Natural Leopard Nail Art

As soon as I got myself a gorgeous nude/beigey nail varnish I knew I wanted to try out some Leopard nail art with it. Leopard print is still my easy, go-to nail art for when I want to jazz up my nails as it requires very little dexterity and you don't even need nail art pens!

Here's what I used for my nail art look...

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Collection 2000 Fast Stroke Liquid Eyeliner - Black
MeMeMe Nail Gloss in Alluring
Rimmel Lycra Pro in Posh Trash
Models Own Base/Top Coat



First I painted two coats of my base colour, in this case MeMeMe nail varnish in Alluring.

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Then, using old hair grips, I dotted Rimmel Lycra Pro in Posh Trash at various points on the nail. You could also use a specific nail art pen for this as well as a pencil tip or, if you're careful, the normal nail varnish brush.


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Then, using my liquid eyeliner, I roughly outlined the gold dots and filled in any spaces with leopard-like spots. Again, this can be done with a nail art pen.


Top tip: If you do use liquid eyeliner and find that it doesn't stay nicely on the nail varnish surface (think writing in felt tip on a cd) then a quick spritz of hairspray on the nails works a treat!

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Having only ever used this eyeliner for nail art I don't know if this occurs with other brands, but I find that when the eyeliner dries it goes lighter and looks more grey. However, a top coat fixes this instantly so it's nothing to worry about.


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And there you have it! Easy peasy!
What's your go-to easy nail art? x

MeMeMe Nail Varnish

I seem to have a slight obsession at the moment for nude/beigey nail colours, so when I walked by the MeMeMe stand in my local Superdrug I had to pick it up!


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MeMeMe Nail Collection Long Lasting Gloss in Alluring (92)



I haven't tried MeMeMe nail varnishes before, but this was a good consistency and I really like the colour.


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The actual colour is just a little lighter than this, but no matter which way I photographed it, it came out a little dark. With two coats it lasted reasonably well so I might have to try out some of their other shades!

x

Week in Pictures

Very little going on this week as I decided to go and get ill just as we were getting some lovely weather...

I wonder if you'll be able to guess what I did to pass the time while I was ill? :)


My creation

The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen // Emperor of All Maladies
Can't stick to one book // Alice in Wonderland


Hope you had a better week that I did! x

DVF iPhone Fashion

Whilst perusing the Diane von Furstenburg website imaging how well dressed I would be if I won the lottery, I came across these little beauties.

Saffino iPhone 4 case in Buds Tiny Coral and Clouds Small Red



Saffino iPhone4 case in Leaf Meadow Tiny Navy and Tropical Plants Tiny Mustard


These are all part of DVF's Vintage Collection and are in the most gorgeous prints ever, much like the rest of the collection, and seeing as I definitely won't be able to afford DVF clothing just yet I'd happily settle for an iPhone cover :)

x

NYC Lipstick

I can't believe it's taken me this long to try out NYC cosmetics, so the last time I was mooching around Superdrug I picked up this NYC lipstick to give it a go and test out it's "Ultra Last" claims.


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NYC Ultra Last Lipstick in 433 Peach Fizz



Peach Fizz is a lovely light corally colour with a nice metallic sheen. Nicely pigmented and I found I could wear it just lightly for a little colour and shine or more heavily applied for a nighttime look.


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I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't need much reapplying throughout the day at all and stayed put pretty well! Though the packaging feels a bit nasty and like it would crack when just flung in your bag, at only £1.49 and with decent staying power I think I'll have to invest in a few different shades!

Have you tried NYC cosmetics? What are your thoughts?

x

Natural Collection Face Mask

Everytime I'm in Boots I walk past the Natural Collection face masks and think "I should try them out some time" so this time I did. At only £1 I figured I couldn't go far wrong.

I decided to pick the Rosemary and Witch Hazel face mask.

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Rosemary and Witch Hazel have antibacterial properties and this mask claims to "deep-cleanse your pores, drawing out impurities and excess oil, leaving your face feeling totally refreshed". I really liked the scent of it, and it has a lovely thick creamy consistency.

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There's a great amount of product in the sachet so you can really pile it on when applying and it dries fairly quickly on your face and gives a nice little tingly feeling. I did note that it didn't overly dry out on my face, you know when a face masks goes really crackily and uncomfortable, so that was good.

