Ombré hair

I came across this photo on instagram recently. Love this look so much. I'm a natural blonde though. Not sure how good it would look with brown tips. I think it's called reverse ombré the other way round.

What do you think?

Sparkly bling glitter coasters

It feels like I haven't written a blog for ages! Work has been so manic at the moment and I'm also in the process of selling up and buying a new house.

That leads me nicely on to the topic of today's blog - a little bit of home decor. I found these gorgeous sparkly/glitter coasters in a local shop the other week and I HAD to buy them. They are just so me!

They came in a pack of 4 for £4.99 and I've scattered them around the flat. I've got two on my dressing table, one on a radiator cover and one on the mantel piece.

Do you like...?

My best buy of 2012 - my ring watch!

I fell for this little gem as soon as I saw it on the jewellery stand in Primarni earlier this year. It cost £4; an absolute bargain if you ask me!

My original one, eventually got discoloured and may have got wet/bashed as it stopped working last month. I looked in my local Primark and was distraught to see they didn't have any.

Then recently, I went to see my family (about 20 miles away) and went shopping with my mum. Low and behold they had a stand of the ring watches on sale, yes SALE! So rather than £4, I paid just £2, for a new shiny silver one and thought at that price I may as well get a gold one too.

Love love love it!

Pink Cherry Blossom GHDs

It was my birthday on Saturday and I was a lucky girl and got lots of nice things. My main present from my other half was these pink cherry blossom GHD straighteners.

They are gorgeous!

They are limited edition and £10 from every sale goes to cancer research. They come in a beautiful decorated black heat proof bag with blossom stitched on to it in gold and purple. The plates are pink and there is a pink GHD light to tell you when they are heated (which only takes about 5 seconds).

I have been a GHD fan for about 10 years now, and I'm sure everyone who uses them will agree. They are just so versatile; whether you want straight, curly or wavy - any look is possible with these nifty hair tools!

A 'must have' for any hair fanatic!

Vaseline Pink Bubbly Limited Edition

My boyfriend knows me so well, he got me a pot of the limited edition Vaseline Pink Bubbly as a little "stocking filler" type birthday present.

It's in a smart looking baby pink and black tin with gold lettering and the actual Vaseline itself is rose coloured. It's tastes delish!

Stock up now, before there are none left!

A classy stripe - nail art with decorative tape

A little while ago I came across this picture on Instagram:

I thought it looked like a really classy manicure and wondered how they got the silver lines looking so crisp and straight. Then one day, whilst browsing on eBay, I discovered the answer - nail art tape!

I ordered a set of 10 different colours from Hong Kong for the bargainous price of £1, and they took a couple of weeks to arrive.

When they arrived I had just painted my nails blue the day before, so I picked the red tape as I thought it would go nicely against the blue. I hastily watched a couple of videos on YouTube on how to use the tape and set off on my "easy" hand.

It is very tricky to do on yourself, particularly cutting it close to the edge of the nail. If you aren't careful you will pull the tape to a funny angle or even completely off.

After sticking the tape on, you need to put a top coat of nail varnish to seal it. I liked the look a lot! What do you think?

I only got round to doing one hand as my boyfriend came round for dinner. I was going to try do the other hand after, but disappointingly the tape had completely come off one finger and was peeling at the edges on 2 other fingers. This may be down to the fact that I used a matte finish top coat rather than a normal one, so I'll have to give it another go at a later date when I've got a bit of time (this is not a quick mani by any means).

Update
Black and gold version:

Update: Muji acrylic make-up storage

Original post here.

My second lot of Muji acrylic storage has arrived! On my return home from work today I spent nearly an hour re-organising everything and I'm loving it!

What do you think?

I've got two sets of the wide 2 drawers and the small and large 3 partition desk pots. See my original post for pricing and links to the Muji shop.

EOS organic lip balm

EOS lip balm: ★★★★


I discovered EOS lip balms in some YouTube makeup collection videos I had seen and loved the idea of an organic lip balm with lots of yummy sounding flavours in such an adorable egg-shape container.

