Aztec Addiction!

So I am being consumed by another obsession! 

Aztec or tribal prints!

On anything!

This trend has been in fashion for a couple of seasons now and I didn't really think it was my style however small accents are going to be all over my wardrobe this spring!

Ok, so I may be over-exaggerating a little bit here as I currently only own one accessory on this style, a scarf I purchased on Saturday from Accessorize - Link!

It's a circle scarf, it's my first one in this style and I have to say I find it a little annoying to get it to sit just how I like it! Never mind, I'll deal!

I just love the colours, cobalt blue and a bright coral, I can't wait to wear in bit more when the weather improves!

Another way to wear the trend is on your nails. I have always admired WAH Nails amazing work and their Aztec nail designs are amazing! 

Inspired by this final image I decided to try out my own last night!

Now before I show you the picture I want you to know that this look will take a bit of practice and I lost my cool a bit with the nail art pens and I ran out of room on my nail!! So I am calling this work in progress but I still like it!

They are not Easter eggs as my friend thought!

I love the colour combo but obviously I have got a bit of work to do on the pattern! I need to work on making it smaller so there is more room for squiggles and zigzags!  I used the WAH Models Own nail art pens and the colours are both from Nails Inc, Portobello Road and Portobello Market ( Both Portobello's are just a coincidence!!) 

Please ignore the grotty label on the black pen! I hope Models Own release more colours soon as they promised when they first announced the nail art pens, they said they would be available in the whole Models Own colour range, I fear they may miss the boat if they don't act soon.

I'll be practising this more for the summer, I can't wait to get out my black maxi, gold glads, Tribal scarf and bright Aztec nails!

What do you think? Do you like this trend? Have you tried this nail look?

xoxo

Sephora By OPI Polish!

This week I received an awesome, albeit late present from my brother who is currently working in Canada. I had a feeling I knew what the gift was as I had been asked for a wishlist from Sephora!

What I didn't know was which colours I would get and I love the ones he chose!

First up is Meet Me For Drinks and wine coloured shimmery polish that glows from within. I love the colour, not unique but its a "lit from within" type shade and I always love those! I found the polish very thin and a little difficult to apply the first coat as I put too much polish on the brush and it slid all around my nail! A second coat evens it out and makes it opaque.

Read My Palm is a deep mint tone and one that I really wanted to get. I love these shades! This was a really nice polish to apply, like the previous polish it was thin but built up nicely with two coats! I love it! I can say no more!!

Finally, maybe the best until last?! Only Gold For Me is a stunning glitter topcoat with both small and large chunks of sparkling gold glitter. I wore this over Read My Palm this week and I adored it! I got lots of compliments on it. I just loved the combo of the minty turquoise with the gold. What you can't tell from the picture is how sparkly this is, it looks like little twinkling lights on my nails! Love!

Application is similar to OPI's Rainbow Connection in that you sort of have to place the glitter rather than paint it on. I did two coats so I got a few more bigger pieces. You have to pick them out of the bottle with the brush and dab them on to get a decent spread! 

I was seriously impressed with the durability of this polish, I had three very physical days at work this week, moving things, lifting and dropping things on my hands and this polish did not budge! 

I love these polishes, I love that my brother chose them and I love that I can't get them here and they feel a little more special in my collection!

xoxo

Jo Malone Cologne Coffret

I can safely say this is my first and main obsession for the new year! I was introduced to this set over Christmas and have become consumed with wanting to purchase full sizes of these fragrances! 

Jo Malone is a brand that I am aware of and have only experienced through my mum buying a cologne from the range many years ago. I had never experienced the pleasure myself. I am not a perfume fiend and I favour only two scents, Chanel Chance Eau Fraiche and Chanel Coco Mademoiselle. I buy one of each and they last me a year or so and I have no desire to seek out another perfume.

Until now.

This set of mini bottles features six of Jo's most popular fragrances. One of the features of a Jo Malone fragrance is that they can be layered and mixed to create unique scents and this little set is the perfect way to experiment. They are completely amazing alone also.

