Rose Gold Christmas Nails

Rose gold has recently become one of my favourite colours, especially with the festive season fast approaching, So obviously at some point I had to have Rose gold nails so why not for Christmas!

Sadly not many brands actually do a Rose gold shade polish so finding the perfect shade was a little tricky until I stumbled upon the Max Factor stand in Superdrug (I was buying dry shampoo but naturally was drawn to the make up isle!).

There it was, the perfect metallic Rose gold nail polish! I had never used a Max Factor nail paint before but after hearing good reviews I decided to give it a go and definitely wasn't disappointed!

This shade is part of the Max Factor Glossfinity range - a collection of bold colours with a shimmery metallic finish.
The polish is a dream to apply and only requires one coat (although I prefer two coats for a longer lasting finish). Be warned it does take a little while to dry, especially if you're doing more then one coat so have a hairdryer on hand if you're in a rush!

For best results apply a clear top coat once the polish is completely dry for a long lasting 'fresh out of the salon' nails.

Until next time...

Nicolahearts xxx

The perfect Christmas party dress!

This week I have received a gorgeous new addition to my wardrobe courtesy of a little online clothing Boutique called Clothes and Compliments.

I love discovering new clothing and beauty boutiques like Clothes and Compliments as it can make a nice change from the usual high street styles.

After searching through the Clothes and Compliments collection, debating between a number of dresses I settled on a gorgeous wine coloured asymmetrical dress, perfect for the fast approaching holiday season.

This dress is ideal for your Christmas party's! It's can be dressed up or down depending on how formal or flirty the occasion!

 Style with some strappy heels and a sparkly clutch and you're ready to go!

This piece is made from light, high quality fabric and fits perfectly. I found the dress to be true to size, so flattering and I can't recommend Clothes and Compliments enough for this seasons wardrobe staples and party wear!

Instagram: clothesandcompliments
Website: www.clothesandcompliments.bigcartel.com

Party Season - Khaki Lace Up Dress

Khaki is my absolute fav colour this Autumn/Winter season - my wardrobe is full of it!

The latest edition to my khaki collection is a gorgeous dress from Stephanie's Closet, an online clothing boutique featuring beautiful pieces perfect for the winter season, ranging from perfect casual wear to stunning party wear!

The Khaki lace up dress is a bang on trend lace up front, bodycon dress that can be worn as an everyday dress with tights and boots (even over the knee boots!) and a cape cardigan or for parties/nights out with barely there strappy heels. I chose to wear the dress for a night out as its so gorgeous I wanted to show it off!

The dress is made from high quality fabric (no 'see-through' disasters here!) and has a zipper on the back to make getting the dress on so much easier without ruining your tan or makeup.

As well as being great quality the fit is flattering and I love the lacing detail on the front! It gives the illusion of an impressive cleavage, even without a bra! (add a little bronzer to define your cleavage for that extra wow factor)

If any of you ladies are stuck with what to wear to your Christmas party I recommend you pay Stephanie's Closet a visit as there are so many gorgeous outfits to choose from!

Instagram: @mvcsteph
Website: stephaniescloset.co.uk

Until next time...
Xxx

Cocoa Brown Instant Tan Bronzing Gel Review! #TanningTuesday

If you are a regular reader of my blog you will know that I LOVE fake tan and have soft spot for Cocoa Brown tanning products, so naturally when I saw they had launched new tanning gels I obviously had to buy some immediately!

The Cocoa Brown Instant Tan Bronzing gels come in matte or shimmer and with Christmas approaching I decided to go for the shimmer gel.

I am a total sucker for anything sparkly and this product certainly doesn’t disappoint! I have had previous experiences with other ‘shimmer’ tanning products where by the time you have applied the tan the shimmer is unnoticeable ..booo!

The gel is a rich brown colour with a golden shimmer mixed in giving you the best of both worlds for the holiday season and to make it even better, unlike some tanning gels, the Cocoa Brown Tanning Gel does not have that typical orange tinge and also smells delicious!

Application:

I started with my usual pamper regime (see previous post for details!) to make sure my skin was silky soft ready for the tanning gel. I then used a standard tanning mitt from the Cocoa Brown range to apply small amounts of gel at a time.

Starting with my feet and worked my way up my body squeezing 50p sized amounts on to the mitt at a time – if you put on too little it can take ages to apply and make it hard to blend but if you squeeze out too much it can end up going everywhere you don’t want it (floors, clothes ..you get my drift). 

As with all fake tans do take care around areas that are typically dry eg elbows, knees, apply smaller amounts of the product lightly and wipe off immediately if too much is applied or it becomes too dark on those particular areas.

You also don’t have to worry about the gel drying fast and becoming hard to use once you have begun working it onto your skin, as even if the gel does dry just apply a little more and it becomes damp enough to rub in again meaning no streaks!

If you do happen to have a major disaster the gel also washes off relatively easy which means if you need to you can start again, although this product is super easy to apply so even tanning beginners should find this fake tan easy to work with!

Top marks to Cocoa Brown once again!

My pre-night out beauty regime ft Cocoa Brown!