EOS is a USA based company called "Evolution of Smooth" and unfortunately there aren't currently many stockists in the UK at present. For the reason these little beauties are quite pricey at the moment. I got mine from Amazon for £6.99 (free P&P) in the Summer Fruits flavour.

Absolutely love it. The egg-shape container is cute and quirky and the lip balm leaves your lips feeling thoroughly moisturised. It seems like it will last for ages too. Although I will mention that I'm not 100% sold on the summer fruits flavour, but it is growing on me.

I've given it 4 out of 5 stars at the moment as £6.99 is rather expensive for a lip balm. I wouldn't actually be willing to pay this, I just happened to have an Amazon voucher I was looking to spend.If the price comes down to around the equivalent of what it is in the USA ($3.29 on EOS website) then it would definitely be worth 5 stars. 

DIY False Nails

Boots 200 clear nails: ★★★★★
Nailene Ultra Quick glue: ★★★★★


Back in my Uni days I occasionally experimented with false nails, but I always found they fell off after a day or two so eventually gave in and started going to a salon.

These days I only go to the salon for special occasions because a) it's a bit of an expense when you're a home-owner and b) it weakens your nails so much.

There is still a massive range of false nails in the shops that it got me thinking about having another go at DIY false nails. Then as I seem to do a lot these days I stumbled across a video on YouTube of someone using "Boots 200 Clear False Nails". They looked good because they aren't ridiculously long and are plain for you to paint yourself, which bodes well considering my ever expanding nail varnish collection. The video also mentioned not using the glue that comes with the nails as it's not very strong but using the Nailene Ultra Quick glue. The other good point is that you get 200 nails for £8.50, so the set is going to last you a while. The glue costs about £2.80.

I did my nails last Saturday night, it's now the following Sunday evening (8 days later) and they are still going strong.

Would 100% recommend you try if you want a cheap alternative to salon style nails.

MUA Undressed Palette

MUA Undressed palette: ★★★★★


I have stumbled across various mentions of the MUA palettes in numerous blogs and vlogs lately and saw that they are only £4. Also, certain ones are said to be a bit of a Urban Decay Naked palette dupe so thought it'd definitely be worth a try.

After much deliberation between the "Heaven and Earth" and "Undressed" palettes, I went for the Undressed. It has 12 colours which can be described as neutral/smokey eye colours. (The Heaven and Earth was all browny/neutral shades.)

I have to say I'm really impressed with it for the price. Although it is quite a small palette, you couldn't expect much more in light of the price tag. The lid is clear so you can see the colours (useful if you decide to build up a collection) and it comes with a double ended eye makeup applicator. I haven't used all of the colours yet, but I've been happy with the ones I have, and they seem to last as well as my usual daily Rimmel eyeshadows.

If Wikipedia is to be believed, MUA is actually a phantom brand created by Superdrug. They have a very reasonably priced range of makeup starting at £1. This is a great way to treat yourself inexpensively on a shopping trip.

Tip of the week: Head to Superdrug and get yourself some MUA!

Cheap but quirky eBay tat

I am a bit of a bargain hunter, and have recently taken to doing searches on eBay for "lowest price first" or "ending soonest" in the beauty category. A few weeks ago I came across this...

A waterproof liquid eyeliner in the shape of a Japanese doll. It was so cute and on an auction starting at 1p so I thought I'd try and grab one. After missing out on a few, I eventually picked up this little beauty for 75p. Absolute bargain.

It is not only a pretty decent liquid eyeliner, but looks adorable on my dressing table (on top of my Muji drawers) too!

Tip of the week: love eBay!

Optrex Dazzling Eyedew - brighter eyes?

I bought the Optrex Dazzling Eyedew eye drops a couple of weeks ago and have been considering how to review it ever since. They claim to make the white bits of your eyes brighter and whiter.

