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

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!

#PDBAE Quin boots

Every girl loves coming home to a parcel, especially if it's full of clothes or shoes and today was one if those days for me!

I have always been a fan of the online shoe store 'Public Desire' and tend to find myself lusting over every pair on the site. The only downside is when it comes to choosing a pair ..it's impossible!

During the autumn and winter months I have found myself obsessing over ankle boots as they are the perfect accessory and have been wanting to add a PD pair to my collection for weeks ..but which pair do I choose out of what seems like hundreds of beautiful boots?

Eventually I narrowed my choices down to two pairs ..'Quin' and 'Alegra' ..both in black suede. After what seemed like hours of decisions I finally made my choice! I had to go with the gorgeous Quin boots as they had a smaller heel (better for everyday wear) and were available in a size 3 for my teeny little feet!

Delivery was fast and the boots fit perfectly! I tend to find the range of shoes PD offer come up slightly big in size for me so if you're in between sizes go for the smaller for a perfect fit.

Overall I am super happy with my new boots and will be returning for more very very soon!

Quin Boots: £27.99 from publicdesire.co.uk

Scandaleyes VS Trichotillomania

Over the last few weeks I have been majorly slacking on the blog posts, I know, I can only apologise and promise to be more active! 😘

So I wanted it post about an issue that's close to home for me and see if there are any other girls out there that suffer with this too. Even the most calm people can suffer from stress sometimes and of course, everyone has their own ways of dealing with it ..unfortunately mine happens to be a confidence killer called Trichotillomania.

Trichotillomania is a condition where a person has the overwhelming urge to pull out their hair, whether it be the hair on their head, eyebrows, eyelashes or pretty much any other area, the impulsive feeling to pull just builds tension until you give in to it.
My weakness happens to be my eyelashes, as I have practically no eyebrows (the joys of being blonde) and I have micro loop extensions which just about stops me pulling my hair out, and often even when I am only the slightest bit stressed I begin to tear my eyelashes out, sometimes without even realising, especially when I am asleep.

Can you imagine? Waking up with no eyelashes on one eye? Even the thought can be scary let alone the reality of it.

There are people out there who believe 'it's not even a big deal?' But thinking about it when you talk to people face to face eye contact is everything and knowing you have a naked eye can really affect how you communicate, constantly worrying if they can 'see how odd your eyes are'.

I was told by my doctor there isn't a necessary cure as all cases are different so I have to just manage it as it comes, there is no stopping it but I have found ways to hide the damage done until the eyelashes grow back again.

With a mixture of mascara, eyeliner and false eye lashes, feeling better about my condition has gotten easier, although nothing compares the real thing I don't have to worry about my eyes bald patches!

When stress kicks in and the pulling Starts I tend to aim for certain sections of eyelashes (subconsciously of course) where hiding the gaps can be difficult, usually from the corners to the middle where gaps become quite obvious, but for any of you girls suffering with this too all is not lost! I have found some beauty tricks that can hide any unwanted gaps and help you face the world without having to feel self conscious!

Depending on the size of a gap in my eyelashes I use a thick, dark mascara to almost fill in the gaps if they aren't too bad, I find volume sing mascara works best for this and my new favourite is the Rimmel Scandaleyes Retro Glam extreme black mascara - although this is the product I would recommend it is thick and can clump easily so keep a thin mascara brush on hand to brush away all those clumps! Spider lashes are so 5 years ago...
For added lash gap camouflage add a thin line of eyeliner on your eyelid along you lash line - my favourite is the Scandaleyes wanted proof micro liner in black.

When gaps aren't as easy to disguise the best option is false eyelashes. A daunting idea for anyone not familiar or comfortable with wearing them. My advice would be to start small, possibly using Eylure glue on lashes in number 050. These are tiny, light weight and so easy to apply, perfect for any beginners or novice lash lovers. My personal favourites are Eylure number 116 lashes as these are super long and add volume while hiding those god awful gaps! These can be worn all day comfortably and usually will last all day without needing to reapply. Applying any eyelashes can be tricky at first but as the old saying goes ..practice makes perfect!

For my fellow Trichotillomaniacs (I don't even know if that's a word?) who experience this with their eyebrows, there so many products available now days for filling and drawing on eyebrows, that camouflaging any gaps you may have is easier than ever, from powder kits to pencils and stencils (pun not intended).

I would recommend the retractable sleek eyebrow pencil to anyone, whether you're a beginner or expert when it comes to eyebrows as it super easy to use, it has a thin tip making precise shaping simple and comes in all shades, even blonde!