After removing it my skin was gorgeously soft and felt great. A fantastic cheap treat for your skin! I'll definitely be trying out some more of the Natural Collection mask range.

MUA Nail Varnishes

This was my first time trying out MUA nail varnishes. I admit I was a bit skeptical at first, but in the end it was the colour range that won me over. Having had a look at some of the products online I was pleasantly surprised by the nice selection of natural shades of nail varnish they stock, so I had to head into Superdrug and treat myself with a few!



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MUA nail varnish in Shade 19, 23 and 21 respectively


I'm a sucker for a natural shade polish and have been hunting for the perfect nude beige colour to go with my skin tone so I picked up Shade 19. But then after seeing the other two and how well they all went together, well, I couldn't resist!


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They have a nice consistency, not too runny like a lot of bargain nail varnishes I've tried, and two coats gives a nice coat.


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I really like all the colours, even the green which I wasn't sure I would! Shall definitely be trying out some more of their shades. Like other MUA products (note not MUA professional)they are only £1 and so are perfect for picking up some shades you wouldn't necessarily try. You never know, you might love it!

I'll definitely be branching out and trying some other green nail shades, perfect for Summer!

Have you tried MUA nail varnishes?

Week in Pictures

Wow, this week has gone fast! It's certainly been a good week for me, mainly because I got final degree results back (and they were good), hope you've all had a great week too and are having a fab weekend.

I seem to not have taken many pictures this week, and the ones I did all seem to be taken on/waiting for a train!


Week in Pictures 2
view from the train // another view from the train // earl grey tea // waiting for the train
on the train // waiting for my degree results! // deliciousness in kitkat form // sunday morning



Love x

Burt's Bees Hand Salve and Day Cream Review

Now I've had my Burt's Bees products for a while, I've had a chance to properly try out some of the samples. First up, I recieved a teeny little tin of Hand Salve to try out.

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It has a strong medicinal oily smell (not a great description, but it smells very similar to Burt's Bees original lip salve) which I happen to love. My first thought about this product would be that I would have to use it at night as the oily salve would take a long time to be absorbed into my skin/cuticles, however I was happily mistaken.

The product sinks in so quickly and leaves my hands amazingly soft. I was really surprised as I didn't think this would be my kind of thing, but I really love it and will probably repurchase the full size tin! That won't be for a while though as a little goes a long way with this.

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I also recieved a little sample of Burt's Bees Radiance Day Cream.

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It's a really moisturising cream with a light honey scent (much like the rest of the Radiance range which I'll probably review later) however for my skin which tends to be more on the oily side, it was just a bit too heavy for a day cream.

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I did try it overnight as well, as it was a very decent sized sample, but I still felt it was a bit too thick and heavy for me. I think it would probably work best for someone with dry skin, but it just didn't agree with my oily complexion.

Hope you're all having a good weekend!

Bershka SS/12 Collection

Despite the weather suggests, it will be Summer soon (I'm sure of it!) and so I've been cruising all the latest Spring Summer Collections and I've fallen in love a little bit with the Bershka SS/12 Collection.



Major ombre hair envy. I'm loving the colour-pop neon shorts and sandals teamed with that gorgeous pastel shirt.








Gotta love the obligatory Summer bracelet stacking and floral shades (will definitely need to invest in a pair this Summer!)




I'm pretty much in love with the nude dress with neon colour pop. What do you think of Bershka?

MUA Lipstick

TGIF!

If you follow me on Twitter you might have known that I had an interview with an external examiner last week about my dissertation. Thankfully it all went swimmingly well, and in fact she spent most of the interview telling me how much she liked my dissertation! However, beforehand I was a big nervous ball of stress. So obviously I went shopping and thus made the discovery that nervous shopping leads to you buying lots of things you don't really need at all!

But on the bright side, I now have lots to review for you lovely followers!

One of the things I picked up in my nervous state was an MUA lipstick. I have always been a little tentative about MUA products, figuring that they can't be all that good with most of the products costing £1. However I was pleasently surprised. Don't get me wrong, it's no MAC, but for the tiny £1 price tag you do alright.

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MUA Lipstick Shade 9


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I really like this shade, a nice dusky red/pink with a lovely metallic sheen on it.


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It isn't incredibly pigmented, but I found it gave enough colour for a nice soft daytime look. It did need a bit of reapplying through the day, but I expected that. Even so, it isn't too shabby for a budget lipstick and I've certainly seen worse.