My pre-night out beauty regime 

 

Looking and feeling great for a night out is always important! My theory is, that the better you feel about yourself, the better your night will be ..or quite honestly I think this goes for everyday as well! 

A key part to feeling great is a little pamper time, whether this be before a night out or just in general when you could do with a little boost!

Start with a nice relaxing bath, using some of your fav bath products ( lush is always a winner ) and feel free to add a glass of wine to your regime, I find that always helps set the relaxing mood, right?

 Once you have had a little soak use a body scrub to remove all dead and dry skin, I always reach for Soap&Glory Scrub 'Em and Leave 'Em Body Buff as it never fails to leave my skin silky smooth and smells fab! Also if your planning on shaving your legs I would advise you shave them first then use body scrub, but be careful and don't scrub too hard as this can hurt and leave you with red, blotchy legs!

While you're scrubbing use a little of the body buff on a foot file and use on the soles of your feet to remove any rough skin and leave them feeling soft again after a hard weeks work! 

Using body scrub is also key if you're planning on applying fake tan. Every girl knows that rough, dead skin plus fake tan is just a disaster waiting to happen! Which leads me to my next time... 

Once you have plucked up the courage to leave your lovely warm bath and dried off use a light moisturiser all over your body to keep that silky smooth feeling for longer. I choose to use Cocoa Brown Chocolate Whip oil free moisturiser as it smell like chocolate - meaning you smell like chocolate ..and who doesn't like chocolate?!

Once the moisturiser has dried completely it's fake tan time! If you have read my previous post you will know Cocoa Brown 1 hour Tanning Mousse is my absolute fav and to make it even more perfect they have now brought out a dark version, I can't recommend it enough!

I apply the mousse using a normal tanning mitt all over my body. Because of the versatility of the product you can choose to leave it on 1-3hours and shower off to leave a gorgeous summer glow or leave it on all night, the tan works brilliantly either way!

It really is like a spray tan in a bottle and I absolutely love the darker colour! The original gave a nice natural glow but the dark version gives you that dreamy holiday glow all year round. 

Finally to top off my pre-party pamper session I give my fingers and toes (nails obvs) a fresh coat of paint. My current fav is China Glaze's Barbie pink shade 'Don't mesa with my heart' 

And there you have it ..a perfect little pre-party pamper regime! 

Halloween Mermaid Nails in 4 Easy Steps

So my mermaid obsession is still in full swing, so much so that I have  decided to be a mermaid for Halloween because ..well why not!

I had previously created a similar nail design and decided to step it up a bit with more colour and glitter!

I used stencils from a company called Nail Mail rather than try and paint on the scales myself (so much harder than I imagined) 

To create the design I used a mix of Barry M nail paints because I love the quality and finish of the nail paints, I haven't had a bad experience in the years I have been using them! I chose the metallic gold (for the base coat) the mermaid themed range in a blue shimmer shade and blue and gold glitter nail paints. 

Step 1 - I painted my nails with one coat of the metallic gold, then painted a clear coat over the top then left to dry for 15 minutes - this step is essential to stop the stencil pulling off the base coat later on.

Step 2 - I then applied the stencil to all nails on both hands (it helps if you have quite narrow nails to cut the stencil in half that way you have less waste meaning you have stencil left over for next time!) and applied each one using tweezers to position it exactly where I wanted it. Make sure the stencil is completely stuck down to the surface of your nail to avoid paint getting underneath the stencil and ruining the design. 

Step 3 - I used the shimmery blue shade to create the blue scales looks then I used a small sponge and tweezers to dab on each colour glitter to give a slight gold to blue ombré effect rather than just using one solid colour.

I found it is better to paint one nail at a time then peel the stencil off straight away while the paint it is still wet to avoid the paint drying and the stencil pulling off some of the paint potentially ruining the effect or getting the stencil stuck into dry the paint so you can't remove it at all. 

Step 4 - Finish with a nice shiny clear top coat and voila ..perfect mermaid nails! 

You can use literally any combination of colours to create this effect, the possibilities really are endless!

Stencils - £3.95 from Nail Mail

Nail paints - all from Barry M and range between £2.99-£3.99

Lip Vinyl from Kiss Cosmetics UK review!

Recently I have become totally obsessed with all things lipstick/lip gloss in the search for new Autumn/winter shades. 

I stumbled across a beauty brand called Kiss Cosmetics on Instagram and after a good half hour of drooling through their colourful insta feed I decided to purchase some of their products!

After searching through the website I loved the look of their Lip Vinyl liquid lipsticks as they came in a whole range of different shades perfect for every occasion. The only problem being is that I couldn't decide which colour to buy!

In the end I chose 4 shades out of the 10 available, each from various ends of the spectrum ..from subtle nude to deep purple and conveniently they sell mini Lip Vinyl tubes so you can try out all of the colours for only £2 each without spending a bomb meaning you can try out new daring colours and keep your purse happy!

The four colours I chose are: 

Birthday suit - a nude/peachy neutral shade. Perfect for every day wear and enhancing your natural pout. 