My favourite cologne from the set is the Amber and Lavender. Described as clean, masculine and velvety this fragrance is quite spicy and a little bit manly, which I love! I know the perfume is used by both genders. This perfume is the first to get me excited about wearing it for a very long time and I shall certainly be buying a larger bottle soon.

My second favourite and one I will also purchase soon is the Lime Basil and Mandarin. A completely different style of fragrance this one smells very fresh and of citrus notes. A fragrance for the summer maybe? 

The other bottles in the set are Grapefruit a unique fresh zingy scent, Orange Blossom a floral citrus perfume Pomegranate Noir a warm woody smell and Blue Agava and Cacoa a warm spicy smell with a hint of chocolate! I really do love all six and I'm sure there are more, particularly Nutmeg and Ginger and Wild Bluebell, both sound divine!

Annoyingly this set is only available on a British Airways flight through the in air shopping magazine, I have checked the BA site and you can't buy it online. If you are on a BA flight anytime soon this set is £50 - link-  and a fabulous introduction to the brand. I love that there a six bottles to try as Jo Malone is generally only available online or in a couple of large department stores in London or big cities in the UK. I certainly don't have access to it out here in the sticks and I wouldn't be willing to buy online just based on the names and descriptions. There are a couple in here I would never have tried based on names alone.

Have you got any Jo Malone faves?

xoxo

2012 Lust List

The new year is always a time for reflection on the year past and an exciting time to look forward to things to come in the year ahead. These are some of the items I'll be saving for and splurging on this year!

1. Ray-Ban 4147 Sunglasses

2. Accessorize Spot Scarf

3. Mulberry Alexa

4. Monsoon Astrid Coloured Jeans

5. OPI Holland Collection

6. Jo Malone Amber and Lavender Cologne

7. Jo Malone Lime Basil and Mandarin Cologne

8. Sisley Radiant Glow Mask

9. Sisley Facial Buffing Cream.

10. iPad

What are you planning to purchase in 2012?

xoxo

NOTD - OPI Bring On The Bling

OPI's Bring On The Bling from last years Burlesque collection has been on my wanted list for a long time. I finally found it at a stand at The Clothes Show at the beginning of December as soon as I saw it I grabbed it!

With flash

Without flash

I have included both pictures, however the colour is truer in the picture without the flash although the previous picture shows of all the different colours in the glitter. I was surprised at the amount of green and red glitter in the polish as I was always sure it was mostly gold. In reality it is a mix of gold, silver, green and red and its gorgeous! I used it over Orly Luxe as Bring On The Bling is not opaque and would need three or four coats to get that look.

Wear time was poor unfortunately, I only had this manicure for about 12 hours as the polish literally popped off my nails sometime in the afternoon! Despite the poor wear on my fingers, on my toes it lasted weeks! I can forgive the polish for jumping off my nails as glitter is notoriously brittle and prone to this action anyway.

I'm so pleased I have this one in my collection, I feel like it's a bit of a collectors one after all the buzz around it last Christmas, it was the Rainbow Connection of 2010!

xoxo

NOTD - Polka Dots

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone enjoyed their New Year celebrations and aren't feeling too fragile today! I had a late night and a very leisurely morning all I've done today is look around the internet at furnishings, watch You Tube videos and eat my Mum's amazing homemade sausage rolls! 

I did muster up the energy to paint my nails earlier today with the gorgeous Essie Mint Candy Apple but I felt it needed something else. I've always wanted to do a polka dot manicure but I don't have a dotter and have never got round to buying one! Still keen to try out my Topshop Nail Art Pen I bought in December I thought I'd give it a go with the pen!

I'm pleased with the outcome but I wish I had done them a bit more uniform. I found the pen very easy to use on my left hand hand but almost impossible the other way around my right hand's dots are bigger and a bit messier. I found I had to go over the dots to make them more opaque, the first coat of white was a bit watery for my liking. I love the look, the white dots on a duck egg base remind me of a Cath Kidston fabric and it feels a bit vintage. I think I'll invest in a dotter if I do this again. I really want the dots to all be the same size and not looking so random! 

xoxo

Accessorize Nail Wraps

I've always wanted to try some nail wraps, the early ones seemed to all be of a leopard print design and I've always preferred to paint my own leopard! Now however there are many different designs to choose from and I was quite taken with these floral ones from Accessorize.