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I'd definitely like to try some of their brighter shades, and at only £1 each I think I might.

Afternoon Tea Featured

Today my gorgeous planner from Artbox (pictures here) is featured on Paper Lovestory as part of her regular "filofax week" feature.

If you've read this blog for any length of time, then you know I've got a soft spot for stationary. If you like pretty pens, post-its and stationary galore then you should definitely check out her blog for excellent reviews, pretty things and major filofax envy (she has The Affair - Alice Temperley filofax)!



Extreme jealousy! Hope you're having a great day x

No Longer a Student

Having recieved my results yesterday, technically I am no longer a student!

Fortunately the results were good and so I'll be working for a year to save up money so I can be a student once more and tackle a masters!





Good luck to all of you who are still going through exams at the moment, you can do it! And having endured (and survived) four years of University, I feel I can impart a little wisdom on you.



1. You do know more than you think you do

2. Mini study breaks filled with biscuits and "you can do it" film montage music keep you sane

3. It doesn't matter what way you study, as long as you find a way that works for you, no matter if it looks weird (I swear, covering my walls with insane mind maps works for me!)

4. You can do it!



Now blast some Eye of the Tiger and then get back to work!

Good luck! x

Berber Oil Hair Treatment

Without a doubt the latest craze in hair care is hair oil treatments, whether they be in shampoos, conditioners or masks or anything else. However, if you're like me and you have fine or thin hair our natural response on hearing of oil hair care is to run a mile.

However with so many of the hair oil treatments claiming to be lightweight and not leave any residue, I went against my better judgement and got my hands on a sample of Berber Oil Hair Treatment with Argan Oil. Having only tried out hair oil once before (the Leonor Greyl Palme which you wash out and the results were, well, greasy), I was intrigued as to whether the Berger Oil claims of being "lightweight" and that it "transforms all hair types" would be true, especially seeing as this is a leave in treatment.



On opening the bottle you're greeted with a thick, sweet scent of, well I don't know what it is. What I do know, is that is smells bloody delicious. So even if it does turn my hair into a big gigantic ball of grease, at least it'll smell nice. Reminded me a bit of Prada Candy if you've ever smelt that before.

The product itself is easy to pour and get out and isn't runny, which is a nice touch. I'm still having nightmarish flashbacks of oil running down my arms and all over the place when trying to apply my Leonor Greyl Palme. I applied a little on my damp hair, mainly on the ends of my hair where I thought its nourishing properties would do some good.Another thing I liked was that it soaked into my hair quickly and easily, and I wasn't left with nasty greasy hands.

I left my hair to dry naturally and was really very pleasantly surprised. It wasn't greasy. Actually, it was smoother and the ends were much less frizzy than it would normally after drying normally. I haven't yet had the guts to try it on dry hair, but have been applying it on the ends of my damp hair (even after using conditioner) as it's really tamed the ends down.

If you'd like to give the Berber Oil Hair Treatment a go, samples are still available.

Have you had any experiences of hair oil treatments?

NOTD - Decals

Today I've been messing around with decals as a statement nail.

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The gold I used is a really gorgeous pale beigey gold and is probably one of my most favourite nail varnish colours.

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Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer Review

In my Burt's Bees grab bag I purchased last week I was lucky enough to receive two lovely shades of the lip shimmer, which I've wanted to try for a while.

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I'm really pleased with these, they have that nice Burt's Bees tingly feeling and are nicely moisturising while giving a nice colour and little bit of shimmer. Just perfect for a no fuss everyday look.

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Watermelon is a lovely almost nude shade, which is great to have floating about in your handbag, while Rhubarb is a darker and more red shade for when you want a little colour on your lips. I found that both stay put well and don't require much reapplication throughout the day.

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I'm usually not a fan of shimmery lip colours, but I really like these. They give off just enough shimmer to catch your eye a little, but don't look over the top or feel sticky.

Overall I'm really pleased with these, and might try out some of the other shades.
Have you ever tried some of Burts Bees lip colour products?

My Week in Pictures

Hello lovelies! Hope you're having a great weekend. Seeing as it's rained nearly non stop, I've had a very quiet and domesticated weekend. I did a little baking (some yummy some err not so yummy), and started knitting a scarf. I'm well aware that this really isn't the season to be knitting scarves but I'm pretty sure that's all my knitting skills can handle. Once I've done a little more I might do a quick post on it and share the pattern with you, as it's very very easy and looks quite pretty (if I say so myself!).

