make a nice blanket for the nursery. I'm hoping (if what I make isn't too embarrassingly bad) to share some of my crochet on here! 

We went to Tenerife for 8 days the second week of February, it was so nice to get a bit of sun, the English weather makes me so miserable!

My fiance has been home for the last four weeks, he leaves tomorrow, and so we decided this was the time to potty train our son. We started on Valentine's Day, a Friday, and used the fact that he was off preschool for half term the following week to our advantage. And it's done. He picked it up really quickly and much more easily than we had expected. Obviously we're anticipating accidents still, but we had a trip to Colchester Zoo at the start of this week (2 hours each way) accident free, so I'm optimistic!

So that's what I've been up to! It's been a busy and tiring couple of months, but I'm ready to get back to blogging. If I can get some swatching done over the next few days, I'll be back next week with some pretties. I'm thinking the Limited Edition Picture Polish newbies first. I have thermals as well that I want to show you, plus some indies. Honestly I've lost interest in the mainstream recently so it's indie all the way for the time being!

Thanks again for sticking with me through this break, and you won't be disappointed next week!

Festive Friday 2013 #2 Looking Forward To Christmas Eve

Hey Guys,

I can't believe we're at the end of another week and ti's time for another Festive Friday... This week I was planning on focusing on my Christmas decorations at home, but some of the lights on my tree have broken and my living room is a mess (my fiance just sanded the beam on one side of our living room and stained it so all the furniture is over one side) so I couldn't take good photos. However, I think I have a pretty good alternative!

Today was a pretty good day for us, we actually finished the last bits and pieces of Christmas shopping, and the few things I had been waiting for arrived, AND I bought my Soap and Glory big gift set... A bit sad when you have to buy your own Christmas presents... I can't wait to unwrap that on Christmas day though. I also got something I have had my eye on for ages and ages.

Yankee Candle Christmas Eve has been on my wishlist since it went in the shops this year. I've been buying little samplers recently though and wasn't ready to commit until I realised not many places did samples of it. I really loved the smell and wanted it so much, and today I bought the large jar. I prefer buying the large jars over the small and medium ones because they last for ages and are better value for money!

Christmas Eve is such a perfect smell. I don't like anything too sweet, favouring clean smells like "Fluffy Towels" over anything vanilla-smelling. I do like berry smells though, and this is the perfect blend of berries, with a bit of spice and a little bit of a burning smell that is exactly like a log fire. I know this because I couldn't wait to start burning it and have it lit next to me!

Over all I love this, it's the perfect scent for me right now! It is available at most stockists of Yankee Candle in a variety of sizes as well as in a medium jar gift set with Snow In Love (one of my other faves and one I want for Christmas). It usually retails for £19.99 but I got this 25% off today in Clinton's Cards. It's their scent of the week so I couldn't help myself!

Have a great weekend everyone, I'm off to see Catching Fire on Sunday with a friend, so that will be nice!

See you next week!

Festive Friday 2013 #1 and the Truly Polished Christmas Tag!

Hi Guys,

Doesn't it feel Christmassy today?! It's really cold here and we bought our Christmas tree today so I'm feeling very festive. We got a real tree this year, went to the garden centre to pick it out and everything, I'm feeling grown up and our house feels very homely now for our second Christmas here. Today is also the first Friday in December and I thought I'd bring back one of my favourite features from last year... Festive Fridays! Last year I did it for six weeks if I remember right, but this year I've been busy actually preparing for Christmas so I thought I'd keep it as a December thing this year.

For my first Festive Friday 2013 post I wanted to do a Christmas tag, but I couldn't really find one I liked, so I thought I would create one myself! It took me a little while, but here it is.

1. Sign that Christmas is coming?

2. Favourite Christmas song?

3. Favourite Christmas movie?

4. Opening presents... Morning or afternoon?

5. Smoky eyes and sequins for Christmas dinner or tacky jumpers all the way?

6. Christmas eve plans?

7. Favourite Christmas food and drink?

8. Favourite Christmas memory?

9. Who are you spending Christmas with this year?

10. Top of your wish list this year?

11. What's on your plate?

12. Must have nail polish for Christmas day?

13. Favourite Christmassy scent?

14. What is at the top of your tree?

15. Boxing Day?

16. Best thing about Christmas?

This is quite a long post, so click Read More to see my answers...

Introducing Bonnyprints - Personalised Greeting Cards

Hi Guys,

I know it's a little out of the ordinary for me to be posting on the weekend, but I haven't been able to post as much as I have wanted to this week so I thought I should get another post in before the week's end!

