Back to the 90s!

So. Without giving away my age, the 90s were totally a golden age for me. That decade was full of Smash Hits, stick on earrings, hair mascara, body glitter and… scented nail varnish. I can’t do much about the other things, but I can let you recapture some of your youth, by providing you with scented nail varnish – in a more grown up incarnation.

I think when it first came out, scented nail varnish was a bit gimmicky – and to be honest it probably hasn’t evolved too much since then. I think the issue in the past was that the scent didn’t even last 5 minutes, so nobody but you even knew it was scented.

However, times they are a changing. I can confirm that the scent from our polishes easily lasts a few days, depending on how many times you wash your hands, and how much you use super smelly foods like garlic… For the average person, these polishes are much improved!

So as with all our ranges we created 5 shades – this time they’re all named after fruit, since those were the scents we went with. The shades themselves are matte glitter- this means they’re excellent as a top coat over a contrasting colour – or try building them up with a couple of coats for more coverage.

£3.99 from www.fairypants.co.uk

Strawberry is the perfect baby pink – we’re massive fans of pastels, as you can probably tell. The strawberry scent on this one is very sweet, so if you’re choosing on this basis, it might not be the shade for you.

£3.99 from www.fairypants.co.uk

Banana is amazing. The colour is lovely, a soft lemony yellow. It’s the scent that makes this so amazing though, banana is a very underused scent in the cosmetic world – and I really don’t know why!

£3.99 from www.fairypants.co.uk

Peach does what it says on the bottle – the colour is peach, the scent is peach. Perfect if you like something a little different, as again it’s an uncommon scent.

£3.99 from www.fairypants.co.uk

Apple is great for those who don’t like their scents super sweet. If you’re more into sharp, juicy fragrances then this is the shade for you. The colour is also amazing, it’s a kind of soft, minty green. It’s lovely.

£3.99 from www.fairypants.co.uk

Blackberry is the final shade, and it’s worth waiting for. The colour is a lovely soft lilac, and the scent is very rich and berry-like- exactly what you’d expect it to smell like, but better!

xox

Living the dream...

So it’s nearly Autumn. We’ve not had too much of a summer this year – we didn’t even go abroad at Fairypants HQ, so we’re definitely looking pastier than normal. Which is why we’re ready and willing to embrace our favourite season with open arms.

There’s nothing like Autumn for snuggling up with a loved one, watching films, and eating naughty food cause nobody cares about your bikini body any more. I mean, there’s more stuff to do than that, but if you spent all season just watching films and eating, it wouldn’t be too bad.

Something you can really get your teeth into in Autumn though, is making the most of seasonal fruit. Berries are ALL over the show right now. Blackberries, everywhere you look. You can make some super cool jam – use our recipe here. ORRRRRR you could go crazy and make some additions to your drinks cabinet. You heard me. If you’re not a drinker, you may want to skip this post. If you are a drinker, read on and thank me later.

So – to make your own alcohol, you will need bottles of whatever alcohol you want to make (Gin, Vodka, Rum. Whatever.) In my experience, the cheaper the better. I’m a big fan of supermarket own brand alcohol when you’re getting creative with it.

Then you’ll need lots of fruit and sugar, and of course- bottles. You can get all artisan, and collect those glass swing top bottles, or you can always get cheaper versions from any shop selling beer or wine making equipment, such as Wilkinsons. It’s always worth buying cheaper ones to make them in, then some nicer ones to decant the finished product into. Especially if you're giving them as gifts.

Shops like Wilko's are your friend for hobbies like this!

The best homemade spirits take a few months to make, so if you start now, they’ll be ready for Christmas, for all those parties you’re planning on having. Follow these instructions, and you can’t go far wrong.

These steps will make about a litre of alcohol.

1 lb fruit

8oz sugar

1 litre alcohol

If you’re using fruit with a skin, like sloes, damsons or plums, make sure to prick the skin all over with a knife. If you’re using softer fruit like blackberries, they’ll be fine whole. Pop the fruit into the bottle, and cover with the sugar and alcohol. I normally use caster sugar, but normal granulated is fine.

