La Jolie Visage bag by Bags of Ethics (Audrey)

I picked this cute bag up in Boots for £1.99 - and I probably should have ironed it before taking photos but it's one of those bags that folds into itself and fastens with a little popper so I figured it would just get creased again (oh, and I hate ironing...that too).

 

 

It has little brushes and lipsticks on one side and a lovely lady on the other, the one I got is called Audrey but there were a few other designs.  I ummed and aahed about buying all of them before deciding that that was a bit ridiculous really.  I love the designs though.

 

It isn't a massive bag but to have tucked away as an emergency bag or to carry bits and bobs in it's ideal.  I'm guessing it would wash well if it got dirty too, I always seem to have something exploding or leaking in my bag!

Have you spotted these in your local Boots?  They were tucked away near the hair stuff in the one near me! 

Cute £1 Primark false nails - cupcakes, tuxedos and pointed french

I've blogged before about Primark false nails, if you're on a budget and want some falsies to wear for a night out or a couple of days then head for Primark. They even come with glue.  I was browsing in Primark on my lunch (buying tights, gloves and a brolly - more Primark staples!) when I spotted these:

 

 

 

I think they're so cute, especially the cupcakes and are perfect if your nails are too short for nail art or you're not confident at doing designs on yourself. Okay the french tips on the pointed ones aren't printed on very well but to be honest I'd paint these rather than wear them french, plus I'd just give the ends a quick file over too as I normally do with falsies. I think they'd make areally lovely gift as well, it's a shame these weren't in my local Primark before Christmas!

 

I haven't tried them out yet but hopefully they live up to previous experiences of Primark nails. Did I mention they only cost £1?!!

Illamasqua Nail Duo - Viridian & Glitterati

 

 

I bought this duo in the Illamasqua sale for £15.50, basically because I wanted Glitterati and I couldn't get hold of it on its own. I'm not really into green at all whether that's clothes, nails, decor etc. so to be honest I'd already decided Viridian wouldn't float my boat. Surprisingly something about it does appeal to me...possibly because it's dark with just a hint of green.

 

Glitterati is quite unusual, a dark pink/black base with suspended glitter. I love it! It's not a glitter polish so to speak but it has glitter in it. It's one of those polishes that I catch myself looking at throughout the day.  I've yet to try Viridian but maybe I will.

 

 

Application - as with all Illamasqua polishes I've tried - was fantastic with a good drying time.  I used Seche Vite in the pictures below though, plus I took these pictures at various stages of a train journey back up to my hometown (check out my trusty zebra print case from Primark that I've had for years).

 

 

I also bought some false lashes in no. 17  for a fiver which I've bought before at full price so I was very pleased with that too. I love how Illamasqua have videos on their website of the lashes being worn so you can tell what they look like on - it's sometimes really hard to tell how lashes will look from seeing them in the box and I'm quite particular about the style of lash I like (either spiky and separated or feathery) so this gets a massive thumbs up from me!

 

If you want to hit the Illamasqua sale, then visit www.illamasqua.com

If you like big hair, you'll love Big Sexy Hair (Root Pump Plus and Blow Dry Volumizing Gel

I fully admit my expectations of these were average, I've tried various different products that claim to add massive volume to your hair and I don't really feel I've found my go to product yet.  Well, I still haven't found my one product yet because both of these products are great!  With both of these I use my round metal brush and GHD Air hairdryer (followed by either my GHD straighteners on the ends or my Enrapture heated rollers depending on the look I'm going for then a spritz of serum and/or hairspray).  I just picked these at random from Feelunique after trawling their volume section and reading reviews of ones I liked the look of.

