Nails Inc Magnetic Range

A couple of weeks ago I told you about my Nails Inc gel nails and harped on about my love and amazement of their new magnetic range.

A few nights ago while treating Ann from Girlinthecityg to her belated birthday treat by popping her Yo Sushi! cherry, we also got the chance to go into Nails Inc, right next door at House of Fraser.  We were treated to some lovely manicures and naturally I went straight for the metallic range. 

Magnetic nails guarantee the wow factor and since sporting them, everyone has been asking for a closer look and asking how exactly do they do it.  Let me tell you ... 

The polish formula has been specially developed with metallic particles which create a patter on the nails used magnetic forces.  The magnet, housed in the lid of the polish is held over your nail after applying the shade and that's when the magic happens.  The iron powder in the formulation gravitates toward the magnet forming a design to create a unique finish.  The magnet can also be held in different directions to create slightly different looks.

There are 3 shades in the range, Houses of Parliament (a gorgeous heather purple - my fave), Trafalgar Square (silver) and Big Ben (a beautiful gold shade but the magnet doesn't really do much for it unfortunately and I have also noticed seems to be removed from the website!).

As I said, Houses of Parliament is my favourite of the 3 available shades so that's what I went for.  I absolutely love it and everyone wants a closer look at my nails.  The only downside however is that they seem to have chipped quite a bit since Thursday but not enough to merit a re-paint as yet.

Each polish is priced at £13 and a half hour heavenly hand manicure using magnetic polish is priced at £38.  I honestly think they are a fab Christmas gift for manicure junkies out there.

What's your take on magnetic nails?

x

Yesterday ...

I stopped by Frasers when I left the office to meet up with...

Amanda from Beauty Blogging Blonde and her friend Lisa. While we were there, we also spotted ...

Colin and Justin! Amanda interviewed them like a true pro using her amazing presenting skills. Check the interview out on her You Tube Channel - MillMollMac ...

They were absolute dolls and told us they even had their own blog which you can look at here. We then waited outside the store for ...

The stunning Elizabeth Hurley. She is absolutely gorgeous, angels literally appear from the sky and start singing when she enters a room. No, really, they do. I was completely mesmerised. Liz was there to ...

turn Frasers PINK to promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Estee Lauders pink products that I blogged about here. Later ... We enjoyed a cocktail or too at the after party before heading home with smiles all round!

x

Country style OOTD

It's not all that often you seen outfit of the day post on this blog.

As much as i'd like to do them everyday I a) don't have time and b) look like

i've been dragged through a bush backwards most days.

It was a bank holiday weekend so hub and I decided to take a trip to the Highlands for some relaxation, fresh air and amazing scenery.

We ended up staying in Glencoe but did a little mini tour of some lovely places a little further

north like Arisaig and Mallaig. The beaches near Arisaig are particularly gorgeous, in good weather you would probably think you were in the middle of the Carribean!

Since I was headed to the great outdoors, I decided I wanted to go for a Lady of the

Country Manor look. I needed to be casual, comfortable, a teensy bit glam, warm and prepared for any weather.

This is what I went with ... it was all a bit accidental but I liked how it turned out.

Starting from the bottom up:

Riding Boots from Kurt Geiger; Long cable knit socks from House of Fraser; Leggings from Stradivarius; Long vest top from Topshop; Cotton jumper with military detail from Zara; Leopard print scarf from Warehouse; Fur hood gillet from Primark; Sunglasses Oscar de la Renta courtesy of TK MAXX.

Make up was kept pretty low key with some bronzer, blush, winged liner and a bit of Ever Hip lippie by MAC.

And just incase you have never ventured to the Scottish Highlands, here are some snap shots of the weekend ...

In other news, I also purchased my very first pair of hill walking boots at the weekend so I am planning more trips up north and possibly considering the 3 Peaks challenge at some point. I just need to think of how to jazz up my hill walking outfit but that's a whole other blogpost!

After such a lovely weekend it was hard to come home to dreary wet weather and work. Oh well, another day another dollar ...

x

House of Fraser - Horrendous Staff/Customer Service!

Warning: this is a minor rant.