Apart from being very domesticated, I've also been going over my course notes and such as I've been randomly selected for a interview about my dissertation (eep!). So I've had to go over everything that I promptly forgot as soon as I left the exam hall/handed my dissertation in. Anyway here's a round up of my week in pictures, with a collection of my instagram pictures and a snapshot of my planner this week :)

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knitting my scarf // cherry socks // burts bees grab bag
new earrings // strawberry buttercream candle // ben and jerry's deliciousness
rose petal salve I thought I'd lost // old Adam & Joe podcasts // acceptance letter
reading some caitlin moran // "vintage" watch // "studying"



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Hope you've all had a great week and are having a relaxing weekend. What have you been up to? x

Yankee Candles

Hope you're all having a fab weekend.

Look what the postman delivered today!

I adore candles, and my favourite brand has to be Yankee Candles. They do a wide range of the yummiest scents in a wide variety of sizes. I like the fact that they do small "Sampler" candles for only about £1.60 each, so you can try them out before you splurge on one of the bigger jars.

As they regularly release new fragrances I always seem to be trying a new Sampler candle, and this month I decided to try some new fruity fragrances as well stock up on some well loved scents.

I usually buy mine at yankee.co.uk, but there are a few websites that do sell them and sometimes it pays to have a look around at the different deals that are on. I've also found them stocked in large department stores such as Debenhams.


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Strawberry Buttercream
Midnight Jasmine
Christmas Cupcake
Fluffy Towels


Christmas cupcake is an old favourite of mine, and yes it's nowhere near Christmas, but I love it! The other three I've never tried before, but I'm especially looking forward to Strawberry Buttercream, it sounds delicious. I also like the idea of a candle that smells of fresh linen, so looking forward to burning the Fluffy Towels sampler.



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Aromatherapy Spa: Tangerine and Vanilla
Fruit Fusion
Pink Dragonfruit
Mango Peach Salsa


Seeing as it is almost Summer, it seemed appropriate to try out some nice fruity candles. Mango Peach Salsa is another old favourite, I can't get enough of it. The other three are new for me, and they all smell fantastic. I particularly like the light and gentle fruitiness of the Tangerine and Vanilla.


Are you a fan of Yankee Canldes? What's your go-to candle brand?

x

Artbox Haul

Artbox is a Japenese and Korean Stationery shop that I have recently discovered. I have a been of a stationary fetish, and after failing to use my filofax to organise myself properly I was looking for a different planner to try. I stumbled upon their website and instantly fell in love. They sell a huge range of cute notebooks, pens, sticky notes, planners, as well as some clothing, accessories and sweets!

I was especially happy to find a range of undated schedulers (which I've found pretty hard to come by), which meant I could use it straight away and not waste half the pages because I started halfway through the year.

But of course I couldn't just buy a scheduler.

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I limited myself to just these few items. Believe me, if I had the money, I would have bought the entire store.


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There are so many cute little notebooks, and even though I don't really know what I'm going to use them for, at under £2 each I thought I'd get a few (the yellow animal notebook and the "drawing" notebook). They're both ruled and so would be good for writing notes into (if I was still a student! Sob!).


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I'm a sucker for a cute post it note, so I figured I could use these in my new planner. I love the way that they fold up into a little book so they're protected if they're in your bag etc.

What I really love about Artbox products is the little details. Check out the cute barcode and the little sayings on the notebook and sticky notes book!

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If you can't make it out in the picture the notebook says "Please always know that I love you more than anything else in the world." And the sticky notes additionally say "I wouldn't have missed being friends with you for anything in the world!". Which I think makes them a great idea as a gift for a loved one (or just a gift for yourself!)


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Of course, I had to get a cute new pen to write in my cute new planner...


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My most favourite item from this haul is the planner itself. It's absolutely gorgeous. Just smaller than A5 size, it has a protective cover, and is filled with the most beautiful illustrations.

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It has undated Annual, Monthly and Weekly planner sections as well as ruled, unruled, and graph paper at the back.

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Each page has unique little illustrations based on different places around the world (mainly London, Paris and Venice), as well as little sayings and suggestions of places to go and things to do if you ever go there!

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I can't wait to start using it! They have so many other equally gorgeous planners available, so if you're looking for a new one you might like to check out the website. What planner/scheduler do you use?.

Have a great Friday x