First kiss - a candy pink shade perfect for adding a little colour pop to your make up! Plus I love anything pink so this was a definite fav!

Lady in red - a deep berry red shade ideal for Autumn that would compliment all skin tones. 

Seductive damson - a bold purple shade for something a little different... Definitely a head turner!

There really is a shade for every occasion! 

The liquid lipstick is applied using your typical gloss wand and goes on smoothly. At first it is a little sticky but I found the stickiness does wear off. 

What really impressed me is how long it stayed put! Compared to some liquid lipsticks I have tried, the Kiss Cosmetic Vinyl wasn't going anywhere without a fight! Through drinking/snacking/chewing on pens (bad office habit) it didn't budge and even better when you do take it off unlike most lip colours none of these stained! 

I will definitely be back to purchase more colours/products in the near future!  

All products purchased from kisscosmetics.co.uk 

Xxx

Handbags and Pom poms! FT @riverisland

Admittedly, like many girls, I have a bit of a bag problem. 

I just love bags ..totes, satchels, shoppers you name it I love it! Which is why usually I tend not to post about my bag collection as I just buy so many and wouldn't want to clog up my blog with them! 

...but my most recent bag purchase is an exception..

I have always particularly loved River Island bags which their unique designs, bold patterns and on point style but on this occasion, in my eyes, they have really out done themselves!

I love every aspect of this nude structured Pom Pom bag - from the gorgeous nude shade used to the perfect size and shape. Oh and if you hadn't noticed ..the perfect pink Pom Pom!!

Admittedly this was what really sold it to me, it's always good to have something a little different and that stands out from the crowd and this bag certainly does that! 

I have had an unbelievable amount of comments about it, which goes to show I'm not the only crazy bag lady out there! 

Thanks for reading, dolls xxx

Bag - River Island, £42

Collab featuring the gorgeous RB-London boutique and discount code!❤️

I must apologise for my lack of posts this past month – with work, holidays and what seems like 100 peoples birthdays I admit I haven’t been posting as much as I would like to.

Since my last post I have been given to chance to collab with a gorgeous online clothing boutique called RB London as an official RB London Lady!

I have always adored the beautiful clothes they post on their Instagram and Twitter feeds (@RB_London give them a follow girls!) and can not wait to share them with you all!

As I had a holiday coming up (I promise I will do a separate post on that in the near future) the team at RB London sent me a total cutie of a dress to wear while I was abroad. 

This cute little number is a match made in heaven for girly girls me with a flattering bodycon wrap fit and hints of pink in the palm leaf print (in case you didn't already know I love pink!)The material is stretchy, super soft and good quality! I wore it both as a day dress to the beach with sandals and an evening dress paired with a pair of white strappy heels. 

Oh and don't forget, if any of you girlies see anything that takes your fancy use discount code NICOLA for money off - after all, what's better than fabulous clothes and a discount?

Thanks for reading, lovelies! Xxx

Dress: www.rb-London.com 

Weekend OOTD | Quiz | Public Desire

Hello dolls!

I must apologise for my lack of posts again over the past week, I have been ill with the flu and pretty much useless!

But I'm finally better and well enough to post my latest fav weekend OOTD!

I have a terrible habit of needing to buy a new outfit for every night out and my most recent night out was no exception.

I had heard raving reviews about Quiz's new summer collection so I decided to go check it out for myself.

With glittering evening dresses, bright colours and outfits for all occasions I can see why everyone has been raving about Quiz this summer! I was spoilt for choice. After spending what seemed like hours admiring each delicate dress and lavishly decorated top I settled on a midi dress with a little extra cleavage.

It had caught my eye from the very start and I knew it was love at first sight. A black dress with a summery pink floral pattern and extra little slit down the bust to show a little extra cleavage ( but still high enough to wear a normal bra! ) ..it also matched beautiful pink platforms from Public Desire! (See previous post)

A surely perfect addition to any summer wardrobe!

Dress: Quiz £22.99
Shoes: Public Desire Brandi Neon Pink £27.99

Illamasqua Lipstick | Summer Shades - Favs!

Like most girls, I am a total sucker for lipsticks! Every colour, shape, finish ..you name it I'll wear it!

My latest lipstick venture was to find the perfect spring/summer lipsticks ..something that would last all day, would be easy to apply on the go and would go with everything!

I trawled through the cosmetics isles in Superdrug and Boots purchasing a range of different branded lipsticks but found almost all of them dried my lips out (not what you need with English weather!), didn't last for more than 20 minutes or would smudge easily.

Completely unsatisfied with what I had found so far I decided to search online. I adore MAC's Velvet Teddy lipstick but found it difficult to get hold of and when buying online you can never be too sure you're buying something authentic so I decided to look for an alternative from a high end brand.

I have a little collection of Illamasqua lipsticks and have always had such good experiences with these products. I purchased Vampette and Shard to match my winter wardrobe and always found the lipsticks would last for hours and kept my lips hydrated even in the harsh winter weather while keeping the bold colour all day.