A little while ago my husband bought me a Nars candle. I love Nars candles. Where we live there is only one place we can buy Nars candles and that is House of Fraser. He asked for Nars Oban and off he toddled home to give me my gift, however, inside the box was Nars Jaipur. The sales assistant had given him the wrong candle. Not a problem we thought, just take it back and exchange. So, a few weeks later I head into town with candle and ask for an exchange. I had forgotten the receipt but didn't think this would be a problem. They refused to exchange. I spoke to a Manager who still refused to exchange as I had no receipt. I told her it was their mistake but still she refused to do anything without a receipt, claiming that I could have bought the candle from Space NK which also stocks Nars. She failed to take onboard that Space NK only stock Nars cosmetics and NOT candles. I got to the point I was so frustrated that I stormed out of the shop ... i know, not the most mature way to deal with it but i was on the verge of exploding.

Fast forward a few weeks later and I go back in with the receipt and toddle down to the Nars counter... only to find an empty space! I thought they must have moved it to another area so I asked a girl nearby where it was. At this point I was informed Nars no longer trades within House of Fraser. (I later learned this was a fact the Manager I had dealt with previously knew about when I tried to exchange the first time). I explained to the girl my situation and she agreed that I should have been given the exchange in the first place, I asked to speak to a Manager to make sure my money was refunded. No Manager was available so a Supervisor of sorts came to deal with us.

Ok, this is where it gets infuriating ... I explained the situation to the Supervisor. 1st example of bad customer service - she told me Nars was no longer part of House of Fraser so could not help me. Told me to contact Nars!!! Obviously I point blank refused to do this and told her that it was House of Fraser responsibility to ensure that I was rightfully refunded.
2nd example of bad customer service - she then told me to take the candle over to Space NK and pretend I had bought it from there and have them exchange it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Was this woman out of her mind? I just looked at her in sheer disbelief and advised if House of Fraser would not exchange without a receipt why on earth did she think Space NK would? Again, she persisted and tried to convince me to go to Space NK, this is when I had to explain that Space NK do not stock the candles therefore I would have looked a complete lying fool trying to exchange at their store. So then she walked away in a huff, rolling her eyes and said she would call for a Manager again.
She came back and said that the Manager told her she could take the candle back in exchange for gift vouchers. I informed the Supervisor that this was no good as we had specifically wanted the Nars Oban candle and if they no longer stock it then a gift voucher would be no good. I advised it had been their mistakes that got us to this point so they would have to rectify with a full refund.
3rd example of bad customer service - At this point she said but with a gift voucher you can buy any candle you want from House of Fraser?!! I swear she must have been on acid ... This is when i looked her in the eye and said 'I want a Nars candle!!', she then turned her back on me and said 'OH DEAR' in the sarciest, rudest manner. I had caused this woman no grief other than informing her of my situation and asking for what i was rightfully due. She then called her Manager
4th example of bad customer service - She came back and said her Manager had authorised a full refund as she couldn't be bothered and didn't have the time to deal with this kind of hassle. I smiled sweetly and replied 'Thank You'!

What a complete idiot of a woman. She was so rude, I wonder how she would deal with an awkward customer as we were more than pleasant to her. Even the girl who I initially spoke was rolling her eyes in disgust at the comments this woman was making.

Absolutely shocking.

Rant over.

MAC Rage!!

So Valentines for me was just lovely, even more so as my Star of a husband bought me Mac and Nars goodies!! However, unknown to him he was buying me products i already had. He bought me MSF Redhead and Blowdry lipstick and a Nars Candle.

I didn't think it would be a problem to exchange the products. I went along to my local House of Fraser to exchange but turns out because there is no receipt they will refuse to exchange. At one point i nearly had a bust up with the store manager which is very out of form for me as I try to keep as calm as possible in these situations. Anyway, the outcome was that i stormed off (probably a bit childish) but i was so angry I couldn't speak to the Manager any longer.

I understand a receipt being required for refund but for exchange i find a bit ridiculous. Gggrrrr ... so looks like i will be heading to slapswap.com!! Doesn't help that EVERY time i go to my local Mac the girls there are so rude and arrogant ... their customer service is appalling.

Another, highlight or lowlight of Valentines day was losing my wedding ring!!! GASP! It took 3 hours of turning the flat upside down but we finally found it just before we headed out for dinner - PHEW!!

xx