Shine head..

Shine head shampoo - Lee Stafford

Shine head conditioner - Lee Stafford

Colour love treatment - Lee Stafford

So I got these in the Lee Stafford haul I got last year at clothes show and since discarded them under my bed..untill my room had a change around a few weeks ago and I found them again! so I've been using some of the other products and they've really helped my hair. My hair rarely gets cut as i'm in a desperate attempt to grow it and I have Wella bleach foils -  so it's not in as good condition as it could be. I'm not as blonde as I once was as I basically had white hair & used silver shampoo.

So anyway..I wash my hair about twice a week with whatever shampoo/conditioner I'm into (L'Oreal Elvive at the moment) and I'll wash it once a week with this Lee Stafford shampoo then put some conditioner on and leave it for 5/10 minutes or put some Colour love treatment on and leave it overnight with a wrap around my hair so it doesn't get all over my pillow! The Shampoo looks and smells lovely - it's got little bits of glitter in! but it kind of makes my hair feel a bit tangly when I wash it out.

I don't think I'll buy the Shampoo & Conditioner again after these small bottles have gone as I want to try the Lee Stafford Growth Shampoo & Conditioner but I'd possibly buy the Colour Love again as it makes my hair feel lovely and smooth and I feel it really helps the ends of my hair too! I'm probably going to get some Argon Oil for every day use (I love that stuff!!) as all Lee Stafford products are 3 for 2 at boots!

Overall I'd give these Lee products a 7/10!

Are you going to buy into the 3 for 2 deal at Boots?!

Ebay finds..

Nail Foils - Ebay

I was browsing through Ebay and saw these nail foils and thought I'd try them out as they were only £1.99 or 3 for 2! It was pretty straight forward, I just had to message the seller stating which pattern I would like out of the chart - I chose S040 but I can't find it in the list anymore..if you didn't choose a pattern you'd get a random one chosen for you!

I've had minx before on my toes and I love it! so I thought a DIY version would be great right?! wrong..couldn't be further from the mix nails I had previously. The minx works by buffing the nail until rough, getting a foil, sizing it to your nail, putting it under a UV lamp untill it goes floppy, sticking it to the nail & trimming round the edges - simples!

These DIY nail foils are basically stickers and seeing as I do minx at work I would of though I'd be quite good at applying these - not the case at all! The foils didn't fit to my nail properly, they were peeling, there was creases in them, they split at the top, they didn't stick very well so basically a big fat FAIL. no way would these have stayed on for the 11 days that the package promises..not even 11 hours - more like 11 minutes.

The reasons I would try these again is because I will admit that when I was putting them on I was in a rush so maybe I didn't apply properly or prep properly and I'd want to find a way to get them to work. They looked nice on the nail and a nice change to just nail polish, there was a large choice of patterns and colours and they were cheap as chips!

So the Ebay nail foils get a half and half..5/10!

have you ever tried the DIY nail foils? how did you find using them?

Minnie Mouse

Nails: OPI - Vodka & Caviar (red)

W7 - 34 (white)

OPI's Vodka & Caviar is one of my favourite nail polishes ever, it goes on really well and I love the colour - it's a true red! BUT it can get a bit boring time after time of wearing it so I brought a white W7 nail polish (£1.99) from a cheapy makeup shop in town and created these minnie mouse inspired nails!

You may of noticed I've changed my blog name..from aliceandbeauty to LUCYBEAU unfortunately the lucybeau blogspot address was already taken so I've bought the .com I just haven't changed it yet! I've noticed a few others are changing their blogs/blog names too so maybe it's a good thing to have a bit of  a change now and then. My twitter name will still remain at @lucyalicejerrom so you can find me there too!

M.I.A

So..the last time I blogged was 10 months, 2 weeks, 2 days & 12 hours ago (roughly - not like I've worked it out or anything!) partly because I just lost interest -  I stopped tweeting and deleted my facebook too and partly because I just didn't know where my blog was going, I didn't know if I wanted it to just be a 'specialised blog' or more of a lifestyle blog.