Illamasqua have a range of nude shades, my favourites being Bare, Climax and Obey. I decided to go for Bare as it's a slightly darker nude shade with a hint of pink (I LOVE pink!)

As well as a nude shade I also wanted a quirky pink shade to match wardrobe which is mainly dominated by pastel pink! I chose Liv as it can be applied lightly with gloss for a soft pink shade or on it's own for a luscious pastel glow.

Btw - Both of these shades are matte finish, I'm loving matte over a shiny/satin finish right now!

After waiting patiently for a long 3 days for them to arrive I practically threw myself at the postman to get the package from him and broke a nail trying to get into the box (cry!)

Both lipsticks were even better than I expected. Both the nude shade (Bare) and the pastel pink shade (Liv) is perfect for both every day and evening wear. (I have marked in the pics which shade is which to get an idea of how bold the colours are, each are only one stroke!)

I would definitely recommend the brand to any girls looking to try something new in the high end market. Although they appear to be a little on the pricey side, the high quality is well worth the extra expense.

Both lipsticks came from the official Illamasqua online store - www.illamasqua.com

The Blusher Addict Tag!

The blush addict tag

So I was kindly nominated for the blush addict tag by Charlotte (withlove,Lottie)

Now I must say I am partial to a good blusher and have been through my fair share over the years! And of course I love pink so I jump at the chance to add anything pink to my make up routine!

So here goes...

What colour blush suits you most? 

I would say subtle pinks as I tend to wear a lot of pink. I usually don't like anything to bright as I feel like I look like a clown where I'm relatively pale!

Pressed, cream or loose blush?

Definitely pressed blush. Loose is to easy to make a mess with and I have never actually used cream blush! They say old habits die hard...

Favourite shimmery blush? 

100% NYX Baked Blush in Wanderlust. It's the perfect mix of pink shimmer with a touch of bronzer.

Favourite matte blush? 

Essence Blush Up! In Heat Wave. Although it looks super bright it actually applies with such a nice soft colour, perfect for summer! And it looks sooooo pretty!

Favourite cream blush? 

Pass!

 Favourite drugstore blush?

Between Essence Blush Up! And Sleek blush in Pixie Pink.

Favourite high end blush?

The NYX Baked Blush. It has such a nice, soft finish once applied and goes on so easily! It also comes in a range of gorgeous shades!

Biggest blush disappointment? 

By far the Bourjous little round pot blush. First of all the brush it comes with is basically useless! And second of all it's rock solid so even if you did want to use it with your own blush brush you can't get any powder out of it without destroying your brush! Booooo!

Best blush packaging?

I would say the NYX Baked Blush as it looks so cute and classy and even has a little bow for a clasp! How cute!

What's on your blush wishlist? 

I have a few on my wishlist actually.. I would love to try out some of the MAC blushes after hearing such good reviews and also Benefit Dandelion blush!

Holy Grail blush?

I know I've mentioned it 10000 times but NYX Baked Blush in Wanderlust!

I hope you enjoyed my Blusher Addict Tag post!

Xxx

My Bandage Dress Favs! | OOTD

Hello dolls!

Just a quick one today to share one of my new favourite brands with you all!

Sometimes I find it can be hard to find flattering, figure hugging dresses/outfits that don't accentuate all the wrong places. Even though I may not be the biggest girl I'm not the smallest either ..I was blessed (cursed?) with big boobs, hips and bum so tight clothing can sometimes look quite unflattering on me which makes me sad as I'm a sucker for bandage/bodycon dresses and co-ords.

After almost giving up hope in finding a bandage outfit I felt made me look good, I came across My Bandage Dress on Instagram. After reading good reviews from happy customers I paid their website a visit.

I found the My Bandage Dress website to have a wide variety of styles and colours so I felt spoiled for choice. I finally settled on a white Bianca skirt even though I could have happily ordered one of everything from the site!

When it arrived I couldn't get it on quick enough! And to my surprise it fit PERFECTLY! Of course then I had to purchase the matching Milly crop top to complete the outfit which also fit beautifully!

The sizing can be a tad confusing as it's in XS/S/M/L rather than numbers. Just for reference I ordered S in both the skirt and top as I'm normally an 8 and these both fit fine.

I really cannot recommend MBD enough. So much so I've already ordered a second Bianca skirt!

Bianca skirt in white S £24.99
Milly crop top in white S £21.99

Both from www.mybandagedress.com

xxx

Oxford Street Lush Haul!

So after a morning of excitement at the My Chocolate Bloggers event myself, Charlotte (with love, Lottie) Hannah (hannahtalks) and Hayley (the Glasgow Girl) decided to brave a London bus to Oxford Street and the newly opened Lush store!

I am a total sucker for anything Lush so you can understand why I would be so excited to go to the worlds biggest Lush store!

Like most Lush stores you can smell them before you see them and Oxford Street was no exception!
The new store features 3 floors of dreamy Lush products, some of which are exclusive to the Oxford Store and there's even a spa in the basement! What more could a girl ask for?

I decided to treat myself to some old favourites and some new beauties.

