Hello lovelies,

Today's post with be quite lengthy as I want to introduce you to All That Jazz range of manicure and pedicure products. I'll also show you a video tutorial on how to do a luxury salon manicure using this range of products.

All That Jazz is a British brand that comes from the works of Nail Harmony UK (UK distributor of Gelish) and Jazz Smedley. As you've probably worked out, All That Jazz is directly inspired by Jazz's name and she is also the face of the brand. It is a range developed for nail professionals and salons but it is also available to regular customers through their website.

"All That Jazz UK is a trend focused nail brand that is fronted by nail industry icon Jazz Smedley, and features over 100 gorgeous shades; with colours ranging from dazzling glitters, to neon bright’s and barely there nudes."

ATJ manicure products come in three scents - Chocolate Orange (yummy sweet scent, just like orange choc), Captivate (light sweet-ish floral scent) and Apple and Cucumber (fresh and light). I'll be showing you products in the Captivate scent.

The whole range is stylised into vintage-style packaging, all silver tins, jars and bottles with a customised label. The packaging seems very durable.....

The first product I want to show you is the Effervescent Soak. This hand soak is "infused with sea salts and cocoa butter, used for soothing and detoxifying by the release of vitamins into the skin while creating a barrier to retain the moisture, treating even the most sensitive skin." The Effervescent Soak comes in 250ml tin.

I've followed the instructions and dissolved approximately 2 teaspoons in medium hot water in a manicure bowl and soaked my fingers in it. The soak took few minutes to dissolve but I still found that it didn't dissolve completely. I'm not sure if this is by design or not but it didn't affect the soak anyway. My skin was softened and had what felt like a film on the fingers after soaking them for a while. It was probably the dissolved cocoa butter that made the skin feel like that and it felt nice and nourishing. 

Next it was time for ATJ Cuticle Remover. "As well an aid to softening the cuticle, this premium-quality cuticle remover contains shea butter to protect and recover, lactic acid to naturally exfoliate and prevent photo-aging and rosehip seed oil which is non-greasy to regenerate and is also an anti-inflammatory. Rosehip seed oil also heals, helping to give brittle nails some flexibility."

The cuticle remover comes in a tall, 100ml bottle so I had to use orange wood stick to get some product out. However this can be avoided by screwing on a pump on the bottle neck which is then easier to use, more hygienic and convenient. I feel that the 100ml is very generous amount, maybe even too much because you don't need to use very much as the formula is cream and stays in one place. Quite frankly, a single bottle will last you for ages!

I snapped a picture of the remover applied and I've used quite a lot of product. The directions say to leave it on for 2-3 minutes and then gently remove the dead skin/cuticle from nails. The remover was effective and the cuticle was easy to remove. That's really the most important thing I'm looking for in a cuticle remover so A+ for me here. Just in case you will use this cuticle remover - don't leave it on for longer than 10 minutes (as per product directions).

Part of the All That Jazz range is also Hand & Foot Scrub (250ml). If you don't use scrub as part of your hand care, start now! There are so many benefits to it including improved circulation (great for people like me whose hands are always cold!), overall improved condition of the skin and of course removal of dead skin cells.

"All That Jazz revitalising hand scrub is extremely hydrating and healing to the skin because of the three oils: almond oil, sunflower oil and fractionated coconut oil. These oils are emollients that are enriched with vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, C and E and are used to sooth and heal. The scrub is naturally exfoliating and cleansing due to sea salts which cleanse the pores."

The first thing I had to do before using the scrub was to stir all the contents and mix them together because my tin has been sitting for a while. It reveals all the oils and salt and mixes them nicely together. I've used two teaspoons of the scrub and massaged it into my hands properly. You can use a bit of warm water if it feels too dry or rough. I like to rub my hands together a lot to get most out of the scrub. When I rinsed it off with warm water, my hands were coated in nourishing oily film and the skin felt incredibly silky smooth! I absolutely loved the feeling so I had my husband (still weird!) snap a picture of my hands and how the film repels water. It is best to just pat the hands dry so you don't get rid of the oil coating completely. I really like this scrub and how luxuriously it makes me feel!

Other products in the ATJ mani/pedi range are Hand & Foot Cream (100ml) and Massage Lotion (200ml).

"Enriched with emollients such as grapeseed oil, coconut oil and rosehip seed oil, this hand cream penetrates the skin creating a hydrating and anti-aging barrier."