My initial reaction was that it was crap and doesn't really do anything. But I did a bit of research and came across a blog where someone had taken a photo of their eyes before and after using it, and it had noticeably reduced the redness.

So I began to think that maybe my eyes are just quite white to begin with, so it's probably not going to make much difference to me.

This is probably a good product to use if you suffer from red/bloodshot eyes. If you tend to have pretty much white eye balls then I don't think you'll notice much difference.

For this reason I am not going to give this product a star rating. So you'll have to see for yourself.

Gel "Gellux" Manicure

Gel manicures have been getting more and more popular over the past year or so. Rather than the acrylic extensions that I usually go for when I have special occasions to attend, I decided to give these a go for my holiday to the Algarve.

Absolutely loved the finish on them. They are nice and thick so protect your nails from breaking and don't chip. Well mine did chip a little, but the manicurist did warn me this would happen if I was in and out of the pool a lot. I suppose them getting wet so often is not going to help them last.

One did fall off during the week long holiday, but luckily I selected a colour of which I have a similar nail varnish so I was able to get away with painting it. (You wouldn't notice unless you looked up close.) Again, I believe it fell off due to my endless use of the swimming pool. But that's what holidays are for after all!

Overall, I'd definitely recommend a gel manicure and I will be having one again.

St Moriz tanning lotion versus tanning mousse

I've written about St Moriz tanning lotion before (here) when I first discovered it at the bargainous price of £3.00 in Wilkinsons. The next time I visited they had the mousse, so thought I'd try that too.

I have to say the mousse wins for me and I'll explain why along with the pros and cons of each to help you make an informed decision as to which would be best for you. Here is a summary of which wins each category for me:

Category	Lotion	Mousse
Even coverage		✓
Smell	✓
Colour		✓
Staying power		✓

The only real downside to the mousse it that when it's on you can notice that fake tan smell on yourself, I don't find this with the lotion. However, one plus side of the mousse is that it's easier to apply with an even coverage. As for the colour, the lotion does initially go on darker, whereas the mousse seems to be more developing. But, if you drip water on yourself once you've applied the lotion it takes off that top layer of the darker tan and leaves you with a patch. This doesn't happen with the mousse.

Which do you prefer?

Triangle nails

Ease: ★★★★★
Effectiveness: ★★★★★


This is my last post in August. Since I started this blog a short while ago, I've clocked up just over 400 views. Thanks to everyone who has read and commented on my posts.

Anyway, back to business...


I saw this style of manicure on the Cute.A.S.Nails blog recently and decided it was something that a person of my novice nail skills could do.

I used my Rimmel nail varnish that I've mentioned before in previous blogs. I started off with a couple of coats of the marshmallow heaven, then used the matte finish top coat. Once it was fully dry I taped the points on the nails and used a thick coat of pear drop to create the triangles.

This is the finished result!

False eyelash applicator

False eyelash applicator: ★★★★★


I found this little gem in Poundland - it is amazing!

If you have ever struggled to get your false eyelashes lined up where you want them or you think you've got them stuck down then notice the corner hasn't stuck or it takes you 5 go's to get them in the right position, then you need one of these little beauties in your life.

It comes with an eyelash stand and the eyelash applicator clip.  You place your lashes on the stand...

Then use the clip to pick one up and apply the glue..

Finally, hold the lashes in place for 30 seconds, release the clip and ta-da!

Beautifully positioned lashes as easy as 1-2-3.

Muji make-up storage organiser

Muji acrylic storage: ★★★★★

Update: New storage


Recently, I stumbled across a video on YouTube of someone showing their make-up collection and storage system and I was transfixed first of all by the amount of make-up, but secondly, by the way it was stored! (Link to original inspiration here)

Then came my unhealthy obsession of spending far too long trawling the Internet looking for the perfect make-up storage solution for myself. I discovered Muji. If you search "acrylic" or go to the "acrylic storage" category on the Muji website you will find a range of different size boxes, drawers, pots etc.