They were a total impulse buy at the till. I had been saving them a bit but since it's New Year's weekend I thought I'd give them a whirl.

The instructions were simple, cut to fit, peel off and apply. It suggests using a hairdryer to warm the wrap to make it more pliable. Application was easy, I cut them down to size with some excess which I filed off, I tried a few sans hairdryer but they weren't sticking so I decided to use some heat, however they didn't actually go on very smoothly and each one has a lump or a bump in it. 

Be very careful when filing the excess, the wraps are very soft and will tear if you are too rough, I chipped almost all of them with the nail file.

I chose to apply a topcoat as the wraps themselves were clearly peeling away from my nail and I thought a topcoat would help to adhere them to my nail. This was initially successful however throughout the night and during my bath this morning the topcoat completely peeled off. 

Wear on these is pretty bad. I chipped it within the first half an hour of wear and I was only getting ready for bed! I've had a leisurely day today and they have somehow chipped some more! 

I absolutely love the design and the look of these wraps and although I have no other brand to compare them too I would suggest these were fairly bad quality, cheaply made to jump on the nail art bandwagon. Price wise they were £5 so I'm not too upset that they haven't worked out and there is enough in the pack for two uses on my tiny nails. I would  suggest they are best used for a party or night out as they would never last more than a day or two.

They have whet my appetite for trying a different range, maybe a Nails Inc or Sally Hansen. Have you had any success with nail wraps?

NOTD - Essie Jamaica Me Crazy

Jamaica Me Crazy from Essie is a bright sparkly fuchsia from the Dive Bar collection released in the Autumn. The collection contains some stunning jewel toned shades including this one that caught my eye in John Lewis amongst the cremes and nudes I also love from Essie.

I love the colour, I have nothing like it in my stash, it's a fab Barbie pink!

The polish itself is thin and applies nicely, two coats is perfect. I would recommend a shiny topcoat as despite is glittery-ness in the bottle it falls a smidgen flat once dry on the nail. My fave Nails Inc Kensington Caviar topcoat sorted that out!

Although I love the colour, I wish it was a tiny bit brighter or a bit sparklier and it's neither! I think I'll prefer this colour on my toes with a glitter topcoat.

xoxo

Gingerbread House Party

After I dipped my toes (geddit?!) into my first Lush Bath Melts last week I really wanted to try another from the Christmas ranges. I popped in on Christmas Eve to get a couple more to pamper myself with after a tough day at work and because my feet were killing me!

I bought another Melting Snowman, a Lil' Lish Pud which smells identical to the snowman and the one I really wanted, the Gingerbread House bubble bar.

How cute is it?!

I love the little cinnamon chimney and the snow covered roof with the hundreds and thousands sprinkled all over! The first thing I noticed is that it's a lot softer than the others, I crumbled some of this one into my bath, it didn't need cutting. It smells sweet but not sickly, I can't stand anything with too much vanilla or sweetness in a scent. I can't pinpoint a particular fragrance in it, it's not spicy ginger which is what I was expecting more the sweet smell of a ginger nut biscuit!

It turned my bath water a murky orangey colour but the white bubbles hid that a bit! It left my skin soft but I didn't feel I was moisturised like the Melting Snowman which contains cocoa and shea butter. I suppose I bought this one more for it's looks and it's Christmas nostalgia than it's effects but I really enjoyed it and it was a lovely way to end my Christmas Eve!

xoxo

P.S Slightly gutted to realise they are now in the sale! I could have waited and got more!! Maybe I will!

Festive Fingers!

Merry Christmas!

I just had my Christmas dinner and I'm chilling by the fire for a bit and since we've just had some Christmas pudding I remembered I wanted to show you a manicure from earlier in the week!

I purchased on the of the new Topshop Nail Art pens earlier this week with the intention of doing a wintery snowflake manicure after seeing some amazing nails on The Illustrated Nail, here and on WAH Nails, here. However I thought I try out my new pen with something a bit more fun! Since I was wearing brown anyway I thought I'd try out a little Christmas pud!

I have no idea why my fingers look so pink! I can assure you I didn't have freezing fingers!