The hand cream comes in a screw on lid tin so you have to dip in your fingers or use spatula. I usually use my fingers but I hate hand cream (or any other product) getting stuck under my nails! The hand cream itself is lightly perfumed with the Captivate scent and it stays on for hours. The cream soaks in very fast but leaves sticky residue for a little while. Because of that I like to wash my hands about 10 minutes after I apply it. It washes of the stickiness but the skin is already moisturised nicely. All in all it's a good hand cream to keep at home but because of the slight stickiness I wouldn't use it on the go.

Massage Lotion

"The massage lotion is full of oils and vitamins to aid massage using various techniques. Rosehip seed oil in the lotion contains essential fatty acids to regulate the flow of skin cells, leaving your hands feeling fresh and young."

I don't really use the massage lotion on myself but I do use it when I'm doing manicure on someone else. It's a nice lotion that doesn't soak into skin very fast, making it ideal for massaging. It additionally moisturises the skin so I like it as an added pampering step.

Last but not least is the Cuticle Oil (15ml). We all should be using cuticle oil regularly to keep our nails healthy and flexible so I hope you do ;)

"Twice daily use of our hydrating cuticle oil alongside our cuticle balm will moisturise deeply with the fractionate coconut oil by helping to remove dead skin cells that gives skin a rough texture. Benefit from the vitamins A, C and D and carotenoids in this oil which create a protective barrier leaving your skin moisturised for hours!"

ATJ Cuticle Oil comes in a small bottle with a glass dropper for easy use. Little goes a long way so I never have to use very much. It is a nice cuticle oil that works well and does the job for me. The only negative I see in it is that it is not jojoba oil-based but it has many other oils (sunflower seed, coconut, Camellia, Rose Hip oils) that are great for skin.

I've prepared a video about how I've used these products and how to do a luxury salon manicure on yourself.

This is the manicure I've done straight after using all the All That Jazz products and as you can see, my skin is nicely moisturised and conditioned and I was very happy with the outcome. I have also used ATJ Base Line basecoat, Top Note topcoat and Good Vibrations nail polish.

So to sum up the whole review and experience with All That Jazz range, I'd say it's a really good professional range that is available to non-professional consumers as well. I like that ATJ products are used by professionals because they are made for them and are high standard (at least to me they seem like it) but they are also available for regular consumers. Many pro brands don't sell to consumers so are practically unattainable for many. Not ATJ.

My top picks are the Hand & Foot Scrub, cuticle remover and cuticle oil. I use these often and so far haven't really made a dent into the cuticle products (you get a good amount)

All That Jazz has a dedicated website for consumers where you can purchase not only mani/pedi products but also their nail polish, nail art products and Bee Bars (reviewed here). PLUS you can buy their products at beauty shows with special offers. The closest one is Olympia Beauty tomorrow and Monday!

Pheew! That was a long and exhausting review but I hope you've enjoyed it, discovered new products and watched my video! Tell me what you think and if you've tried ATJ products :)

Have a lovely day! Lucie x

*Products featured provided for review

Hello lovelies,

As you probably know from my Barry M event report, Barry M has released Midnight Gelly collection for this Autumn/Winter season. This collection contains four new shades in off-black colours and super glossy Gelly formula. The colours are very far from the bright and pastel colours Gelly range currently has and I gladly welcome the change. Gelly formula is great so more colours, the better!

Barry M says: "Devilishly dark past the midnight hour. A/W1 saw a range of dark moody hues hit the runway, get the look and rock an off-black shade this season. Barry M Gelly Nail Paints provide an extra glossy, long lasting finish."

Black Grape - blackened navy blue. The colour can be nicely seen in a brush swatch and in the first coat but the second coat makes the colour fully opaque and dark as night! I could see hints of the blue tint in certain light but mostly it looks like black (not that it's a bad thing!). I'm wearing two coats and topcoat.

Black Currant - blackened red-based purple. The shade has just a hint of purple otherwise it appears almost black in two coats. I'm not wearing topcoat.

Black Cherry - blackened wine red. Gorgeous dark vampy red opaque in two coats. No topcoat

Black Pistachio - blackened dark green. This shade has a lovely green tint even though it's still very dark. It's fully opaque in two coats, no topcoat. Unfortunately it stained my nails yellow a bit despite using thick base coat.

All of the Midnight Gelly polishes have the same formula. They all applied easily and were opaque in two coats. The formula is very glossy and fast-drying yet not patchy. I'm also glad to see the rounded flatter brush back again, it makes the application much easier even on my small nails.

Midnight Gelly polishes and all the other new releases are available now in Superdrug, Boots and online on Barry M website.

Have a lovely day! Lucie

*Products featured were PR samples