Root Pump Plus is a mousse that you spray directly onto your roots - remember, it has a spray nozzle rather than the normal mousse applicator!  I didn't quite remember this the first time I used it and sprayed mousse all over my wall and the washing drying on the radiator (oops).  It doesn't have much of a scent to it which is fine by me.  This really adds oomph to your hair and holds it in place without feeling crispy, though it does feel like you've got product in your at the roots hair which doesn't bother me.  I can go for a couple of days without washing my hair after this - it definitely doesn't overload it - and the volume stays for the next couple of days.  My boyfriend was even like "whoa, what's happened to your hair...it's really big?".  I prefer this for nights out because of the hold and the level of volume it gives.

The Blow Dry Volumizing Gel is like a traditional hair gel in consistency which I found a bit weird to apply, I expected my hair to crisp up and feel like it was gelled.  Thankfully it didn't and once I blow dry with this I have full volume hair with shine.  It doesn't feel like there's product in my hair when I use this and though the volume lasts well, I don't think it's quite as strong in terms of hold as the Root Pump Plus but it's still pretty good.

So my random, albeit researched, purchases have turned out well, they do exactly what I wanted and I'd definitely repurchase these in future to boost my do. I've used both of these together too and they work well to make your hair big for a night out (and stay that way). My other top tips for volume are a backcombing brush, heated rollers and plenty of hairspray. Those volumising powders do work too but I hate the feel of them in my hair so I tend to avoid them wherever possible.

Eyelash jewellery

I spotted these on I am Fabulicious last week and I think they're insane, amazing and ridiculously creative all at the same time...eyelash jewellery. Intricately beaded, cute designs to add onto your lashes.  These are like the next step up from Shimmer Twins or Paperself lashes, both of which are really creative and pretty.

 

From what I can gather, they apply in the same way as false lashes and while I don't think they're particularly wearable everyday there's certainly a place for them.  I'm really intrigued by them and they're only $15! I do wonder if it feels like you've got something in your lashes all day too, like when you get a piece of fluff in them and you can see it out of the corner of your eye....

I haven't tried these (photographs are from Etsy listings) but I am tempted, my favourites are the nebula ones (second image down)! Eyelash jewellery is available on Etsy
 

Hotel Chocolate Cocoa Juvenate - new beauty range

Hotel Chocolat have brought out a beauty range

As an avid Hotel Chocolat fan I was a little bit excited to find out that they've brought out a beauty range based on cocoa. The Cocoa Juvenate range consists of staples such as handcream, moisturiser, lip balms, body oil and body polish.  There's even a candle which suprisingly doesn't seem to be cocoa-scented.  I've just noticed as well, they were doing a bit of a tester evening for the range in Manchester but there's no availability now.  Boooo!

For more information about the range and to stalk some yummy chocolate at the same time - I recommend Rocky Road, Caramel Chocolate and anything praline - check out the Hotel Chocolat website.
 

Bits and pieces, bits and pieces...

Here's some stuff that I don't think warrant a full post, but as I don't use Instagram or anything it can be tricky to update on the little things.

L'oreal Professionnel Intense Nutrition Masque for Dry Hair
This is my new favourite conditioner, I've been SO impressed by the L'oreal Professionnel stuff I've tried recently but this stuff is amazing, it smells gorgeous and you don't need to use a lot of it to really nourish your hair and make it super soft and smooth.  I bought mine from feelunique.com* for £10.99 but I've ran out so I'll definitely be purchasing more in 2013.

New phone cover

Here's my new phone cover from Etsy, I love it but I'm pretty sure I'm going to ruin it quite quickly in my bag as it's a light colour and I seem to forever have things leaking or exploding in my bag:

Jewellery Box
I've finally got round to sorting out my jewellery box and I did feel a bit like I just bought the same sort of earrings etc all the time but looking at this I clearly don't, I've got all sorts!  My favourite earrings are probably the silver and white enamel starburst though I'm partial to my little Korean under ear ones too.  I also love my Primark statement necklace in the tray underneath but not had a chance to wear it yet, it's pretty bling!