To start me off, I ordered the acrylic box with 2 drawers (wide) and the 3 partition acrylic desk pot (large). Delivery is only £2.95 for orders up to £24.99, so I spent just under £20 on this. It arrived in about 3 days packaged very well in bubble wrap and other protective coatings.

I packed my eye shadows, foundations, blushers, lipsticks and things in the draws, then used the pot to store makeup pencils, lip glosses and mascaras. I'm really happy with the finished result and it looks great on my dressing table. Although I do still have some make-up in other drawers and make-up bags in my room, so I'm looking to expand my Muji collection in the near future.

The Muji products are all stackable. As you can see I currently have the pot on top of the drawers. I plan to order another set of the 2 drawers and the small 3 partition pot, stacking the draws, then putting the shorter pot in front of the taller one. I'll update this blog with a photo once I've got it.

 
If you are looking to organise your make-up without spending ridiculous money, then I'd definitely recommend Muji.

Update: New storage

Crest 3D Whitestrips 2 Hour Express

Crest 3D Whitestrips 2 Hour Express: ★★★


I decided to try the Crest 3D Whitestrips 2 hour express after seeing a recommendation on YouTube from Hollie Wakeham, she has lovely white teeth, so thought it would be worth a try.

I got one sachet (from eBay) for £6.99 + 30p P&P.

I put it on, on Saturday afternoon and went out to sunbathe for a couple of hours. My teeth did feel slightly sensitive during and after, but not unbearable pain like I've read in some reviews. I do use sensitive toothpaste, so I don't know if that makes a difference. Also, I didn't brush my teeth before or straight after, just rinsed my mouth with water.

They are really easy to use and stick on to your teeth well, and you can talk and go about your day as normal. 

Disappointingly, I haven't noticed a great deal of difference in the colour of my teeth. I had expected a lot more of a dramatic effect. However, I'm willing to give them a second chance and will try it again in a couple of months and update this review if I change my opinion.  I did drink water whilst having the whitestrips on, so don't know if this sort of washed away some of the gel. They seemed to be well sealed to my teeth, so I didn't think it would.Or maybe my teeth were whiter in the first place than I thought they were?

If you've tried them, please leave a comment and let me know how you got on.

Update: I've tried them again for a second time 3 months on and I've upped my star rating to 3. Although not a dramatic difference, my teeth do appear whiter. Next time I might try one of the other treatments rather than the 2 hour express.

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain: ★★★★


The third and final lip product I've reviewed for Beauty at Tesco is the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable balm stain in 001 Honey Douce.

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain

Like the Rimmel 1000 Kisses the colour on this comes out darker than I'd expect from the packaging. It is a pink with a hint of plum. However, when it starts to wear off, you are just left with the stain it looks much more pink then.

The product looks like a pencil but it's actually a plastic casing and you wind the end to extend it. When you apply it, it makes your lips feel quite moisturised and has a fresh minty flavour to it.

The downside to this product is that the balm doesn't seem to last as long as the Rimmel or the Barry M, however the stain does last really well. But you'd need to keep reapplying to keep the moisturised feel. 

Barry M Lip Lacquer Crayons

Barry M Lip Lacquer Crayons: ★★★★★


This is another of the products I got sent by Beauty at Tesco. I've got it in two colours; no. 3 and 5 (pink and red).

The first thing I noticed about these crayons was how strong the pigment was. the colour is amazing, they've got a pretty sparkly edge to them too, particularly the pink. When you apply them it doesn't feel like you are wearing a pencil, more like a lipstick or lip balm, so they keep your lips moisturised.

They seem to last very well too, and don't end up on your teeth like I find lipstick does. I'm really loving the red one at the mo, very Rita Ora/Rihanna - would be perfect if I was going to V Fest this weekend!

If your into your lippy/lip glosses I'd definitely recommend you try these. Another great example of Barry M doing something different to everyone else.

The pictures below don't do the pigment of the colours justice, but give you a bit of an idea what they look like on. Excuse the quality, they were taken on my iPhone.

No. 3

No. 5