bluebell

yay for messy application

Hola! I know I'm being a terrible blogger ATM, I promise after this week I will sort it out! Exams and hot weather = studying and showering nonstop!

I just wanted to quickly show you another of the InStyle Nails Inc polishes today, earlier I picked up 'Bluebell'. Bluebell is a muted pastel blue with the slightest hint of lilac, think Barry M Blueberry with a touch of lilac.

It's a good job InStyle only offer three shades, otherwise my blog would be totally consumed by these NOTDs! Watch this space for the third and final colour, which no doubt I will be unable to resist next time I see it.

What are you wearing on your nails right now?

power

Hola!

Another nails post today, I hate to do two in a row but I've been slacking lately on C&R due to forthcoming exams (and the return of The Walking Dead!), and this is a limited edition nail polish.

Yesterday I picked up InStyle for a Nails Inc freebie, I'll probably end up getting the other two nail polishes as well, they're all very spring-appropriate but 'Power Pink' was the one I wanted most.

Lilac is always a colour I've felt is just the tiniest bit overrated for nail polish, hence why there hasn't yet been a lilac NOTD on my blog. However, I was instantly intrigued by 'Power Pink'; it's the perfect cross between pink and purple.

As always Nails Inc polishes are a dream, they're so easy to apply and they dry really quickly. Definitely worth £3.80! I'm tempted to get the others just because they're so nice in quality.

It's very pretty and reminds me of Marina and The Diamonds circa 'Electra Heart' (I am in love with that album!).

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend, no doubt revising will be punctuated by trips to the corner shop as it seems to be freebie season, and magazines and freebies are irresistible. Have you bought any of the InStyle Nails Inc polishes?

baby

Hola, today is just a nails post about Barry M 'Baby Pink' nail paint. This is one of my love-hate polishes, although the result is very Mod About You and chic, it can be such a pain to get there. It's not your usual opaque cream we can expect from Barry M, this one is pretty streaky and requires three coats for an opaque finish - but getting it to an even finish is even harder.

My impatience means I only wear this every once in a blue moon, but it does look good on the nails.
Let me know if you've tried this and your thoughts?

Hope you're all having a great weekend, I've slept for about eleven hours after Drayton Manor yesterday, it was such a crazy and exhausting day! Sadly I didn't take many pictures as the day was just too mad, but during the first hour (the calm before the storm!), we went to the zoo and as it was a beautiful day, I did get a few snaps in there.

Yay for flamingos :)

yankee favourites

Hola, a slightly different post today - one about candles *mutual yippee*.

I am quite the candle fan, in particular I love a good Yankee Candle. I always associate my Yankees with Christmas time, but due to the horrific weather lately, I have been whipping out the few candles I have left over from winter that aren't too Christmassy and therefore depressing in May.

I've kept this post quite season appropriate, I have many wintry scents that I love to indulge in, but the ones I'll show in this post are much more spring than autumnal or wintry. For the record, Autumn is all about the fresh scents for me, Winter about the festive scents and Spring the delish scents!

I buy my Yankee jars from Clintons or Melbicks, and most of the samplers and tarts I have stashed away are from House of Fraiser - I can't go in there without picking up a tart (hehe)! My wax warmer is also from Yankee.

Onto my Yankee candle favourites!

As I said, these are my favourite spring-time scents, Christmas candles are worthy of their own post later on in the year.

8. Juicy Watermelon

Yankee seem to take the most basic of scents and make them desireble to anyone. This sweet but realistic watermelon is great when you're not looking for a cosy candle but a delicious scent.

7. Macintosh

I adore anything apple-scented, and Macintosh is perfect for all seasons, and for any apple fans.

6. Tutti Frutti

This has quite a unique but still fresh and delicious scent, it smells very familiar but I can never place it.

5. Vanilla Cupcake

I would class this as slightly more wintry, but it's still a sweet and scrumptious cake scent enough to add instant appeal to a room.

4. Strawberry Buttercream

This smells just like it's namesake; sweet and buttery with the perfect strawberry/vanilla balance.

3. Fresh Cut Roses

I am not usually a rose fan, I think the general scent is too perfume-y and heavy, but Yankee have completely reinvented roses with a beautiful aura.

2. Pink Sands

Such a pretty scent, the perfect balance between sweet and fresh. Vanilla hints and a cute pink jar, anyone?

1. Mango Peach Salsa

Words cannot describe my favourite Yankee scent. I must have been through three jars of this, the scent is pretty tricky to describe, I wouldn't even count myself as a mango fan particularly but this is amazing. Do not leave on the shelf!