My fav picks were:

Think Pink - my trusty favourite and a gorgeous smelling bath bomb!

A French Kiss Bubble Bar - I love anything that is lavender scented and I hadn't discovered this one until my recent Lush trip ..I was so on love I bought 2! Lavender is perfect for when you're feeling a little stressed or finding it hard to sleep, it really is my go to for all of those long days!

Sunny Side Bubble Bar - this little beauty caught my eye is it's COVERED in gold glitter!! It also smells amazingly fruity making it perfect for summer!

MMMelting Marshmallow Moment Bubble Bar - this is also one of my favs I previously bought at the Lakeside store so I couldn't resist this little pink bar of floral bubbly-ness!

Now all that's left to decide ..is which to use first!

#mychocbloggers + my first blogger event!

Welcome back dolls!

So, yesterday I attended my first ever bloggers event and to make it even more exciting it revolved around chocolate!

As soon as I received the email invite to the #mychocbloggers event back in March I knew it was right up my street and HAD to go! Plus the event was being held in London and I love any excuse to be a tourist!

The chocolate workshop event was arranged by the lovely Lauren from the @LDNmeetup Twitter group and hosted by the My Chocolate Company - it's safe to say it exceeded my high expectations!

The day started early getting the train into London at 8:30 (this is early for me at least!) with my new found blogger pals Charlotte and Hannah, to arrive at the event venue in Islington for 10:30. While we planning the journey before hand this seemed like an easy task and we had even made time for a tea stop but we couldn't have been more wrong! We arrived in Islington at 9:30 thinking we had plenty of time to make the short walk to the venue only to end up lost for an hour! After scaling the canal for a good half hour, realising we were on the wrong side and having to find a way to cross that didn't involve swimming we finally reached our destination - a beautiful all glass building facing out onto the canal. Luckily we weren't the only lost ones...

The venue was set out with wooden tables covered in different chocolate samples, marshmallows, a tray full of yummy toppings and utensils. Once we were all seated and had donned our aprons we got an introduction from the owner of My Chocolate explaining how a small idea had grown into such a magical company and was introduced to our instructor Davis.

First he gave us an insight into telling the difference between high and low quality chocolate by having us taste two different chocolate buttons (that's what they looked like anyway!) one of which was high quality Belgian chocolate and the other was a low quality chocolate. He taught us how determine between to the two and what ingredients were used making a chocolate either high or low quality. Davis then got us to try the two different shards of chocolate we had each been given on the table ..one was white covered in seeds and the other was a dark chocolate. We each tried the two shards and tried to guess what flavours had been used. The white shard was a sweet mix of lemon and poppy seed which was lovely! The dark shard was a mix of ginger, cardamon and cinnamon ..honestly I hate any thing that even tastes of cinnamon so this piece wasn't for me! Chocolate opinions aside was a great little test to see what flavours everyone was picking up. Us bloggers may not be chocolate connoisseurs yet but we do know a thing or two about good chocolate now!

Next Davis showed us how to make chocolate Ganache in order to make little chocolate truffles. He made it look super easy mixing the cream and melted chocolate together and piping the mixture into little drops but it wasn't as easy as we had hoped! After making a bit of a mess we were shown how to roll the drops into truffles and how to dip and decorate them - this was the fun part! Within minutes there were giant bowls of milk and dark melted chocolate on every table and chocolate, toppings and marshmallows flying everywhere! By the end of the 20 minutes we were given we were all covered in chocolate and coco powder but it was so worth it!

Finally we got to package everything we had made into little gold boxes and cellophane bags tied with colourful ribbons to take home in cute little paper bags!

At the end of the workshop we got to have a chat with the owner of My Chocolate who told us about the new workshop kits they now sell online as a branch company called the Chocolate Hedgehog. The kits are for 4 people or the larger kit is for 8-12 and contains everything needed to hold your own little chocolate workshop at home! Safe to say I will be buying one of these for my next night in with the girls!

The workshop event was a fab experience getting to know bloggers from around the country and making dreamy chocolate treats to take home with us.

For anyone interested in the My Chocolate company I've added the link to their website ..it even includes delicious recipes and tips in the blog section! - http://www.mychocolate.co.uk

Mermaid stencil nails

Recently I seem to have developed an uncontrollable love for all things mermaid!

Mermaid hair, mermaid nails ..literally everything!

I had seen some really pretty mermaid nails on Instagram and decided to have a go myself.

I chose to use stencils from a company called Nail Mail rather than try and paint on the scales myself with a metallic gold base coat and different shades of purples (including some glitter of course.

I painted my nails with one coat of the metallic gold (Barry M) the painted a clear coat over the top then left to dry for 15 minutes - this step is essential to stop the stencil pulling off the base coat later on.

I then applied the stencil to all nails on one hand (it helps if you have quite narrow nails to cute the stencil in half that way you have less waste meaning you have stencil left over for next time!) I decided to leave a feature nail plain gold.

I used 4 different purple shades over the stencils - Barry M purple glitter, China glaze in a dark pink shade and lilac shade and OPI in Significant Other Colour. I used a small sponge and tweezers to dab on each colour to give a slight mottled effect rather than just using on solid colour.