I found the pen extremely easy to use with my right hand on my left finger but I was a bit clumsy the other way around! I've never been very ambidextrous! I had to do a couple of coats to get the white opaque and the polish itself was a little chalky, a top coat was most definitely needed.

I have the WAH Nail art pens from Models Own but I've never got on well with the white one. I prefer this style as the nib is much more like a pen making it a lot easier to use, the WAH pens have a metal nib that you can't really control the flow of polish and it can drag on your design. I think I'd still prefer the black WAH pen for leopard print as it looks less uniform.

I still want to have a play around with it but so far I like it! I hope they expand the range and I'd like to try some of the other colours as I've always wanted to do an Aztec design. The pens are £6.50 from Topshop, link!

Have you tried these? What designs have you done?!

xoxo

Forgotten FOTD!

I was just flicking through the pictures on my camera and I came across some pictures from my work Christmas do! I did a quick FOTD on my way out, it was bit of a rush that night as I had been at work during the day and I rushed home to change and wash my hair and of course I ended up being late! 

I purchased the lipstick I'm wearing especially for the evening after a massive craving for a bright, matte red lipstick. Of course I popped along to my favourite of lipstick retailers, MAC! 

I originally wanted to get Lady Danger but I have asked for that for Christmas so I went with a MAC classic, Ruby Woo. After swatching all the red lipsticks in the place I plumped for Ruby Woo as it was the brightest and the MUA had a gorgeous bold matte red lip and I assumed it was this one!

I also purchased a lip liner, something I don't own and have never used before however after I once caught a horrifying reflection of myself once at work when my other red lippie, MAC's Cockney, had bled terribly I have avoided a red lip ever since. The liner that went the best was called Redd and I'm so glad I bought it!

Ruby Woo is a stunning colour however with all the eating and drinking I found it didn't have much staying power, just a couple of hours. I enjoyed wearing it although I have yet to reach for it again since this night out as I still feel very self conscious with a red lip, I feel like my lips are right "out there"!

I think I'm going to wear it for Christmas Day next!

xoxo

A Lush Christmas Bath

I was recently inspired to make a little trip to Lush after seeing lots of videos on their Christmas ranges. I became very jealous of those with the special Christmas carrier bag with the candy cane handles and I wanted to skip away from the shops sporting one of these bags myself!

Now I'm not normally a Lush shopper, I've dabbled but I've never been committed to them. Not really knowing what I was going in for, I picked up and sniffed the first few products I came across and I hit the jackpot straight away!

I picked up this sad fella, the Melting Snowman Bath Melt. He smelt of vanilla and with a hint of marzipan, not normally my kind of fragrance but I was drawn in nonetheless. He has real chocolate chips resting on his melted body and a big chunk of real ginger on his head. 

I used his head for my first bath, it turned my bath milky and I will confess I wasn't a huge fan of the fragrance. 

As it fizzed away in the bath it released coco butter and shea butter to moisturise my skin. I sunk into the bath and really started to enjoy the fragrance and my skin was silky soft when I got out also the warming scent of the butters lasted on my skin and it was noticed that I smelt nice! I will definitely go back to get a couple more of these I really enjoyed this bath melt, I split it into three and have used it all up! The Melting Snowman was £1.95 - Link!

Secondly I picked up this bad boy!

The Satsumo Santa! It's massive! This one smells heavily of citrus but what sold it to me was the assistant told me he was full of essential oils and of course because its a Father Christmas!

I chopped off his head and threw it in the bath I was slightly alarmed to see this...

Not the most relaxing bathroom scene! Fortunately this red mess shortly turned into a lovely pinky orange water,

The orange flower fragrance was strong and pleasant and the bergamot and mandarin oils left my skin soft with a lovely sheen. Overall I didn't enjoy this one as much as the previous one and I'm not sure I'd buy another. The Satsumo Santa Bath Bomb was £2.95 - Link!

I'm very keen to go back this week and try the Gingerbread House Bubble Bar and get a couple of Melting Snowmen. Do you have any recommendations?!

xoxo

In Neon - FOTD

Hiii!