Yay for candles! I must restock with a Mango Peach Salsa jar, those eight are my top favourites though, they work with any weather really. I didn't include Home Sweet Home as that's definitely a winter scent to me.

Candles are a great pick-me-up, scent is the most evocative sense after all!

I should add it's not just Yankee I covet; I think some of the Jelly Belly ones are lovely, they are much stronger than Yankee scents, the Coconut one is my favourite.

What is your favourite Yankee?

swan lake

Hola, I thought I'd make a slightly rambly photo post, just the kind you'd expect off the back of a rainy bank holiday!

I actually spent mine in Stratford, I have mentioned before I only live five minutes away from Stratford, so every now and then it's nice to spend the day there.

The rain wasn't too much of a hindrance, it didn't last all day luckily, although a quick detour to Poundland was in order as I'd forgotten my Cath Kidston umbrella ha.

The Real Tea Cafe in Stratford town does the best hot chocolate ever, it's so cute too; it has little quotes of what famous people think of tea.

Woohoo for lollipops!

And me with my royal affection could not resist this gem from a charity shop (Stratford charity shops FTW!).

Just a little hello, yay for four-day weeks. I'm actually rather looking forward to next week as it's my younger sister's birthday and a big group of us will be headed to our local theme park Drayton Manor, I was such a thrill seeker in my early teens too, no doubt my inner adrenaline junkie will soon be unleashed!

How was your bank holiday?

PS. Howdy new followers :)

big blue

Hola! I actually feel as though this week has gone on forever - thank God for bank holiday weekends! I thought I'd show you the bath I had yesterday evening (I couldn't wait until today - I was exhausted!).

I used one of my old favourites from LUSH - Big Blue Bath Bomb (get your tongue around that!).

Big Blue

£3.10

LUSH

"Peer over the side of the boat into the big blue

Watch the seaweed float by and feel the salt on your skin

Who needs a holiday when a bath can be this relaxing and refreshing?!"

I adore Big Blue - everything from the spicy, citrus and distinctive (good old LUSH classic-y) scent to the Mediterranean silky water it creates gets me every time. Although I adore my girly faves like Think Pink and Vanilla Fountain, I always class Big Blue as a 'grown-up' bath bomb, the idyllic relaxing companion, along with a fresh-scented candle.

No doubt the seaweed puts many people off, however it adds to the ocean appeal! I honestly have never found it to be a problem, I actually forget it's there when I'm in the bath. I cannot reccomend Big Blue enough, it's such a lovely bath bomb that is not only luxurious and relaxing, but pretty amazing too.

And the product squad...

Loving all of this right now, Creme Anglaise is the perfect post-bath comfort.

Have you tried Big Blue?

innocent

Woohoo it's May...oh wait, we forgot to tell the weather.

Just another nails post today...I have recently been relishing the 'simple nail' with my latest ELF purchase Innocent.

Rather innocent-looking, no?

I have to say, ELF seem to come up trumps in the nude department, the only other I've tried is Desert Haze, which is also a winner. Innocent is really great, it's an opaque nude, not dissimilar to my beloved Ciaté Sugared Almonds in terms of consistency, but more My Fair Lady in terms of colour. I find Innocent to be quite a cool mix of pink, peach and grey - it seems unable to decide between warm or cool undertones. Anyway, it makes for a great rainy-day nail polish or simply when you can't really be bothered with your nails but still have to look acceptable. And for £1.50, it beats many other nudes!

Off to soak...

Creamy Candy FTW!

the zara bag

Hola, just a Sunday shortie today as I'm about to watch Clueless on E4+1 (one of my favourite movies ever!). Today has been pretty slow, the rain is such a hindrance, so I've spent the day eating Lucky Charms and watching The Diana Years, oh the life I do lead! It feels weird not going to the carboot this morning, I don't feel like I've had my Sunday.

Anyway, last weekend I absolutely fell in love with the latest 'it' bag! Well, it's not massively famous but I've seen a few people talking about it, namely the Lily's from What I Heart Today and LLYMLRS (both amazing blogs!). I had been looking for a new bag for a while, as my H&M satchel is a bit AW now, and I was thrilled when I discovered this ZARA one (perhaps the £19.99 price tag being the most thrilling part!). Anyway, I was on the prowl in ZARA but it was sold out, and also online. By chance it came back in stock last Sunday, so I ordered it and it arrived this Thursday.

A little anticipation...

