Bumblebee Manicure

Products used:
Barry M Gelly Nail Paint in Lychee
OPI Need Sunglasses
Barry M Nail Art Pens in white and black
Models Own Express Dry Drops


If you would like a tutorial on how to achieve these nails, just comment on this post and I'd be more than happy to do one for you
Until then, have a beautiful day xxxxx

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REVIEW: NSPA FRESH SWEET RASPBERRY

In recent months, I have developed somewhat of an addiction to shower gels, moisturisers, body mists...well, a bit of everything really. nSpa have been my number one discovery. Its unreal how much time i spend on the shower gel aisle in my local Asda, just opening bottles and sniffing the delights held inside.

My latest purchase has definitely not disappointed.

On a recent trip to Asda, i decided to buy the raspberry collection from nSpa. They were on offer for £2 so it would have been rude not to really! I grabbed the moisturiser, exfoliator and shower gel and couldn't wait to get home and test them out! Ive never been disappointed before, so this was exciting territory!

NSpa Raspberry shower gel - £2
NSpa Raspberry Shower Scrub - £2
NSpa Raspberry Body Butter - £2 (not available online)

When using things like this, I get so excited. It makes me feel even cleaner when the products i have used are all matching. I'm a little bit OCD when it comes to showering and having things that match,

The NSpa website has some amazing products, I think the facial range will be the next on my list. What do you like the look of?

Keep sparkling xxx

Cupcake Nail Art Tutorial

This week's tutorial is a super cute one

this picture was edited in Instagram. See the pictures below for true colour representation

Step 1:

I would recommend using a base coat on your nails. Not only does this help with the condition of your nails, it also helps to prevent staining which, to a nail varnish addict like me, can really drive you crazy. Yellow or blue pigmented, stained nails will never be in fashion! :) For my base coat, i like to use the Collection 2000 base coat. I bought this when i was desperate for a base coat because i had lost my trusty OPI base coat. I actually grabbed it expecting to keep it at the back of my collection once i had found my OPI bottle. However, the OPI bottle has finished and has never been repurchased because this one is just that fabulous! If you would like to buy it, Boots have it in stock for £2.99.

Step 2:

For this step, i used Revlon Grey Suede nail varnish. I had to use 3 coats to get a real opaque coverage but i think that that was more to do with the fact that i was using false nails. On your nails, i am almost certain that you will be able to get a great coverage with just one coat. Superdrug has this in stock for £4.49 at the moment. Bargain!

A side note: If you take a look at one side of the nails, i have designed them in a way that allows you to do a nice little manicure with feature nails rather than all of the nails being cupcakes, which can be quite time consuming. I also really like the effect that feature nails have on a whole manicure. I just think they look really nice. For the mint green colour, i used Rimmel LYCRA® PRO Colour Memory Nail Polish in Pepper Mint. This is available on the Boots website for £4.59. The mint green feature nails have three coats for opacity but, like i said before, you should be able to get away with two coats.

Step 3:

This was actually one of the easiest steps. All you need to do is grab the Pepper Mint nail polish from before and add a kind of french tip on to the end of your nails. This does not need to be a neat line at all because it will be covered up with the 'icing' later on. This colour will be used for the 'cupcake cases'.

Step 4:

Now we need to add the 'icing' to our cupcakes. I used a Models Own nail polish in Snow White for this step. Again, this is available on the Boots website. This nail polish is priced at £5.00 but they often have offers on, so it pays to have a look for those! All i did for the 'icing' was load up my nail art brush and kind of blob on some small circles. You want to be aiming for a kind of cloud effect with the edges being quite smooth but you dont need to get them completely perfect. I had to go over the 'icing' twice because this nail polish is not opaque after just one coat and i wanted to get it really white. Some other polishes are much better to be opaque in one coat though. I recommend Barry M's white nail polish and OPI's Alpine Snow. It can be annoying to go over the more fiddly bit with another coat.

Top tip: If you don't have a nail art brush, find an old pen or something with a domed, circular tip and dip it in to the nail polish before just 'blobbing' it on to your nail. This can make the smoother edges much easier to achieve. Honestly, some of the things i use for my manicures are quite bizarre. You have to work with whatever you have got to hand!

Step 5 & 6:

Time for some decorations! It wouldn't be a cupcake without a bit of decoration! Obviously, we need some 'sprinkles' and a cherry on top! For the 'sprinkles' i simply dipped the end of a toothpick in to a few different Barry M colours. I used Spring Green, Shocking Pink and Pale Blue. I literally dipped the toothpick in to the nail varnish and tried to make small strips of colour for the little sprinkly bits of goodness!

For the cherries, i used the handle part of a nail art brush (you could use a pen, like i mentioned before). I dipped it in to my Barry M Bright Red Nail Polish and voila! We have quite literally put the icing on the cake and stuck a cherry on top!

Finish with a good top coat and you're ready to show off your new nails to the world!

What do you think of these? Do you have any requests for some future nail art tutorials?

Herbal Essences Moroccan My Shine Shampoo & Conditioner

I'm a real sucker when it comes to new hair products, especially where Herbal Essences is concerned. So, when i went in to Superdrug this week and saw that they had a new shampoo and conditioner on the shelves, i grabbed both without hesitation. Well, i did have to put them through the 'Sparkles Sniff Test' first, but thankfully they passed with flying colours on that one. Is it weird that i smell every hair and beauty product i buy? Be it a face powder or a hair conditioner, it has to smell good. That's not weird, right?

You can pick these up from Superdrug on a snazzy 2 for £6 offer

Unless you've been living on another planet for the past few months, you'll know that it is all about Moroccan Oil in the hair industry. Ive been tightening the purse strings in the past few months so finding a product so cheap that also contains the magic ingredient was a winner for me.

find out what my thoughts were below!

The dreaded first post

Im going to start my blog with a bit of a Things You Should Know About Me kind of thing.

• I am ADDICTED to hair, beauty, nails and all the things that going along with that. Im big in to nail art and nail polish. My friends laugh at how extensive my makeup and nail varnish collection is.
• I chose the name 'Charlene Sparkles' because that is what my friends have called me for years. Its my Facebook name
• One of my hobbies is crocheting. Im amazed by how many people have started crocheting recently and think its probably one of those things that more and more younger people will start doing.
• I have a golden retriever called Bambi who is my absolute world. I got her after id been through a really hard time and she is just lovely. And very, very cute.
• I hate strawberry flavouring but LOVE strawberries
• My sister and family mean the absolute world to me. Weve been through a really tough couple of years and i dont know what i would do without them

oh yeah, and i have mermaid hair

phew, thats the first post done and dusted. Thank goodness for that. I hate talking about myself non-stop.

Keep sparkling!

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