Lash extensions
I noticed that my local salon were doing half price lash extensions so I got a full set done for £32.50, they should last at least a month before I need a top up.  They're quite a natural length and just look like I've got mascara on from the minute I get up.  They save me time in the morning and time at night as I've not got eye make up on to remove.  They do need a bit of aftercare but as my own lashes are just 5mm naturally - the beauty therapist measured them! - they're worth it for me and have doubled my lashes.  I've got a mix of 8mm and 10mm lashes on as my weeny lashes might struggle to support much longer though she did say if I got on okay with these then we can try 12mm next time.

P.S.  There seems to be a widespread issue at the moment with Blogger not uploading pictures directly.  I've got round this by putting my photos into Picasa (which I use anyway) and then uploading to my Picasa web albums.  I then use this option to add the pictures to my post.  All this syncing makes me nervous after I accidentally deleted all of my blog pics a while ago...still not back on track after that!
 

Making January more bearable?

January is a bit miserable really isn't it?  I seem to be struggling to get into anything at the moment, so maybe a bit of retail therapy might cheer me up?  Here's what I'm hankering for this January:

Juicy Couture Black Printed Panel Sweatshirt - £179

(I can't actually afford this but I do really like it)

ASOS Seahorse Print Bikini - £32

 

ASOS Blouse with Double Collar - £30

 

 

River Island Black Sequin Panel T-Shirt - £22

River Island Black Mesh Insert Bodycon Tube Dress - £35

River Island Grey Long Sleeve Wrap Dress - £35

River Island Orange V Neck Jumper Dress - £35

Topshop Mallika Lasercut Ballerinas - £24

 

Boohoo Pippa Chiffon Waterfall Cardigan - £15

Zara Strappy High Heel Sandals - £49.99

(sold out online, haven't got to Zara in Manchester yet)

 

So there you have it!  I feel like I've bought quite a lot of new stuff lately, including some stuff I haven't actually worn yet so I probably don't really need to buy anything more.  As I said though, it's JANUARY so that's my excuse.  And I didn't buy anything in the sales as I find all the queueing, crazy people and desperation a bit too much to deal with - online sales I can deal with but I tend to find the things I want either sell out in my size or the things I've been keeping an eye on don't go in the sales.  D'oh.

 

New Year nails (and 2013 beauty resolutions!)

Well, happy new year!  I think everyone has said this but where's 2012 gone?!  Overall, I liked 2012, it was a good year.  I started a new job, got a little dog, was a bridesmaid at my friends wedding, graduated from uni after 4 long years, lost some weight and went on a brilliant holiday to Mexico with my lovely boyfriend.  Yep, a good year.

If I'm totally honest, I can take or leave new year, I much prefer Christmas but that's just me!  Anyway, here's the nails that went into 2013 with me, I've got my trusty Kiss falsies on again:

The black polish with silver glitter is Illamasqua Creation, a really lovely polish that applies like a dream, dries quite quickly and it LASTS.  But I'm not overly mad on it as I don't feel like it's anything that special to look at.  Am I far too picky?  I just feel like I could have got the same thing in a much cheaper brand, although it's clearly great quality and packed with glitter.

The champagne glitter on my ring fingers is Essie Beyond Cosy which I absolutely love and is fast becoming a favourite.  It's a really good coverage, dense glitter in a really pretty colour that complements my skin tone.  It doesn't feel too gritty and lasts quite well.

I've been having a little think about some beauty resolutions for 2013 and here's some I've come up with that I hope to follow in the year to come:

1. Drink more water - boring, I know, but I really don't drink enough and I've seen this reflected in my skin over winter.  I do ok in terms of products I use but I think I need to make the effort from the inside too.
2. Do something different with my hair - I've had variations of blonde highlights in my hair for the last 4 years, and the style hasn't really changed either apart from using clip ins every now and again.  Recently I've been curling it with my Enrapture heated rollers to try and change it up but the truth is I'm really bored of my hair!  I don't want to go brown (natural colour) as I usually get really blonde then go to brown and hate it and I probably don't want to go short as I prefer to wear my hair up a lot so I need to have a think.  Maybe extensions or ombre or even bright red? (Probably not bright red)
3. Get in more of a beauty routine - I don't mean a cleanse, tone, moisturise type of thing as I've got a lot better at that after trying out some NUDE products towards the end of last year, what I mean is more of a keeping up regular beauty appointments (lashes, gel polish, facials and hair appointments) as I feel so much better with this stuff that I always vow to keep it up and I never do.  I also want to get into fake tanning more regularly too as I love being tanned but I find fake tanning a bit of a hassle - I used Xen Tan Absolute Luxe in November and found it really easy to use and natural looking so want to keep that up too!
4. Get my teeth whitened again - I first had my teeth professionally whitened about 6 years ago (wow, where's that time gone!), again about 3 years ago and used Crest Whitestrips and a few other things in between but I really want them blingy white again.  I think I'm going to get them done professionally again with the Enlighten system.
5. Carrying on losing weight until I get to my goal weight - after getting really really into Weightwatchers in September and doing pretty well, I've kind of lost my way a bit in the midst of December's Christmas treats so I want to get back into it and get to my goal weight.  It was working for me and I didn't find it too much of a strain,

Wishing you all the best for 2013, have you got any beauty resolutions you're planning to stick to this year?
 

Christmas Nails #3 (and Christmas update!)



 

And here we are with my third and final set of Christmas nails.  This is Barry M Nail Effects Foils in silver (easy to apply, dries quickly) with an Etsy polish I bought called Snowball.  Snowball has various shapes and sizes of white and iridescent glitter - including white bar glitter and little pieces of snowflake glitter in there too, really cute but you do need to go fishing to find the snowflake shapes.  I topped with Seche Vite but they still felt a bit rough.  In saying that it is a lovely, festive topcoat though and I'm glad I bought it.  Plus it arrived really quickly!

 

 

Here's a little peek at some of the festive stuff going on at my house at the moment, I'm hosting and cooking Christmas dinner for the first time ever...help!

 

Candles - both are Yankee Candles and both are really cute.  I've been using Yankee tea lights in Winter Wonderland and Christmas Cookie in the angel burner. They both make the house smell really festive which I think is important, I love the Yankee scents and these are strong without being too overpowering.  Some of last years Christmas scents were quite minty which I loved too but I used them all and never got round to buying more!

Pearl - it's Pearl's first Christmas so she wasn't getting away with not getting into the festive spirit!  We bought her a Snowman (Snowpug?) outfit that she actually seems to quite like and she looks ridiculously cute in.  She's been pretty well behaved around the Christmas stuff as well.
 

Snow Fairy - it's not Christmas without Snow Fairy.  People seem to love it or hate it but I fall into the former, this is a pink sugary treat that I love buying every year.  I always mean to stock up so I can use it all year round but I never do!

Christmas Jumpers - they're everywhere this year and quite frankly, I'm ecstatic about this.  I wanted one last year but they all seemed quite expensive and not that nice.  The choice on the high street has been brilliant this year.  I bought both of these but took the cream one back even though I think it was a nicer jumper (the holly berries are little gems!) because I'm cooking Christmas dinner and thought a cream jumper was probably a terrible idea as I'm quite a messy chef, and at £50 I didn't want a ruined jumper I'd only worn once.  The red one is from Primark mens section and cost £12, plus it's cute rather than 'nice' - they had all sorts of designs and I hunted it down after seeing this post at Temporary Secretary.

Tree #1 - this is our main tree, which is in the kitchen as we've got more space.  In our living room we've got a big bay window which kind of limits the space we can use so there's nowhere for a proper big tree to go really.  So we've compromised and have...

 

 

Tree #2 - ...this little tree from Ikea with coloured lights on it.  It looks so real and we actually thought it was in the shop until we realised that the 'soil' was plastic.  Ha ha!