Seal the bottle, and shake it well. Store it in a cool, dark cupboard, and shake it every other day for a week. After that, you’ll need to shake it once a week for at least 2 months. The longer you leave it the better, this will only improve with age.

Once you’re ready, strain out the alcohol fruit. If you like, save it, and use it in cocktails. Please don’t waste it, it’s too good. Bottle what’s left, and drink it. That’s all there is to it – it’s not hard, it just takes time.

Have a think about some good combinations, I like blackberries and vodka, sloes and gin, blackcurrants and ANYTHING! Feel free to use frozen fruit, it’ll cut down on price – just let them defrost first. Be careful when sharing this though – there’s no real way of knowing how strong the alcohol is now, so don’t go getting your mates smashed, it’s not what friendship is about. Or is it?

In all seriousness, please be careful when consuming home made alcohol, it's really hard to know how strong it is, especially if you did a good job and it tastes yummy. Please drink responsibly, Fairypants is not liable for your hangovers! You're old enough to make your own mistakes... 

xox

Welcome to Studentville!

If you’re a student currently, hopefully your Uni experience will be a lot like ours- it was the best 3 years of our lives. Ever. If your experience isn’t the best, hopefully we’re about to make it a bit better!

We were approached a little while ago by a representative of Southampton Solent University. They’d seen our stuff, and liked what we do. They asked if we’d be able to supply them, so that all the lovely Solent students could buy Fairypants stuff, and therefore be infinitely happier. We were only too happy to help!

So they put in their first order, and we got to work. They were super excited when it arrived, and we assume they unpacked it IMMEDIATELY.

You can buy our Lip Scrub in Southampton!

They’re the first University we’ve supplied, but hopefully they won’t be the last. We studied at Bangor University in North Wales, so if you’re from Bangor and you think it’s a good idea, let us know – we’d love to come home ;-)

We really love the idea of students being able to explore different options while at Uni – after all, it’s what it’s all about, no? If your uni town is relatively small (like Bangor!) it can be hard to source things you really want or believe in, and as such products suitable for vegans probably go by the wayside sometimes. Which is wrong!

Lip Balm gift sets also available!

We’re hoping that the students at Solent get used to having more vegan options available, and make full use of it. And we hope the rest of their time there is as amazing as we remember ours to be.

Make the most of your time at University, wherever you are. It’s the free-est you’ll ever be – you’ll never have as many choices, opportunities or life changing experiences again. So enjoy it!

Fairypants cosmetics and jewellery are available at ReSo, in the Marlands Shopping Centre.

xox

Harder, better and stronger- and probably a little bit faster.

That title will probably only make sense if you're of a certain age, and into your music, but oh well. Don't worry if it was lost on you - we're talking about two amazing additions to our product list - base coat and top coat.

First things first, you'll have heard all about our cuticle oil by now, no? If not, we'll just catch you up.

Cuticle Oil £3.99 from www.fairypants.co.uk

If you haven't got yours yet, you'll be wondering why not - it's full of good things, like Vitamin E and B5. The natural plant oils, essential oils and vitamins are formulated to penetrate, condition and moisturise the cuticles, nails and surrounding area. 

Then there's Geranium and Rose essential oils to give the blend a beautiful aroma. Use sparingly over cuticles and nails, before applying polish, or over the top of polished nails. Use as often as you like!

Now the nitty gritty - our newbies.

Base Coat £3.99 from www.fairypants.co.uk

So, you're manicuring your nails. You've applied your cuticle oil, and you think you're ready for nail polish, right? WRONG! Unless you want badly looked after, stained nails, you need to apply our bangin' base coat first.

Our Base Coat will fill nail ridges and give a flawless smooth nail base for nail polish application. It contains Vitamin E and a nutrient rich algae extract to strengthen and moisturise the nails. It's a polish bonder, and it  protects your nails from discolouration.