 So a lot of things have changed since I last blog! I'm now a blondie, I'm a qualified beauty therapist, I'm the big 18, I've passed my driving test, I've got a job that I love & I'm generally loving life & treat it day by day. So I think now I'm ready to start blogging again.

 I'm really into beauty at the minute, I'm going to be doing a lot of beauty posts, top tips (like this one) and reviews so you can be expecting those. I don't know if I'll be doing any outfit posts or cooking posts on this blog - maybe another one? I don't know! I have deleted a few posts off my blog just because.

Hopefully all my lovely followers will still be interested in my blog after all this time and still want to listen to my ramblings! but in the mean time you can follow me on twitter @lucyalicejerrom for ramblings in 140 characters!

Good things come in small packages

A couple of weeks ago I entered Gee's (of Sock Monkey & Gee) favourite little things giveaway! The person who won prize #1 won this..

and prize winner #2 (me!!) won this..

Both prizes are lovely, don't you think?! So I won a gorgeous pair of earrings, an adjustable ring and a pair of dark grey over the knee socks. The only problem is I don't know how to wear over the knee socks! I've had a quick look on lookbook but none of the outfits are quite my style :( so if anybody knows any ways how to wear them or any OOTD's some lovely ladies have done it would be very much appreciated! Gee also sent a lovely card hoping that I like my gift (which I do very much!) and to have a lovely day..

Well something else rather exciting has happened today too! My poor pony Trigger had to be put down last week as he was poorley and wasn't getting any better :( leaving a very lonely Norman behind! so the lady at the vets said she had a little pony she was looking after for a friend that she had for her daughter, but it turned out her daughters allergic! So offered if we would like to look after him, he's a cute little grey pony called Skye. He arrived this morning to a very delighted Norman and they're already chasing each other around the field and making friends! So something good really does come from something bad..

Aubergine parmigano

So heres my recipe for this week! As it was a savoury dish last week and then again this week I'm planning on doing a sweet for next time (involving toffee, bannanas & cream - can anybody say banoffee pie?!) totes lush! anyway we actually had this as well as other things (pizza, garlic bread, chips & salad) as my brother and his fiancee joined us for dinner. It was seriously yummy if I do say so myself and even my brother said he'd eat it again and he doesn't even like aubergines!

So you will have to have in your fridge..

3 Aubergines

2 tbsp Salt

400g Mozzarella, ripped into pieces

a Jar of tomato passata

a Pinch of pepper

1 Bunch fresh basil, chopped

80g Flaked parmesan

2 tbsp olive oil

Pre-heat oven to 180c/gas mark 5

This recipe takes about an hour and a half.

1. cut the Aubergines into slices about half an inch thick and sprinkle with salt.

2. place the Aubergines on a plate with another plate on top with a weight ontop (I used the tomato passata jar) and leave for half an hour.

3. rince the slices and dry on some kitchen roll.

4. heat the oil in a pan and fry the Aubergine (in batches if you have too).

5. blot the Aubergine to get rid of excess oil then put a third of the slices in a casserole/baking dish.

6. layer the rest of the ingredients: Mozerella, Passata, Salt & Pepper & Parmesan untill you get back to Aubergine, you should be able to make about 3 layers of each.

7. Put the lid on your dish and bake for an hour or in an AGA (as I have) put the dish in the roasting oven for 30 minutes then transfer to the baking oven for a further 30 minutes or until bubbling and golden brown.

Serve with crusty bread and a salad or as a side dish!

p.s. I have a new tag 'ROTW' (Recipe of the Week)

aliceandbeauty

I received a lovely email of Michelle last night that put a smile on my face after having a not very good past few days! she explained that I was going to be her featured blogger of the fortnight and I could be found on her sidebar. As I've only been blogging for a few months and I'm not a huge blogger I was so pleased that somebody's blog I've loved for a while thought mine should be one to follow! (and my twitter too that I practically live on - I died a little inside when the whole übertwitter fiasco happened a couple of days ago)

as I said this morning on twitter I really don't know what I did before I started tweeting/blogging. I've met some absolutely lovely ladies and can't wait to meet a few of them next month! I admire so many of the people I follow, what they've been through and what they stand for. I've been going through a rough patch at the minute and I'd just like to say thankyou to all of the beautiful girlies that have checked up on me and reassured me everythings going to be okay!