Ta-da! It's so gorgeous, I think I am in love. The super-soft grey faux leather and the rose-gold hardwear contrasts perfectly, whilst the medium size makes it perfect for everyday college. I love how it hangs at the waist, I cannot understand the craze with bags that drag down to your knees, I see so many girls with them and it just annoys me. You can also buy it in red and black, I am seriously considering buying the black version too as it looks so much more luxurious than the price tag, just like the grey - is buying the same bag in different colours overkill!?

LINK

Zara, I salute you.



the elf shelf / haul #24

Hola! I hope you're all enjoying your Saturday (anyone else categorise Saturdays as 'shopping days'!?), I'm about to head out with my sister to our favourite shopping centre as our weekend ritual, so first I'll show you some ELF goodies that arrived this week.
ELF are currently offering free shipping, and whenever I get an email from ELF telling me about this, it's impossible not to have a browse on the website. Although most of what I wanted wasn't in stock (grr), I did pick up a few things. Although I am in desperate need of a Mineral Infused Face Primer as I am almost out of mine and I go a day without it!
Firstly I bought this nail polish named 'Innocence'. This is from the same family as my other favourite ELF nail polish, 'Desert Haze', both are slightly more interesting neutrals than the norm. I could seriously buy ten ELF nail paints, they're so cheap at £1.50, but I quite proudly restrained myself.

Next I bought one of the lipsticks from the basic ELF range - so an amazing £1.50! I chose 'Seductive', purely because it was the only one in stock (ha), but seriously, it was the best impulsive decision I've made in a long time - I love it! The colour reminds me of LUSH It Started With A Kiss lip tint, which I adore but don't often use as not only is it a bloody pain to get on and it wears off within an hour, but it is intensely drying - think Barry M lip paint x10. So I'm pretty thrilled to have found this gem - and the bonus is the so-fake-we-won't-try-and-deny-it sweetie scent.

I also decided to give the Mineral Lipsticks a whirl, firstly Party Pink. This is another win for me, the name seems so fitting as it's the perfect bright coral without being in-your-face bright. These lipsticks are really buildable and a great consistency - they have a slightly matte finish which I love, but they are in no way drying.

I also picked out Runway Pink, admittedly because it's quite a famous one. This is along the same lines of the ELF 'Natural' Matte Lip Colour, but more moisturising and more purple-based. To be honest, I think the hype of this product had me expecting something more, when in reality it is a very nice lipstick but nothing super-duper.

Next up I got the Studio Eyebrow Lifter & Filler. When it comes to eyebrows, I get the tweezers out when necessary and I brush them into place everyday with a mascara wand, but because they're pretty light considering I'm a brunette and they're never too much grief, I leave them alone a lot of the time. However, lately I've been wanting an fuller brow look (I know the image that pops to mind whenever someone mentions full brows is never a positive one!), so I chose this eyebrow pencil. Mine is in medium, which is perfect for my medium brunette hair. I have to say though, as much as I am liking the 'fill' pencil, the 'lift' is pretty odd. For one it's a very pink-based concealer colour, and it's a thick consistency that drags and refuses to blend. For £3.50, I'm happy to ignore that end and use the 'Fill', though.

I'd heard so much about the Studio Cream Liners, that I had to try one. I went for the classic 'Black', although I really want to try the other colours. This is amazing! I was really impressed with the quality of this, it comes in a teeny plastic jar with a pretty decent (if five centimetres long) tapered eyeliner brush. What can I say, it glides on like a dream, it's a perfect black, it's uber pigmented and so much better for the upper lid than creamy pencils, in my opinion anyway. I have actually worn this every day since Wednesday when it arrived, I love it and cannot wait to add to my collection.

I was in desperate need of some new eyelash curlers after my No7 ones died after being caked in junk after I used them whilst wearing mascara *cringe* (anyone else do this!?), just because I am a bit of an eyelash curling junkie. These ones are the studio eyelash curlers, and they are tiny. The actual curlers are pretty normal sized, but the curling part wouldn't curl half of one set of eyelashes. They're a bit strange to use; they work fine on the corners, but it's pretty difficult to get the middle lashes - I think I'll repurchase some No7 ones, but the ELF ones do come in handy if you're not a fan of the fully curled look and you would prefer a more natural outer curl.

I'm pretty impressed with everything I bought, I did buy a couple of other things, some were gifts. I ended up spending over £30 anyway so I would have had free shipping regardless, the offer is such a lure haha. I wasn't sure whether to include this or not but I bought one of the new Studio Cream Blushes in the shade 'Heartbreaker', which looked coral on the website but is in reality pink. I'm not really a pink blush kind of person, so if anyone is interested in buying this, please message me :)

That's all for ELF, have a wonderful weekend, and tell me if you have tried any of these products and your thoughts on them.

PS. Hello to my new followers!