Top Coat £3.99 from www.fairypants.co.uk

So, you've base-coated, and you've polished. Now in order to capitalise on the good work you've done so far, you need to sandwich that colour with an amazing top coat, such as ours.

This is a hard wearing and top coat providing a gloss finish to nail colour. It will prevent your nail polish from chipping, and the colour from fading and dulling. Use alone for a high shine or apply over nail polish for long lasting colour.

So, we're working on some more home-manicure items, but for now we've got you pretty much covered. All 3 nail care items are also available in a gift set for £10 - save yourself some pennies, and get it all in a nice box to boot.

xox

Roll up, roll up!

Read all about it! We just wanted to let you in on a little secret - if you're not already, you need to subscribe to our monthly newsletters.

We promise not to inundate you with stuff you're not interested in, and we also promise to talk to you once a month, giving you insider knowledge, new product lowdowns, and secret discounts and giveaways!

Be first for exciting news, such as info about our new manufacturer!

You don't want to miss out - so subscribe today by following this link, here!

You'll be the first to find out when we're releasing something new, or even if we're looking for testers for a new product - it'll be you guys we turn to first.

You might be sent cool samples...

And finally, a big thank you to all those who are already subscribed, it's ace that you want to stay in our loop - so thank you! xox

Scentsational!

Cheesy title, but we couldn't think of another perfume-based pun. Punning is hard work!

We've already been banging on about how amazing our perfumes are (they're nearly one, too - we'll have a Perfume Birthday Party in September!) but we thought it was about time we introduced you to their newest mates - our range of sweets based fragrances!

Parma Violet Perfume £12.50 for 30ml from www.fairypants.co.uk

So Parma Violet was one of the first fragrances we offered back in September- and we really thought it'd be a bit of a marmite scent, you'd either love it or hate it. What we didn't know, is just HOW many of you would absolutely love it.

So it made us have a think - what other sweet based scents could we create for you? We got our thinking caps on, and this is what we came up with...

Cola Bottles Perfume £12.50 for 30ml from www.fairypants.co.uk

Cola bottles is yummy and fruity accord of cola with supporting notes of juicy lemon and lime, with spicy cinnamon and a mouth-watering fizz.

Our testers loved this - they wanted to know how we got it to smell EXACTLY like Cola Bottles, but we couldn't tell them...

Milk Bottles Perfume £12.50 for 30ml from www.fairypants.co.uk

Milk Bottle is a gorgeously creamy sweet vanilla with notes of soft woods and benzoin, exotic balsams and orchid. Perfect if you like vanilla based scents!

This was a favourite with our testers who liked vanilla - they thought this was lovely and soft.

Mint Humbug Perfume £12.50 for 30ml from www.fairypants.co.uk

Mint Humbug is a refreshing mouth-watering peppermint fragrance with soft sweet candy notes.

Our testers thought this could be a unisex fragrance, so it's perfect for anyone who likes to smell fresh and crisp.

Blackcurrant Liquorice Perfume £12.50 for 30ml from www.fairypants.co.uk

Blackcurrant Liquorice contains mouth-watering wild blackcurrants, tart Mediterranean citrus fruits and cassis leaves with the bittersweet notes of traditional black liquorice.

This was a favourite with our testers, they loved the fruity opening, and the rich base.

Rhubarb and Custard Perfume £12.50 for 30ml from www.fairypants.co.uk

Rhubarb & Custard is a sweet confectionary accord of juicy rhubarb and vanilla custard. Everyone's childhood favourite!

This was the favourite with our testers, purely because it is so juicy!

So have a try, and let us know which is your favourite! xox

Do you need to be vegan?

To buy our stuff? Nah. We're not interested in what you eat, what you wear, or how you live your life - it's none of our business. Whether you're talking religion or vegan, there's nothing worse than being told what to do/believe by someone else.

So we won't be telling you how you need to be vegan to shop with us, likewise we won't tolerate people saying you have to be a meat eater to live your life - it doesn't matter to us.