Today is the first of December, and you all know what that means... Time to think about Christmas! I'm normally the worst when it comes to Christmas preparations, I leave everything until the last minute but this year I vowed that wouldn't be the case. I've actually nearly finished my Christmas shopping, and I ordered all my wrapping things on Friday night, so next week I'll be all done! 

In any case, today's post is very fitting for the time of year. It's all about greeting cards! 

Christmas cards are one of my favourite parts of getting ready for the big day. I love picking them out, and personalised cards are always the best to me. I rarely buy cards for any occasion that aren't customised in some way!

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Bonnyprints about reviewing a set of cards, and after having a browse at what they had to offer, I said yes. They sent me a set of five personalised flat cards*, which would usually cost £6.20 and I love them.

The order process was very simple and the website was extremely easy to use. I decided to order photo upload cards because I think that's the best test for quality! The photo I used was my blog header photo, and the design I chose was the Merry Christmas Ball card, as I thought it matched my blog theme pretty nicely!

Here they are!

Close up 

Two cards out of the set of five

Lined envelope

The cards* turned up at my house while I was away in Manchester, so that was a nice surprise to come home to. They took just over a week to arrive, which is slightly longer than I would usually want... However,  I opted to have them quality checked before they were sent out. This is a free service and can delay the cards by a day or so, but I thought it was worth it, I'm really happy with my cards!

My order was printed on high quality thick cardstock with a matte finish. The cards I got were flat, but they do sell conventional folding cards too. These ones are great for those who are a fan of pegging cards onto a string to display them, which is what I plan to do this year...

The order came complete with five white envelopes which are actually lined! What a great idea! That is actually my pet peeve when it comes to card giving, I hate when you can see the card through the envelope. Usually I draw all over the envelope to avoid this, but with these envelopes I don't need to!

As I said, this set of five flat cards retails for £6.20, and you can check out the whole range of Christmas cards here on their website. 

They also sell a variety of other greeting cards from wedding invitations, to moving announcements, to thank you cards, so it's well worth a visit to their site!

The product(s) included in this post were provided to me for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Please see my disclosure page for more information.

Sulfate Free Skincare and Me...

Hi Guys,

Let me just start this post by stating the fact that I am not a doctor, healthcare professional, or a skincare expert. Also, I am not a conspiracy theorist, health freak, or someone who generally avoids chemicals or goes on about it on Facebook (don't you hate those people?).

All I am is an eczema sufferer... Throughout my childhood I suffered badly, then in 2003 it cleared up when I moved to Spain. Having lived back in the Uk for five years now, I've suffered with it mildly until this year, when the previously tiny patches have expanded to cover nearly half of my neck, as well as patches on my shoulder, arms, and it has even gone onto my eyelids, something I haven't had to deal with for well over 10 years... 

*Flashbacks to memories of smearing Vaseline all over eyes to do Games outside at school*

I've been considering going sulfate free for a while now. I have been using sulfate free shampoo and conditioner for months now and have noticed a vast improvement in my hair. I have hardly any split ends after not cutting my hair once in well over a year, and my flyaways/frizzy bits are just non existent these days.

So why I haven't I been doing it for my skin? 

Well, the simple answer to that is that it is a lot harder to find shower gels and lotions that don't contain Sodium Laurel and Sodium Laureth Sulfates than it is to find hair products. I buy my hair products from TKMaxx because it's easy to find them there but finding shower gel has been impossible. 

I've stood in the aisles there, and at Tesco and ASDA for ages checking each label to no avail. Suddenly, while I was out browsing the shops the other day, I saw a poster in Holland and Barrett that said "All of our products are free of SLS and harsh chemicals" so I immediately walked in. I hadn't even thought to check there because I don't spend a lot of time in health food shops...

Here is what I got...

Body Wash - £5.19

Body Butter - £8.19

Not cheap by any means really. I was hoping for these to be included in the penny sale, but they weren't or I would have got both for £8.20!

After doing some research when I got home I still couldn't find anything in mainstream shops that was sulfate free. Even brands like The Body Shop and Simple still make shower gels containing SLS. Lots of places online to get them, but I am the kind of person who likes to smell my shower gel before I buy it!!

I'm going to carry on using my e45 for the time being. I know it doesn't work for me on its own, but I'll see if it works in conjunction with these new products and I'll report back with pictures and more details about the products!

Have any of you guys gone sulfate free? If you do, what was your motivation for it? Do you suffer from eczema? If so, do you have any other tips for clearing it up?

Where have I been?!