I found it is better to do one nail at a time then peel the stencil off straight away while the paint it is still wet to avoid the paint drying and the stencil pulling off some of the paint potentially ruining the effect.

Finish with a nice shiny clear top coat and voila ..perfect mermaid nails!

You can use literally any combination of colours to create this effect, the possibilities really are endless!

Stencils - £3.95 from Nail Mail
Midi rings - £3 for set of 3 Primark

Younique 3D fibre mascara - does it actually work?

Does the Younique 3D fibre mascara actually work? That is the question everyone is asking - I have shared my experience with the product to help answer this question and any other questions you may have....

Anyone that has read my Trich post from a few months back will know that getting amazingly long and thick lashes is a bit of a challenge for me.

I'm happy to say that over the past month or so my Trich has died down and allowed me to grow my eyelashes back but they are still short and a long way off the huge, fluttering eyelashes I would love.

So I did some research on different mascaras/serums that would give me the results I longed for but many of them were pricey with no proven results. I started wearing false eyelashes every day in hopes that my eyelashes would look normal again but let's be honest putting fake eyelashes on every morning for work when you're still half asleep is no easy task so one day when I was scrolling though twitter I had seen the Younique 3D fibrelash mascara and thought I would give it a go!

At first I found it hard to get find honest reviews of the product as everyone who was posting reviews turned out to be a Younique presenter! So I thought to help other girls out there like me or just anyone wanting to try the product in general I would write an honest review.

The product features two different tubes in a cute little case - one is the tiny black fibres used to add length to lashes and black glue used for sticking fibres to the lashes.
First of all can I just make it clear that at first creating amazingly long lashes is not as easy as it's made out to be, this really is a case of practice makes perfect but doesn't mean it can't be done!
The black glue applicator looks like and can be applied like a normal mascara then the little fluffy fibres are brushed onto the glued lashes - here are some useful tips for getting perfect luscious lashes:

- The glue dries extremely quickly so ensure you have the fibres tube already unscrewed and ready to use as soon as you have applied glue, this also helps avoid clumps.

- Trying to glue/brush on fibres to your all of your lashes on one eye can be messy and create clumpy lashes that are stuck together. Work on a few eyelashes at a time to keep lashes separated and looking longer.

- Once a row on lashes has been glued and the fibres added apply a layer of mascara, even if you're planning on adding another layer, to prevent rogue fibres falling into your eyes - they are extremely irritating and almost impossible to get out!

- When applying mascara wait at least 2 minutes to make sure the glue and fibres are dry to stop the mascara pulling the fibres back off. Apply mascara lightly to ensure fibres aren't pulled off or moved.

- Use tweezers to delicately separate any lashes stuck together. Do this while the glue is still relatively wet.

- When filling in areas with shorter lashes (I have to do this a lot) focus on those areas first until they reach the length of the normal lashes then start to apply the glue/fibres in sections as normal.

- To achieve the best results I personally use at least 2/3 coats of glue/fibres/mascara (in that order) for beautifully long lashes. I find any more that this can cause lashes to touch under my brows and cause the lashes to bend.

- Have patience! It may seem a tad difficult at first but it does get easier with every use!

Over all once I had practised the art if applying the 3D mascara I am happy to say it's not an over hyped product that fails to deliver and that it REALLY DOES WORK! I will definitely continue to use this product in the future and would recommend to any girl looking to achieve long, natural looking lashes.

I hope I have been able to answer your questions about the 3D mascara but if you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask :)

Thanks for reading xx

Nude is the new black...

So I'm usually totally against plain boring nails but as spring is now in session I thought it was time to try something new!

I'm totally into nude/pastel shades right now and thought I would spread the love to my nails.

I chose a beautifully subtle nude shade from China Glaze called Faith and I'm happy to say it did not disappoint!

2 coats gave a gorgeous natural look and made my nails look super healthy too. I also so added a coat of clear topcoat for that added shine!

I think it's safe to say I may have been converted to plain nails after all ..for now anyway!

Thanks for reading xx

For anyone that wants to purchase this colour I bought it on eBay for £4.95 just search China Glaze 'Faith'

OOTD | Weekend Chic

Weekends for most of us mean chilling, shopping and last minute plans with friends, but how do you plan an outfit for unknown plans?

Now that spring is making an appearance and those cold, dark days are a thing of the past us girls can finally break open our spring wardrobes with a mix of pastel and nude shades and a hint of monochrome.

For my spring weekend look I have chosen a casual monochrome look that can be dressed up or down – especially handy for last minute plans.

Jeans are a staple of any wardrobe, are versatile and can be dressed up or down to suit an occasion. I chose Miss Selfridge high waisted acid wash jeans for this look.

Cami tops are also extremely versatile and are perfect for a ‘last minute’ outfit. I actually own about 15 different cami’s in a range of colours because I just love how adaptable they are, whether wearing with jeans for an everyday look or with a pencil skirt and strappy heels for a sophisticated evening look.