 

 

Tree #3 - Another one from Ikea, this little fold out tree is so cute!  I loved their Christmas stuff this year, they had some really great things including wrapping paper and decorations.

Decorations -  my light up pressies on our floating shelves, we had them on the fireplace last year but we liked some other stuff there instead and we still wanted to put them somewhere as they're really festive and warm looking.

Wreath - I tend to like more contemporary decorations for my Christmas stuff but I do love a weath on our front door as we've got a porch (but no tree in the window) so it just adds an extra touch of Christmas.  Plus we've got our original heavy door and stained glass window panels either side (1930's house) so traditional works quite well.

 

So, on that note, Merry Christmas for tomorrow - hope you have a fantastic day whatever you're doing!

Christmas Nails #2

Just a quick post with some more Christmas nails - look how short they are! I painted my nails in the car on the way out for a festive beverage (don't worry I wasn't driving!)

The glitter is Essie Beyond Cosy, a really pretty champagne glitter that's somewhere in between silver and gold. Easy to apply, dries quickly and two coats required. The glitter is dense and fine so coverage is good but it's a nightmare to remove.

The red foil is some Christmas Minx I had hanging around from a couple of years ago. It's metallic red with silver snowflakes. It's a shame my nails aren't a bit longer as you'd see more of the design!

I've got one more set of nails planned so keep an eye out!

Rihanna - Rebelle perfume

As a Rihanna fan, I really wanted to try this perfume when it first came out but I never seemed to get round to sniffing it so I was really pleased to be sent this for review by www.semichem.co.uk

Firstly, the bottle:  dressing table appeal is really something that's important to me in a perfume.  I kind of feel like if you're spending all that money on something that lasts a fair amount of time and is usually kept on show, it should look pretty.  Whilst this isn't my favourite ever perfume bottle, I'm happy to have it on display and the red design on it is definitely eye catching.

The smell of perfume is very subjective isn't it?  I tend to prefer sweet and fruity scents as opposed to anything too musky or floral and I can't quite say where I'd put this.  It's described as a fruity and floral perfume with top notes of strawberries, ripe purple plum and ginger, heart notes and cacao absolute, vanilla orchid and heliotrope followed by base notes of patchouli, coffee beans, creamy musk and amber.

Overall, I really like it and have been quite happily wearing it as a day to day perfume, the scent lasts quite a few hours.  There's a scent that comes once it's settled on my skin that I'm not 100% sure of yet which I think might be the ginger or the patchouli, it's kind of a spicy zingy undertone, but it calms down quite quickly and doesn't bother me after that.  The first time I sprayed it, I was a bit like "hmmmm..." about it but I've learned to love it!

Rihanna Rebelle celebrity perfume is available from www.semichem.co.uk
 

Christmas Nails #1

I'm feeling very, very festive this year!  So what better way to express my love of Christmas than with some nail art?  My own nails are actually a bit short at the moment so I've used my favourite falsies to improve their appearance a bit (Kiss 100 Full Cover Nails - Short and Square*).  I've used Topshop nail polish in Lacquered for the base and Viva La Nails* Christmas nail stickers to get this festive look.

The nail stickers are really really cute and are probably one of the easiest nail art looks to do, you literally peel it off the backing sheet and stick on as you would any other kind of sticker.  They didn't lift either and stuck down well.  My only issue is that you can kind of tell where the sticker is around the image but maybe if I used a different colour as a background this would be better.  Plus if you're into crafty stuff or you just want to make things Christmassy, you can stick them on other things.

I was sent these stickers by Viva La Nails* as part of their regular bloggers/vloggers packs they do whereby you just pay postage (usually less than £1) and they send you some nail art bits and pieces to review.  They also have an affiliate programme too, it's worth signing up for this if you're interested in receiving the packs as they usually email out about it when they're available.  I've used Viva La Nails* quite a lot over the past few years and I've always been impressed with what I've bought, they're really helpful and deliver fast too! 

I have some more Christmas nail art planned so keep checking!