Sitting at my desk at work a few weeks ago about to take a sip of my fresh cup of coffee, I had a look at my phone only to see I had a Twitter notification. I flicked my phone open, had a look and was extremely happy to read that I had won a beauty voucher courtesy of Essex Beauty Group! If you don't use Twitter then you are missing out because so many different brands and companies regularly run competitions via that social networking site which you enter simply by following them and retweeting their competition tweet. Simple, takes seconds, brilliant when you win!

I never normally win anything and must admit I had forgotten I had retweeted the Essex Beauty Group's competition tweet so it was even more of a lovely surprise when I read that!

The voucher was for £30 which was more than I expected - a very generous amount indeed! I have wanted to try having shellac nail colour for a little while now because my weak nails only grow to a certain point before breaking so I thought using this voucher would be the perfect opportunity.

I chose 'Sassy Lashes' salon in Corringham firstly because it is the town I work in so I could go there straight after I finish and secondly because  - as I grew up there  - I know a lot of people who live in Corringham and have been to Sassy Lashes and said how good a salon it is. Once I saw they were on the Essex Beauty Group's directory I was sold and booked myself an appointment.

The lovely girl who did my shellac was called Louise. She was extremely nice and chatty and thorough in what she was doing. There was a lovely range of colours to choose from (I opted for a coral red) and what's more because shellac only costs £20 I still have £10 left to spend! So I am going back there in a couple of weeks to have them done again. My nails look amazing! I love having nail varnish on especially because they don't grow well and I think it makes them look better but despite the fact I have been painting them for years, there are still times when I make a mess of it and they look horrible! There is nothing quite like salon painted nails and what's even better is that Shellac lasts up to 14 days! I had them painted five days ago and despite housework and whatever else I have been doing day to day they still look freshly painted. 

I totally recommend to anyone who hasn't tried shellac nails before to give it a go. They the perfect pre holiday treat to ensure you have pretty nails the whole time you're away or for a wedding. I would recommend anyone local to Corringham to visit Sassy Lashes too - they are extremely helpful (the owner Kerry was very quick in dealing with my enquiries over email when I first got in touch) and friendly as well as professional.

WEBSITE: www.essexbeautygroup.co.uk | TWITTER: @EssexBeauty_grp

WEBSITE: www.sassylashes.co.uk