Blazers are great for a slightly dressy everyday style or a day-to-night look. They make a great alternative to a coat or cardigan and are perfect for spring days and summer evenings when it gets a tad chilly.
As for shoes a may be a little biased here – I have a boots obsession so all I tend to wear is boots as I have so many pairs I can always find a pair to match my outfits. I would definitely recommend investing in some cute boots for spring.

Accessories can make or break an outfit. No accessories can make an outfit look plain and lacking personality and too many can make an outfit look like it’s been in a bitch fight with Claire’s Accessories (although don’t get me wrong Claire’s Accessories has some cute stuff!) I added a classic monochrome checked scarf to my outfit to compliment the black cami and white blazer as well as my fav Michael Kors rose gold watch and a large black handbag to keep my essentials (basically everything but the kitchen sink) in.

So there you have it – my take on a classic weekend ensemble!

Jeans: Miss Selfridge acid wash high waisted jeans £40
Cami Top: Boohoo £15
Blazer: Definitions for Very £35
Boots: Primark £18
Scarf: Primark £6
Bag: River Island £45

Have a great weekend dolls! <3

How to get the perfect tan

Being an Essex girl I love to be tanned even in the Autumn/Winter months but getting that beautiful bronze skin is easier said than done especially when you live in cold, rainy England.

Us English girls cursed with ghosty complexions have to find alternative ways of catch a tan when sunning it up on the beach isn't an option.

There are various ways one can achieve the bronzed babe look from sunbeds and fake tan to more extreme ways such as melanin injections.

Sunbeds and injections carry with them a whole host of dangerous side effects from risks of skin cancer to possible infection - anyone who truly cared for their skin would run for the hills if offered either of these.

So what about fake tan? There are what seems like 1000s of fake tanning products available on the high street, in beauty salons and online these days ranging from rub on wash off gels, creams and wipes and gradual tan moisturisers to professional spray tans. Choosing fake tan can be a bit of a maze, especially for a tanning novice.

What will give the best results and won't cost the earth? Everyone's opinion is different but trying a few different inexpensive products that take your fancy is a good place to start.

Spray tans are also a great way to achieve a holiday glow when done properly but can become a bank breaker if you're having them done often like I do. At £15-£25 a pop for a few days of looking like a goddess the costs start to stack up.

After debating buying a pricey spray tanning machine and all of the equipment myself I stumbled across what I would describe as a god send.

A fake tan off the high street with the effects of a spray tan ..is this even possible? Apparently so!

I was shopping Primarks new PS beauty range in search of some new spring nail colours and a big pink bottle (I love pink!) caught my eye ..Cocoa Brown by Marissa Carter. I had heard good things about this tanning range so decided to give it a go ..at £6 what did I have to loose?
I have been through hundreds of tanning products and spray tan brands and this is by far the best I have ever used!

It is applied as a mousse (use a tanning mitt to avoid tango hands) use a small amount of mousse for each section of your body eg feet, lower leg, thigh etc etc and ensure you have rubbed all tan in properly and evenly to avoid and streaks or pale patches, if need be get someone to check for you if you have missed any areas then leave for 1-3 hours and voilà! Fresh off the beach tan ready for your night out! For a light glow leave on for an hour then shower off and pat dry gently with a towel. For a deep tan I would suggest leaving it on over night and washing it off in the morning just like you would do with a spray tan - only do this if you like a medium/dark tan!

No more orange streaky messes here!

Cocoa Brown by Marissa Carter - £6 Primark

How to: Easy Mermaid Ombré Nails

First I must apologise for neglecting my blog and breaking my new years resolution to post more often! I have been super busy with everything including celebrating my 22nd birthday ..old I know!

Anyway, as you may know having pretty nails is a must for me and I'm always looking for new things to try out - this time I've braved ombre nails!

Ombre nails are easier than you may think, all you really need is a flat, small sponge, 2-3 different colour nail varnishes, a clear top coat and nail varnish remover for if things get messy. I chose to use a triangle make up sponge (the cheap ones you can get from Superdrug). The pink shade is China Glaze Something Sweet, the lilac shade is China Glaze In A Lily Bit and the blue is from Primark's P.S beauty range. I also added OPI Significant Other Colour mixed with a little bit of clear topcoat to give the nails a mermaid-y shimmer as I love anything mermaid related!

So to create these ombre mermaid nails make sure your nails are free of any other nail varnish and are clean and dry. Apply a clear base coat followed by a coat of Something Sweet over the whole nail to brighten the other colours when applied as it is the lightest colour.
Brush a small amount of each colour onto the sponge (as shown in the picture) and quickly dab across each nail until the paint will no longer transfer as it is dry, wait for this layer to partially dry and repeat the process of painting a strip of each colour onto the sponge and dab onto each nail until the desired colour is reached. Once you are totally happy with the colour add a little topcoat to give your nails a bit of protection and some extra shine! Alternatively you can also use a matte topcoat for a bold,chalky effect.