All we care about is producing the best quality cosmetics, perfume and skincare for you guys to buy. That's the bottom line.

Dorothy Lip Paint £4.99 from www.fairypants.co.uk

Things like our lip paint, which is the best lipstick EVER, no word of a lie. Here are some other things we care about.

• Making all of our products as affordable as possible. We will never exclude you from having some Fairypants in your life based on your income. Handmade doesn't have to equal super expensive. We will always try to stay competitive, and will never charge over the odds.

• Ensuring that all of our products are vegan and cruelty free. We wanted to make cosmetics that not only are available to EVERYONE but also ones that hurt no-one. There's no need for your lippy to have been tested on an animal, or to contain bits of an animal. So we don't. Simple.

Matte Nail Varnish £3.99 from www.fairypants.co.uk

• Only making nail varnishes that are 5 Free, so they don't have 5 super icky ingredients in them that can be harmful to you. Again, there's no need.

• We try to use as few chemicals as possible. With our perfume and nail varnish it's neccessary to use chemicals, so the finished products can do their job. Apart from the basics though, we won't add any extras, and we work hard to avoid anything nasty.

• Making stuff you can't find anywhere else. If we bring out a perfume that already exists on the high street, then we're not doing our job properly, and you should tell us...

Rhubarb and Custard perfume £12.50 from www.fairypants.co.uk

We're committed as a business to providing you with innovative, exciting products that won't break the bank, or make you feel icky or bad about yourself.

We've got plans in place to turn up somewhere on every high street in the UK. If you have an idea for somewhere you'd like us to be, let us know!

xox

Focus on Viva!

  

Viva is another of our lovely stockists, and they've been with us since the very beginning too - they were one of the first to stock our lovely classic lipbalms, so a lot of where we are now, we owe to them!

If you've not heard of Viva yet, you really should have a dig around on their website - it's super useful for vegans and vegetarians, but it's also an interesting read if you're a meat eater too - they don't judge, and they offer help and guidance if you want to eat less meat, or change your diet altogether.

They also have plenty of information on their current animal rights campaigns - including details on protests, petitions and plenty of other ways you can get involved. They also have an archive of really helpful articles if you want to look deeper into the work they do.

One of our lovely lipbalms stocked by Viva!

Make sure you pop by for a read, you'll find it eye opening! While you're on their site, you also need to browse their ace shop - including items from yours truly. 

The shop range is huge, from food and homewares to the lovely Beauty section which is where you'll find Fairypants. The shop is perfect for everyone, whether you identify as vegan or not. You'll be sure to fill up your shopping basket, so don't blame us if you max out your credit card on goodies. As long as you get some of ours too, that's the important thing!

Get following them on Facebook and Twitter, and head on over to their website, and their online shop.

xox

Neon Lights

Now this is what we call exciting. One of our favourite EVER ranges of nail varnish - and it's not just us, you lot are loving it too! Say hello to our super bright neons!

Wowzer! It doesn't get much brighter than this. We developed a primer for you to use underneath these to help them really pop, but in all honesty, they're bright enough on their own. We always describe them as being like painting your nails with highlighter pens, but even that doesn't do them justice.

Pixie is probably my favourite, and that is most likely down to my obsession with Barbie as a kid, this is like Barbie got drunk and went to a rave, it's amazing.

It's actually indescribable how bright Mermaid is - you have to see it to believe it! This is a really good alternative colour, for those who like to stand out from the crowd. You'll definitely do that.

It might not look it, but Siren is actually really wearable. If you like coral shades, then this neon orange is for you - it also looks IMMENSE with a tan.

This yellow is so bright, it's like the nail varnish equivalent of a Hi Vis vest - but more fashionable.

Lastly, Nymph. I wore this on a beach holiday once and it stayed true to itself the whole time - not even Grecian sun can bleach this bad boy!

If those insane colours weren't enough for you - you'll be glad to know that they have our usual excellent staying power, and they also glow under UV light! Rave on, dudes.

Get them here for £3.99 each, or all 5 shades for £15.

xox