*hangs head in bad blogger shame*

I've been a bit MIA in the blogging and YT community recently, I lost the will a bit but I've definitely got my blogging mojo back and I'd thought I'd start off with a face of the day so you can remember who I am!

So this was yesterdays "face" I went shopping in Cambridge with my Mum for a few Christmas presents we had a fab day and it wasn't nearly as busy as we were expecting, this is the before shot as after we were a little frazzled!

I'm wearing,

♥ Chanel Vita Lumiere Aqua in Beige

♥ MAC MSF Natural in Medium

♥ Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer in Warm Ivory

♥ Benefit Coralista

♥ MAC Fluidline in Avenue

♥ YSL Faux Cils Shoking in Black

♥ MAC Neon Orange Lipstick

The point of this FOTD is to show of the amazing MAC Neon Orange lipstick, I absolutely adore this lipstick! I purchased it on a whim at Stansted on my way to France in October and I wear it whenever I can! I choose not to wear it for work as I like to keep a few of my lippies for days off, it keeps them a bit special! 

Despite the name its barely neon, it is bright however but not all crazy lips! I do like to apply it with a brush as it does just tone it down a little bit also the consistency of the lipstick itself is so soft it's much easier to use a brush.

I am so pleased I bought this lipstick it's in my top 10 lippies! Its a permanent colour so I shall certainly be repurchasing!

xoxo

Dorota! Book Me A Manicure!

Ok ok ok! Calm down! I am rather excited about this post!

This weekend I purchased one of the Gossip Girl gift sets from Nails Inc. I chose the Blair set, well basically because I have a huge girl crush on her! Luckily for me the colours in the set were also gorgeous!

There are three sets in the Gossip Girl range, Blair, Lily and Serena. They all include a dark blacked polish with a complimentary topcoat. The top coats are laced with handcut particles of "glitter" although they aren't sparkly like glitter, they glow from within and look jewel-like on the nail.

The final look is amazing, so eyecatching. It's captivating. 

The Blair set has a blackened teal base colour called Blair, and the topcoat called Privileged, has green tones that sometime hint at blue. I used one coat of each, I felt two coats of Blair was unnecessary and two coat of Privileged would have been too busy. It certainly has a different look to glitter polish, the same kind of fun but it just feels different when it's on.

The bottles feature the Gossip Girl logo however these polishes are actually just a re-branded edition of the versions named after three theatres in the Westend of London, The Donmar (Lily), The Wyndham (Blair) and The Old Vic (Serena).  The same sets are available on QVC in the UK and at Sephora in the US. I purchased mine from Debenhams but you can also get the Gossip Girl version from the Nails Inc website.

I absolutely love these! I love the overcoat especially, I wish they were sold separately I have so much polish I don't need the dark base colours. I am definitely asking for the Lily set for Christmas!

Have you tried this topcoat?

xoxo

All Dressed Up With Nowhere To Go!

So the festive season with soon be upon us and we all start to search for the perfect party dress. I think I've already found mine!

I saw this dress online from Monsoon Fusion but I was keen to try it on first because, although you can't see in the photo, it has some shaping at the hips. I am quite a hippy girl and I was desperately hoping it wouldn't make me look six feet wide and hurrah it didn't!! I had to go up a size as the assistant said that most ladies had been finding it a little tight on the bust, she was right!!

The picture does not do it justice, it has a beautiful shape around the hips and the sleeves have a diagonal sleeve. It also has a chunky zip on the back. When I do get dressed up for a party I'll take a proper picture!!

I had one of those moments in the dressing room where it literally took me two seconds to decide I was buying it! None of that looking at all angles ten times in the mirror, I was in and out in lighting speed!!

I really love most of the Monsoon Fusion range but every so often they produce something that is an absolute must have, I have four or five dresses and tops from them that will be staples in my wardrobe for a long time.

The dress was £65 and you can find it here - link!

I bought some different tights to go with it, obviously black will look fab but I also thought I'd pick out the the mustard colour and the purples.

I purchased the mustard tights from Zara, they are much nicer than the H&M ones I have and as the dress is a little short I thought it would be better to have thicker tights. The Zara tights were £9.99. I also thought some patterned ones would look cool with the dress however I forgot about the length of the dress so I may not be wearing the purple ones! They are still lovely tights, they are from Marks and Spencer and they were £6.