When dabbing the colour onto each nail ensure you don't put to much pressure on to the sponge, as if the paint is still wet it may remove paint that is already on the nail. Also make sure your not dabbing the same part of the sponge on to the same part of the nail each time as the nail may look more stripy than gradient . Obviously the ombre technique takes a bit of perfecting with trial and error to perfect, but experimenting is part of the fun.

Creating ombre nails can be a little messy when using a sponge, to get to the very edge of each nail you are bound to get some paint on your fingers, this can easily be removed with a cotton bud and nail varnish remover for a flawless finish.

There are so many colour combinations that can be used for ombre designs, the possibilities really are endless.

I hope this has given you guys a little help with creating your own ombre styles!

China Glaze Something Sweet & In A Lily Bit: Both £5.75 from eBay
PS Blue Nail Paint: £1 from Primark
OPI Significant Other Colour: £6 from a wholesaler but can be found on eBay and Amazon
  

Missguided Active - Lusting!

Missguided Active - Lusting!

Let's be honest.. Nothing gets you more motivated for the gym than pretty new gym outfits, although finding outfits that aren't just plain black and grey can be boring and take forever.

As I'm still in full on 'get fit' mode, the more motivation the better! So when I heard Missguided were launching their own range of active wear I couldn't wait to have a peak!

It's safe to say the Missguided team haven't let us down, with bright prints and flattering shapes, there really is something for every lady looking to get her workout on!

My personal favs are the blue and pink/purple patterned crop top and leggings combo (I chose to purchase the pink/purple set as I love anything pink and purple related!) and what's more they don't cost the earth!

The Active collection ranges from £9-£20 and launched 20th of January 2015

PD Neon Pink Brandi Heels

PD Neon Pink Brandi Heels

I think by now it's pretty clear pink is my absolute favourite colour and what better way to bring in the spring season than with a beautiful pair of pink shoes!

A little eager I know as it's still freezing but as a wise women once said ..you can never have to many shoes!

As the bright spring tones have started gracing the high street and online stores the temptation to start building your spring/summer wardrobe can be all to much for us girls!

My first spring purchase has come from none other than my fav online shoe store Public Desire!

The 'Brandi' shoe is a versatile style that comes in almost every colour imaginable! I chose the noen pink shade to chase away the winter blues!

The heel height is 6 inches with a platform height of 2 inches - if heels are your thing this height should be a walk in the park! And for all you high heel nuns they really don't feel as high and uncomfortable as they may sound!

These gorj heels can be worn dressed up on a night out or with jeans for a more casual look. Team with pink accessories for a perfect spring look.

Brandi neon pink heels £27.99  from publicdesire.co.uk

'New Year, New Nails...'

'New Year, New Nails...'

As Zooey Deschanel once said - 'I don't like plain nails, I get sad.'  And she couldn't be be right!

All you dolls (and guys) may have noticed pretty nails are VERY important to me.

Because of my December blog posting failure and being super busy I never got the chance to share my Christmas claws with you all so instead I want to share my latest set of talons and my new nail fav nail paint.

In keeping with my love for matte nail colours I finally treated myself to the Barry M black matte paint and the Nails Inc matte top coat ..both of which lived up to my high expectations!

My latest nails are a mix of Barry M, OPI and Nails Inc. The Gold glittery goodness feature nail is two coats of OPI Nicole 'Glitter in my Stocking' with the rest of the nails painted with 2 coats of Barry M Matte Black nail paint and one top coat of Nails Inc clear Matte top coat. The nails were finished off with a few gold gems to add some extra sparkle!

Barry M Matte black nail paint - £3.99 from Superdrug
Nails Inc Matte top coat - £12 from House of Fraser
OPI Nicole Glitter in my stocking - unfortunately I bought this bottle of gold loveliness a few years back (and it's still going!) but I don't think it's available in stores anymore but OPI have plenty of other gorgeous golds on sale!
Gold gems - £0.99 from eBay

My New Years Resolutions 2015

My New Years Resolutions 2015

So I never normally do the whole 'Resolutions' thing as all I ever seem to see is other people fail with theirs but after having not the best of years in 2014 I thought maybe it would give me some positivity and something to aim for!

After thinking about this for a good few days I have decided on 2 ..enough to keep me occupied but not too many that I lose the will to live!

My first resolution is to blog more! Having been an absolute fail on the amount of blog posts I've done in December (I only posted twice the whole month) and never posting as regularly as I would like to I have made this my number one resolution and I intend to stick to it as I have 10000 things to blog about! (Not literally but it feels that way)

My second resolution is to get fit. I know literally everyone says this every New Years and it gets very boring very quickly with 99% of these people are pigging out on McD's in front of the TV after two days as they have no motivation.
I have wanted to take up healthy eating and regular gym trips for over a month now but let's be honest ..Christmas is the worst time to do this! With constant parties, dinners and work do's it's near impossible to keep to a clean diet and find the time to exercise, so what better time to start than New Years! I will also be back on the Bootea weight loss teas as these were such a big success for me the first time! (Please see previous posts for details!)

I will post updates on my fitness challenge alongside my second Bootea experience and of course keep the blog posts on beauty and fashion coming too!

Wish me luck!