Scandaleyes Retro Glam Black mascara: £6.99 Superdrug
Scandaleyes black waterproof micro liner: £5.49 Superdrug
Eylure lashes: £5 Superdrug
Sleek eyebrow pencil: £5.99 Superdrug

Hopefully this helps some of you other ladies suffering from this. Comments always appreciated 💌

Burgundy matte nails - Barry M review

Burgundy matte nails - Barry M review

As the matte nails craze continues I finally caved into trying the Barry M Matte Nail Paint range.

As my favourite colour of the season is burgundy I thought it was a bit of a no brainer to buy the Matte paint in the shade 'Crush'. It's a gorgeous deep burgundy colour and matches perfectly with dark lipstick!

The paint come in the standard Barry M bottle with an average sized brush but is extremely easy to apply. As the paint dries quite quickly it is important to paint each nail quickly and precisely so the paint dries with an even finish.

I would recommend this product to anyone wanting to try out Matte nails as each paint is only £3.99, so if you decide it's not for you, you haven't lost a small fortune and I would also recommend the Barry M Matte Nail Paint to any Matte nail enthusiasts out there!

I purchased this product at Superdrug for £3.99 ❤️

Henna.. Beginner hints and tips!

For the love of Henna.. Beginner hints and tips!

Welcome back dolls! ❤️

Recently I have become absolutely obsessed with the art of henna tattoos!

I decided to do some research and try out some beginner techniques to see how easy it really is to do all of the complicated designs you see all over twitter/Instagram and online in general - unfortunately for me there are no henna courses available in Essex so it really is all self taught!

There are hundreds, if not thousands of henna videos on YouTube so there is enough inspiration out there to get you started.

I believe it is important to do research before taking the plunge and buying masses of henna cones/tubes and covering yourself in it - for example before doing my research I didn't know the dangers of black henna. Black henna often contains the chemical p-Phenylenediamine which gives the normally red/brown dye a black tint so avoid black!

To be honest I have had black henna used on my before and I was perfectly fine but if you are allergic to hair dye, body paint or have sensitive skin I would strongly recommend against using it.

At the moment I have been using Golecha natural henna paste cones, which dry a nice dark brown colour and usually last about 4-5 days before the pattern turns red/orange. I purchased these from eBay directly from an Indian company based in India ..not only are they cheaper but I feel as if they are more genuine than the tubes you can buy from the UK. As with any product, buying henna from internet stores can be risky so be sure to read the seller reviews before you part with your cash!

When using henna for the first time it's always best to do a little patch test (I did mind on my thigh so no one would see!) and if all is okay your ready to start!

If you're using the cones cutting the tip can be a make or break situation ..cut to much and the designs will be thick and messy ..don't cut enough and your ink won't come out! I usually cut about 1/2 mm of the end and apply some ink into tissue or paper to make sure I'm happy with the width and flow of the ink.

Take some time to look at designs online and test basic swirls and patterns on your leg or stomach (somewhere no one can see) until you are comfortable enough to start testing designs out on your hands.

Once you're happy with applying henna the design possibilities are endless!

I hope this little beginners guide has helped you guys - stay tuned for my beginners design guide ❤️

O.P.I 'Mod My Day' review

O.P.I 'Mod My Day'

I have a new fav nail colour I would love to share with you guys.

As you may know I'm a massive fan of anything pink and pink nails are usually a must for me! I'm also a big fan of O.P.I nail lacquers as the colours are always bold, no washout colours that seem to need 100 coats to achieve the colour you expect, and there are so mama colours available there is one for every outfit, season and mood!

I recently purchased 'Mod My Day' by O.P.I and it's safe to say it did not disappoint!

The pastel pink/lilac shade ties in perfectly with A/W 14 pastel trends and compliments any nail shape and length ..this colour is an all round MUST HAVE! 💕

Purchased from Debenhams £11.50

Complex Apparel ft Illamasqua Vampette

As you guys may already know, I love up and coming businesses that sell anything from clothes to beauty products so I thought I would take the chance to share another of my favourites with you all!

I found Complex Apparel on Instagram after seeing one of the girls I follow in one of their logo tees and thought ..I need one! I mean, who wants to look all girly all the time anyway?

I purchased one of the white logo tees and it arrived literally in a day the delivery was so fast! These t shirts are literally the most comfy tees ever and can be dressed up or down whatever the weather. I've worn mine with ripped black skinny jeans (Missguided) or with a skater skirt, leather jacket, black tights, boots and some killer gold bling.