Primark goodies..

Today me and my BFF had a little trip to town! Jess went to get her hair done at 10 then we paid subway a little visit (6" sub of the day please!) Oh and we got a packet of crisps for a penny..yes 1p! Whats that all about?! anyways we then grabbed a lift into town and did a little shopping.

As Jek brought some blouses, shoes. accessories etc. I felt a little left out as I am totally brassic at the minute! :( so what was my solution..who other than Primark!

I got this cute studded purse for £4, the flats for £8 and boots for £12. So a total of £24 was spent, compared to my usual £40-£60 I did well (I can't completely give up shopping can I?!) this is such a "Hi, my names Lucy and I am a shop-oholic" "*Hi Lucy*" moment hahaa..

aliceandbeauty

Hiya everyone! Hope you're all doing okay and enjoying LFW, Some great shows going on atm.

Whenever I do one of these posts my picture always seems to be from Photobooth on my mac not my camera, I'm not too sure why, Probably the size of it but anyways..this picture is infact from yesterday as you can see my leopard blouse there. Only because if I showed a picture of me right now you would all probably run, screaming from my blog never to return again as I am SOSOSO tired! I look like a total ghost. I've been pretty exhausted recently and the impulsive/spur of the moment road trip to London yesterday at 11pm did no help at all! we didn't get back home 'till 3am, need I say more..

This week I handed in a job application at Kurt Geiger (fingers crossed!) I could really do with this job as I need money so much right now it's not even funny. I'm going to be able to drive soon so I need to buy and run a car and don't even get me started on insurance! I'm going on holiday with my BFF and various other things. One annoying thing about getting a new job is they always say "previous retail skills are needed" well what if you don't have any?! where the hell are you meant to start but whatever..

Oh and I am TOTALLY excited for the bloggers meet up in Sheff next month after Olivia has been getting me all excited! woo woo, If you live anywhere near Sheffield/East midlands you should really think about going, It's going to be a lovely and an amazing opportunity to meet everyone! If you want details just check out Lauren's blog posts here and here.

Some lovely ladies to follow; Blogs: Hannah, Kavita & Katie. 

                                                           Twitter: Heather, Emma & Laura

Cheesy potato & fish pie

I've started cooking at least once a week for my family (me, my mum, my dad & mammar) and when my mum was ordering the food shopping on Ocado - most people think it's more expensive but a lot of it is Tesco price matched! I decided to see what recipes they had in their recipe section and I found the 'Recipe of the day' which was 'Creamy Fish Pie with Cheese and Potato Topping' - yum!

 So lets give it a go..

To make this fish pie you will need..

1½ kg Potatoes, peeled

75g Butter (split into 25g & 50g)

50g Mature Cheddar Cheese, grated

1 handful fresh Breadcrumbs or crunched up Plain Crisps (optional)

2 x 320g Ocado Fish Pie Mix (If you just want to use a certain fish I'd say 2-3 fillets)

450ml Semi-Skimmed Milk & 4tbsp for the mash

50g Plain Four

2 Free Range Eggs, hard-boiled & roughly chopped

200g Fresh Shelled Garden Peas (fresh garden are better than frozen in this case)

Pinch Salt

Pinch Pepper

1. Cook the potatoes in lightly salted boiling water until soft.

2. drain & then return to the hot saucepan, Mash together with 25g butter and 4 tbsp milk until smooth.

3. heat 450ml milk in a saucepan, add the fish, cover with a lid and poach gently for 4-5 minutes.

4.use a slotted spoon to strain the fish from the milk and transfer the fish to a 1.5L ovenproof dish.

5. melt 50g butter into the hot milk then sprinkle in the flour to make the sauce.

6. whisk continuously until the sauce thickens and becomes smooth. 

7. season then stir in the peas and chopped eggs & pour over the cooked fish.

8. spread the mashed potato evenly over the fish & sauce.

9. Scatter on the cheese mixed with the breadcrumbs.

10. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until piping hot with a golden brown potato topping.

Serve on it's own or with some steamed vegetables then thats it - easy as pie!