Hi Guys,

I almost feel like I need to introduce myself again, feels like ages since I last posted. I decided to take a little hiatus from blogging, rather than do one post a fortnight and feel like I was getting behind. After I wrote my buyer's remorse post I kind of lost my way when it came to posting, and after writing my last post on Dollish Polish, I thought it was high time I took a break for a couple of weeks. And what a busy couple of weeks it has been!

Here's a little bit of what I've been up to...

Our new addition, Augustus

Finding new projects

TRYING to learn how to crochet

Eating a lot of cheese and biscuits - I'm addicted

My son turned 2 - Happy Birthday Caleb!

Home made rainbow cake by me!

Caleb started preschool, here he is in his uniform playing in his kitchen at home. This was a
 birthday present and was from IKEA, as was the table.

We went away for 5 days to Iceland, my boyfriend planned  it all behind my back but let it slip two days
before we left by accident!

Wearing Cult Nails Nevermore in Reykjavik!

And... We got engaged!!

So that's what I've been doing in my absence. It's been a busy few weeks! I'm going to do some swatching over the next couple of weeks, plus I have a really nice haul to show you guys (indies don't count on no-buys in case you didn't know... Haha!) 

Now my son has dropped his afternoon nap I don't have the same kind of time to swatch polishes as I used to, but he started pre-school two mornings a week just after his birthday so that means I'll have 3 hours on a Wednesday and Thursday to get things like that done! So hopefully blogging will get back to normal soon. My boyfriend (or I should say fiance now!) is going away for work again next week so I'm sure the boredom of being alone again will mean it'll be all blogging all the time!!

Although I do have a wedding to plan now...

Bloggers, No Buys and Buyer's Remorse...

Hi Everyone,

I've got something a bit different to talk about today... This post is about the main problem I've encountered (or maybe developed) since I started blogging! I wrote this post a few days ago and didn't post it straight away, so here it is now...

So, as I'm writing this it's Sunday night and I'm fresh out of an indie restock! Rainbow Connection were launching CrowsToes, Liquid Sky Lacquer, Cadillacquer and Polished by KPT online and I was so excited to finally buy some thermal polishes. When I found out the launch was at 8 tonight I set an alarm and a goal to have my son in bed by 7:30, then I had a look at swatches and made a little list of things to get. 

I put Caleb in bed at about 7:15 because he was extra tired from no nap this afternoon, and then I just sat at my computer. At half past 7 I called my Mum for a chat and told her how stressed I was feeling about the launch and she told me to get a grip obviously! 

I had been feeling nervous all afternoon because there were a few polishes that I'd have been really annoyed if I didn't get. If you're familiar with Polished by KPT you'll know how gorgeous her thermals are, but the shipping/tax/Royal Mail issues have meant I hadn't bought anything from America, so I really wanted to get a few of those. 

The last time I bought indies was from Dollish Polish and that was about a year ago, the Halloween Collection from 2012 and it was so stressful, pressing refresh a million times to try and get the last bottle of Spectral Pup knowing I was cart-jacking but just wanting to get it anyway! I vowed to wean myself off the panic-buying restocks...

Until tonight! When you're shopping in a restock, it's like you're finally getting a taste of what you're addicted to after so long. Sounds so stupid but it's true, and I think that's why I always make a list, otherwise I would end up buying triple. I have issues with needing to have things in case I can't get them again, and LOL Syndrome aka Last One Left Syndrome! 

So tonight I bought three thermals, two glitters and a holographic polish. 

I know what you're thinking... The title of this post includes the words Buyer's Remorse. And that's the issue here. Do I have it? I don't. I'll admit that I feel guilty immediately after buying a bottle of nail polish, but then the guilt goes away when I realise I actually enjoy having it!

At the end of the day, I could be addicted to collecting much worse things... Designer handbags... Huge pieces of furniture that would fill the whole house up... My obsession fits neatly in my Helmer. And in the three carrier bags that are waiting to be unloaded into my Helmer! 

With that being said, drastic measures have to be taken. I was looking through my Helmer the other day and I have so many pretties, plus I have some bits coming through the post from this launch tonight and some other bits and pieces, including a small jot I'm bidding on, on eBay.

So I'm enforcing a no-buy! I'm banning myself from those little trips to TKMaxx when I fancy a drive, or just having a peek in Boots or Superdrug when I'm in town. No browsing on eBay, and no more indies!!! 

I won't buy any nail polish until Christmas, aside from one. The new Barry M flakie is going to be my one allowance purely because I'm so curious to see what it's like. 

