Life's A Beach!

Hey! In honour of the goorrgeous sunny weather we've been having this weekend, I thought I'd paint my nails like beaches. Apologies, I only half-remembered to take pictures of each stage but this really is easier to do than you'd think!

Step 1: Apply base coat, then a light blue colour to the 'top' third of the nail (near the cuticle). As you can see, I went a bit further than that; oops.

Step 2: Apply a brighter blue to the middle part of the nail.

Step 3: Apply a nude colour to the 'bottom' of the nail. For steps 1, 2 and 3 its fine to use the brush already in the nail polish.

Step 4: Add details such as seagulls (black striper/nail art pen) and waves in the ocean (white striper/nail art pen). I also added the tiniest amount of glitter to the ocean for a bit of depth.

Step 5: Apply a top coat to protect your design.

And that's it! Beaches on your nails, so even when the weather isn't great you can still enjoy a bit of summery-ness.

Products used: Models Own Wah Nail Art Pen (white), PDR Base Coat, PDR Top Coat, PDR Glitter Top Coat, Orly Instant Artist (black), OPI Can't Find My Czechbook, Ciate Cookies and Cream, Barry M Blue Moon

What are you all up to this sunny weekend?

xxx

Review: Herbal Essences Bee Strong Mask & Argan Gold Hair Vitality Oil

Hey, please excuse the long title! Today's post is going to be a review of some hair products I've been using over the past couple of weeks, and have been working wonders for my hair!

I have quite long, thick hair but the bottom half is coloured (more on that another day) so the ends tend to dry out really easily. I've tried so many conditioners and hair masks, without any real long-term effect and I have no idea why, but I seemed to avoid the hair oil bandwagon (until now).

So the products I've been using are: Herbal Essences Bee Strong Mask - £4.19 here and Argan Gold Hair Vitality Oil - £4 here.

They both work pretty effectively by themselves, but when I use them they give me the softest hair I think I've ever had!

Although the Herbal Essences is meant to be a mask, I have actually started using it instead of my regular conditioner because it's not too heavy on my hair, although anyone with fine hair might not be able to get away with this as easily. It smells really nice, like honey, and I tend to leave it in for about 5 minutes to fully absorb into the hair before rinsing out.

I then apply two pumps of the Argan Gold to the bottom half of my hair while it's still damp, and then brush through with a Tangle Teezer (which on a side note, is incredible for getting rid of tangles without being painful!). This is the first hair oil I've tried so I have nothing to compare to, but at £4 I don't think you can go wrong when it works!

One other thing worth mentioning is that since using these two my hair has started drying curlier. I have naturally wavy hair, but the longer it is the straighter it gets, so it's nice to have a bit of curl back for summer (without need for a curling iron) and embrace the beach-y curls/waves look.

What hair products would/do you use for dry hair?

xxx

Lasula Boutique

Hey! Today I'd like to tell you about a new little clothing brand called Lasula Boutique. 

A few days ago they tweeted offering the chance to sample some of their clothing before their official website launch in July. Now I don't know about any of you, but I've certainly never heard of clothing samples before! Never one to turn down a freebie, I jumped at the chance and today my goody bag arrived.

I received this beautiful hot pink top, with pretty multi-coloured jewels around the neckline. One thing which usually annoys me about embellishments on clothing is when they've been glued on and all fall off in the wash (who has time to hand wash everything?!) but these have been sewn on so that shouldn't be an issue! 

Lasula also included this pretty necklace, and some yummy sweeties (they must be psychic because these are all favourites of mine!)

I have to say, this top isn't one I'd normally pick out in a shop as I'm not a massive wearer of pink, but I absolutely love this top! I think its perfect for summer, and I've put together a couple of outfits, to show how I intend to wear it.

My first outfit teams the top with an cobalt blue skirt (from River Island) and some simple ballerina pumps. I love the idea of clashing bright colours, and if you cant do that in summer when can you?

For my second outfit, I've worn the top with a simple pair of white jeans (from Next) and jewelled sandals (from New Look). I think the simple white makes the hot pink really pop, and the shoes keeping with a jewelled theme as well as adding a bit more interest to the outfit.

I would wear both these outfits day or night, but if I was wearing them as a night-out outfit, I think I would add a few more jewellery accessories. The necklace I received perhaps?

All in all, I can definitely see myself wearing this a lot, and I can't wait to see what else Lasula Boutique have to offer!

xxx

Boots Haul

Hi guys! I went shopping in Nottingham yesterday and thought I'd share with you what I got...

The original plan was to get a new summer foundation (and maybe a new lippy?) since Boots had sent me a voucher for 500 extra points when spending over £30, but the lovely lady at the Clinique counter suggested I take a sample of the foundation to try at home first. Anyway, long story short, I could have been sensible and saved the voucher, but instead I perused the shelves and found a fair few things to treat myself to!

Okay guys, brace yourselves for a bit of a long post! I'll break it down into three sections...

1                                           2                                         3

So in the first section is hair products. I got a small can of Batiste dry shampoo (£1.49), because I know I'll be travelling this summer and this stuff is always handy! The other hair product I got was James Brown London's Volume Boost Mousse, since I've been after something to give my roots a bit of lift and this was a steal at £1.99!