Now who wants to invite me to a party?!

xoxo

Make A Rainbow Connection

If any of you follow me on Twitter you will know I was banging on about this combo all last week! I loved it so much last week I'm wearing it again! OPI Rainbow Connection from the new Muppets collection over OPI Black Onyx is an over the top sparkly glitterfest! I just love it over the black, it makes the glitter look extra shiny and sparkly! Photo's are impossible to capture the beauty of the glitter so I urge you to have a look at this one in reality! I'm so pleased I purchased this polish, I nearly skipped it as I thought it was too much but I've had loads of compliments!

Have you bought Rainbow Connection? Do you love it?

xoxo

NOTD - Essie Mesmerize

Purchased in my most recent haul Essie Mesmerize is a stunning bright cobalt blue. I love it as a contrast to all the mustards and rusts that I'm wearing this autumn. This was two coats and as creamy and perfect as I expect from Essie! It's an older polish from the line but it's a classic!

xoxo

NOTD - Gettin' Miss Piggy With It

Gettin' Miss Piggy With It is one of the amazing glitters from the OPI Muppets collection. I've used it over OPI Comet Loves Cupid as the glitter itself is in a sheer base. 

It has three types of glitter in it, small red glitter, large red hexagonal glitter and the more obvious large silver hexagonal glitter. I thought I would be bothered by the silver glitter but actually I really don't mind it, I kind of wish it was more prominent in a way as I had to fish out a few more of the pieces because occasionally I would only get one on the brush and that really did look random! To place the glitter down I dabbed rather than painted, that allowed me to almost choose where the silver glitter was placed however it is still really quite random!

The glitter is very sparkly and looks gorgeous and of course very festive!

xoxo

Essie Cocktail Bling

Essie keep giving us amazing collections and their latest Winter collection, Cocktail Bling is no exception.

I love the name of the set and of course the colours themselves! I picked out my favourite five from the collection.

Bobbing For Baubles is a dark dusty navy. I love it! It was the one I knew I had to buy! It's clear its a blue tone not black, it's quite unique.

Bangle Jangle is a greyed out lilac again a unique shade in my collection, I have a couple of lilacs and I love the shade in the bottle however I'm left feeling disappointed with them on my nails. Bangle Jangle is not disappointing at all, I love the grey tone to it but most of all I love the name, I definitely have a bangle jangle on a daily basis!

School Of Hard Rocks is a dirty green like most of the collection it has a dusty tone. I simply adore this one, it has teal tones to it too which is great for this season.

The collections namesake, Cocktail Bling is a lilac toned grey with a hint of a dusky blue. Such an unusual colour, it feels very sophisticated on the nail. I can't compare it to anything else I own!

Finally Brooch The Subject is my perfect nude. It has the right balance of pink and yellow to make it perfect for my skintone. This colour was used at New York Fashion Week in some of the catwalk shows as it provides the perfect mannequin hand!

These are all lovely polishes, the days of good Essie and bad Essie have gone, these were all creamy and perfect with two coats. My favourites are School Of Hard Rocks and Bobbing for Baubles and I can't wait to wear them!

I can't wait to see what Essie has up her sleeve for next year!

xoxo

NOTD - Designer De Better

Designer De Better from the OPI Muppets collection, is my most recent purchase, only yesterday in fact! I applied it first thing this morning!

With the flash

Without the flash

The colour is gorgeous but so difficult to photograph! I'm showing both pictures because they both represent the colour! It's very sparkly and so pretty! It's a champagne coloured base with goldy orange shimmer within it. I feel like it will make a fabulous "winter white" for the upcoming season. I initially bypassed this colour online however the fab Rachel or Cupcakesandscissors on You Tube convinced me to buy it her most recent haul video along with actually seeing it in John Lewis yesterday, it literally shone on the shelf and stood out amongst all the others!

I really can't compare it to anything else I have in my stash, it's completely unique and I love it!

I have bought some more from the Muppets collection and I'm loving them all so far!

Have you bought this one yet?!

xoxo