It's going to be hard not to take notice of new collections, but I need to start enjoying what I have! And I have some frankens I want to try so I might actually get around to doing that when I feel the craving for something new. Or I might just go and buy some winter clothes, I'm dying for some jumpers...

I know some people have real stress in their lives, and so I refuse to stress about nail polish! 

By writing this post, I'm making a commitment to my no-buy...

Wish me luck!!!

TKMaxx Haul...

Hi Guys,

Do you ever wish there were just a couple more hours in the day? I'm feeling like that pretty much all the time at the moment. I wish I could add four more hours. One more during the day so I could have more time to prepare meals without taking time away from playing with Caleb. I would add three more hours after Caleb goes to bed as well! That would mean I could do some housework, a bit of blogging, and still have enough time to watch TV for hours on end and then have a decent night's sleep!

Anyway, enough of that! I had a lovely day today on the beach with my son, cleaned the kitchen, and last night I had a swatch fest (if you follow me on Instagram - @truly_polished - you'll have seen a bit of that).

Tonight I have a recent haul to show you, just a little one. I love TKMaxx, always have, always will, and last week I went and bought a few things. Here is what I got.

Everything I bought

First of all I bought a new cleanser. I had wanted to start using a proper cleanser after I started using Double Wear because I broke out big time. I have heard good things about Murad online on blogs, so when I saw this I thought I would give it a try. It is a two in one cleanser and toner which is ideal for me and it has a foam applicator so it is really easy to use. This was £12.99 down from £25.

Murad Energising Cleanser

I bought an OPI set that included Nail Envy and a bangle. I won't be wearing the bangle, but when I finally organise the top of my dressing table I think I'll put it around a jar of cotton balls or something. This is the sensitive and peeling formula, which is what I was looking for. Recently my nails have started peeling for no reason after I take off my nail polish. Hopefully this will solve the problem! This was £9.99 down from around £19.

OPI Nail Envy

The next thing I bought was a nail polish that caught my eye. I always have a quick browse in the nails section when I go to TKMaxx because I find that they have a lot more brands there that I can't get hold of anywhere else. They had quite a few Butter Londons in, but the other colours were similar to ones I already own so I just picked this one up. 

It is called Jack the Lad (love the name!) and I have worn it already. It is BEAUTIFUL! Not a summer colour in the slightest but who cares? Swatches coming soon. This was £5.99 down from £12 I think but don't hold me to that! I tore the sticker off pretty much instantly so I could open the bottle and wear it!

The last thing I bought was the thing I actually went in there for! I needed a new conditioner after the one I was using ran out (the Royal Moroccan intensive mask that I bought from TKMaxx) and I always love what TKMaxx has to offer in the hair department. They always have a lot of Argan Oil products which I love. I wanted to repurchase my old one, but they didn't have it in so I bought this one. It was £9.99 down from £25 but it is the salon size (500ml) so it's bigger than any other ones I've bought before, which I liked. I used it this morning for the first time and I'm impressed so far! 

Argan Oil

So that's it, my TKMaxx haul! I'll probably have reviews up of these products when I use them more.

I hope you enjoyed this post and I'll be back soon with swatches. I got a lot done last night and I want to do some more tomorrow night. I also have something interesting in the pipeline so you'll have to stay tuned for that!

I'm also planning what I hope will be my final blog design. I'm not happy with the way it looks, I'm craving something more simple! So I'm trying to pencil in when I can do that... 

See what I meant about needing more hours in the day?!

The Big Move - Goodbye Google Reader!

Hi Guys,

One thing you may have been hearing about recently is that Google Reader was retired on the 1st of July. Now, I'm not 100% sure what Google Reader is/was, as nothing seems to have changed on my Blogger page, but it's probably something totally different!

Anyway, if you would still like to follow me, then Bloglovin is the new place to be!

So if you're over there, click the link on the top right of this page, follow the link through to Bloglovin and click on the blue "follow" button.

If you don't know how to carry over your Google Reader list, then here are a few quick steps, it's very simple...

Create an archive of your reader. You do this on Google Takeout which you can find at www.google.com/takeout. Select Choose Services and you should see a page like this...

Click on Reader. Your page should look like this

Click Create Archive and your page should look like this... Click Download to get your whole Reader archive.

Next go onto Bloglovin. From the dropdown menu at the top of the home page, select Import from Google Reader.

In the archive folder, there will be a file called subscriptions.xml and that is the file you need. Click Choose File, select subscriptions.xml from the Takeout archive and attach it and press Upload.

Voila, all done! Now you are following all of your Google Reader subscriptions via Bloglovin, now wasn't that easy!

Don't forget, click the little button at the top of the right column to follow me!