In the second section we have face products. The first thing I picked up was Origins Super Spot Remover, pricier at £13 but my previous spot treatment ran out and it's proving impossible to find in shops! (Oxy10 if you were wondering) I also got a couple of samples of the Origins face masks to try, and at £20 for the full size it's nice make sure they're good first. 

I was originally going to pick up the Rimmel Stay Matte pressed powder, but then I spotted this one: Rimmel Clear Complexion transparent powder (I think I was drawn to the mint packaging) and it sounds like it should be better for my skin, so I'll let you know how I get on.

Then as I was passing the Benefit counter I spotted this mini set 'Coral My World' of Coralista blusher and Sun Beam highlighter for £9.50. Now I'm not usually a big wearer of blusher (alright I confess, I'm lazy and don't wear any!) but I figure now summer's here it might be nice to have a bit of colour in my cheeks. Also I had been eyeing up Coralista last summer (but was put off by the £23.50 price tag) so I simply couldn't resist. I was also given a sample of their new Stay Flawless 15 Hour Primer, which hasn't actually been released yet. I can't wait to try this!

Finally in face products, hiding in the corner, is my sample of Clinique's Stay-Matte Oil-Free foundation, which so far I'm rather liking.

In the third section, are the 'other' products I bought. Firstly, a Rimmel Kate Lasting Finish lipstick in shade 016; a lovely summery pink shade. Of course there had to be some nail-related purchases in there somewhere, I bought the L'Oreal Confetti Top Coat (£4.99) and a Models Own Nail Art Pen in a lovely shade of pastel green - perfect for creating leaves on floral nail designs! And last but not least, I bought a simple clear mascara, which I actually intend to use as brow gel (cheeky).

Phew, what a lot of stuff! All of this (minus the Origins Super Spot Remover which I bought separately) came to £30.69 as Boots currently has a 'buy one get one half price' offer.

What have you bought recently?

xxx

Bloglovin

You should be able to find me on bloglovin now! :) 

xxx

Weekend Wishlist #1

This wishlist is actually a bit cheeky, as I've already ordered a few things from it....

(click image to enlarge)

1. Mickey Mouse Sweatshirt - River Island £12 here

2. Owl Bracelet - River Island £3 here

3. Bird Earrings - River Island £1.50 here

4. Domino Print T-shirt - River Island £7 here

5. bareMinerals READY Eyeshadow 4.0 - REMIX (The Next Big Thing) - bareMinerals £29 here

6. Galaxy Print Jeans - ASOS £24.50 here

7. Dragonfly Earrings - ASOS £12 here

8. Monochrome Backpack - New Look (on ASOS) £15.99 here

9. Red Polka Dot Dress - River Island £8 here

10. Floral Crop Top - Boohoo.com £8 here

So that's all the things I'm lusting after at the moment! I really am loving some of the patterns I'm seeing around for this summer, and anything Disney is a winner in my eyes! (Yes, I know it's a jumper but being the UK I'm fairly sure there's still going to be cold rainy days). 

The domino print t-shirt I actually saw in Meadowhall a few months back and restrained myself from buying it, but now it's in the sale it's like its calling my name...

I'd also quite like to dip into the crop top trend, this one is so cute and affordable, and I think it would go lovely with skater skirts or maybe disco pants if I'm feeling adventurous!

And this eyeshadow palette from bareMinerals is a little out of my usual price range, but I LOVE a gold smoky eye, and I'm wondering if the coral colour might cheekily double up as a blusher? Which would make it perfect for travelling with!

3 Step Nail Art

So first 'proper' blog post, obviously had to be nail art. (An obvious choice for me, anyhow)

Some people can't leave the house without a full face of makeup, but for me, I can't leave without a full set of nail art. I've also managed to build a bit of a reputation with my friends for having crazy nails, anything from Angry Birds to floral patterns, so it's kind of expected now....

It's also nice to get back into nail art, since I've just finished uni exams and haven't really had time. Thought I'd start with something simple, and just as easy to do with your non-dominant hand.

1. Start with a base coat, then apply two coats of a colour (I've gone for a lovely pastel blue)

2. Add splotches of a brighter colour, using the normal nail varnish brush

3. Carefully 'half-outline' the splotches and add dots/curves with a black striper or nail art pen

And of course, don't forget to protect it all with a top coat! I used a matte one but any will do.

Products I used from left to right: PDR Nail Hardener, Barry M Blue Moon, L'Oreal Colour Riche Opulent Pink, Models Own Nail Art Pen Black, Essie Matte About You

xxx

Introduction

Okay, deep breath, let the blogging begin!

Hi, I'm Charley and I'm aware that there's about a million and one beauty blogs already out there, but I rather want one too! I've been umm-ing and ahh-ing since last summer about starting one, but it's taken until now to actually take the plunge. 

I love reading other beauty blogs, but I often find myself having different opinions about products, or wanting to know more about something and not quite finding what I'm looking for. Soooo, I'm hoping I can offer something a bit different with this blog.

I guess that's all I have to say for now, see you on the next post!

xxx