Also featured in this post is my amazing new Illamasqua Vampette from the Glamore Extension Collection but it's literally so amazing it's earned it's own post! Watch this space for that one dolls!

To buy one of the Complex Apparel tees or to have a look at the rest of their clothing range (beanies👌) go to http://complexapparelofficial.bigcartel.com 

Enjoy! ❤️

Bootea teatox final review

I have now finished my 14 day Bootea teatox and as promised, I am going to share my results with you all!

The 14 day teatox consists of a daytime tea to drink in the mornings on a daily basis and a night time tea to drink in the evenings every other day.

Daytime teatox - Chinese Oolong tea, ginger root, fennel seeds, nettle leaves, lemongrass, dandelion leaves, ginseng root and gotu kola leaves. Best left in boiling water for 3 minutes and has a light ginger and slightly floral taste.

Night time cleanse - Senna leaves, peppermint leaves, Fenugreek leaves, liquorice root, burdock root, hawthorn leaves, valerian root and psyllium seeds. Also best left in boiling water for roughly 3 minutes but the taste of the night time tea is similar to peppermint tea rather than green tea. Great news if, like myself, you are a lover of peppermint tea.

The daytime tea is perfect in the morning as it gives you a little energy boost and, as I mentioned before, helps keep you hydrated as the tea is obviously made with water! I found the tea helped speed up my metabolism while at the same time suppressed my cravings for naughty food during the day and also helped me choose healthier options for lunch as I could think with my brain and not my stomach! After a week or so I also noticed less breakouts and clearer skin.

The night time cleanse on the other hand seemed to have little effect on me. The idea is that the ingredients, mainly senna and liquorice root, are meant to aid the clearing out of your colon without getting too graphic! I have read reviews that describe the night time cleanse as a 'nightmare' but honestly unless you are eating rubbish all day every day or you have existing colon issues, I believe the night time cleanse just helps along what would happen naturally - no horror movie scenes here!

Unfortunately Bootea does not offer a 100% guarantee, so if you don't feel it agrees with you or simply don't like it you're stuck with it, which is a bit of a downside but from  my personal experience and all the happy reviews I've read I would definitely recommend the product for anyone looking to loose weight, stop bloating or just to help kick start a healthier diet.

I hope my review will help you decide whether Bootea is right for you - good luck! If you have any questions feel free to ask ❤️

Bootea detox - Day 9!

Just a quick update of my Bootea teatox girls.

Day 9 of my teatox and I'm happy to report I've lost 4lbs already!
That's even after a few cheeky slices of pizza over the weekend!

Of course, the teatox does require a pretty clean diet to have the best effect so I wouldn't suggest any cheat days to anyone looking to try this detox in order to loose weight.

As for the other effects of the Bootea teatox I've found for me personally it has helped clear my skin quite dramatically and also stopped bloating after I eat, which was the main reason I turned to Bootea.

Another huge side effect (in a good way) would be the reduction of cravings In between meals - I find working in an office at a desk all day sets off the killer cravings for anything that's full of sugar and covered in chocolate which is bad news for any diet! The morning teas help to suppress any cravings and stress eating during the day which can be a big factor in weight gain.

Watch this space for my final update and review ❤️

How to get pastel coloured hair - Lilac

So I've been asked quite a few times now as to how and what I have used to make my hair lilac so I thought I would do a quick post to answer everyone's questions!

As much as I hate to admit it, my half isn't in the greatest condition as I have been bleaching it for the passed two years so when I decided I wanted to add a little colour to my hair I chose a product that would not damage if further.

I chose to use La Riche Directions temporary hair dye in Lilac when colouring my hair as the pigment is bright and can easily be lightened if you find the colour to dark on it's own.

As my hair is so long to achieve the perfect shade of lilac I mix roughly half a teaspoon (yes, just half a teaspoon, that's how good Directions is!) with roughly a litre of white conditioner - it doesn't have to be expensive, I use the white coconut conditioner from Tesco which is just 80p a bottle, otherwise colouring can become very expensive!

I mix the colour and conditioner in a large bowl, preferably a plastic bowl you don't mind staining, and apply with a large hair dye brush.

It's usually easier if you section your hair to get maximum coverage and start applying the dye mix from the bottom upwards using the brush and I would also advise using rubber gloves as it's a messy job - if you can get someone to check you've covered every section, or even better if you can get someone else to do it for you! After all ..no one wants streaky hair!

The directions colours tend to work better on bleached or light blonde hair, especially when trying to achieve lighter colours so this technique may not work for everyone but I hope I've answered your questions 💜

Feel free to comment any questions 💜