2015 month on 2 pages A4/A5 diary download

I've just finished jazzing up a month on 2 pages diary for my A5 filofax next year. I downloaded a free basic template from My Life All in One Place and adapted it with fonts and colours of my choice.

2015 month on 2 pages diary

If you would like to use my template, feel free to download it here (in docx file format) or here (in pdf).

I'm going to use a month on 2 pages to practice my doodling, lettering and drawing. I plan to put something in each day to represent either what I did that day or any special ocassions that I would like reminding of.

Grooming favourites 2014

Grooming has been high on my agenda in 2014 so I thought I'd share some of my favourite tools of the year with you.

Clockwise: Tangle teezer, Nailene ultra quick drying nail glue, Tweezerman pointed tweezers, GHD stlyer, Stylfile 2

Tangle Teezer
I don't know how I ever survived without one of these. Using a normal brush on my long hair always seems to snag and pull now whereas the tangle teezer is just so smooth and easy. My only gripe is that it is moulded to suit a right handed person and I'm a lefty, which means sometimes as I'm brushing away carelessly I drop it. Bring out the left-handed tangle teezer please.

Nailene quick dry nail glue
This year false nails have become an important part of my dressing up armoury. You can pick up some pretty decent pairs for around the £5 mark and it saves the time and expense of going to the salon for acrylic or gel nails. With this amazing glue, they even last almost as long as the salon ones.

Tweezerman pointed tweezers
I posted about these here when I got them and I still haven't stopped singing their praises. Quality really is the key with grooming products. With these you can pluck the smallest, shortest of hairs without any bother.

GHD stylers
No matter how many different hair tools I try I always come back to my trusty GHDs. They are so versatile with either straightening or curling, in my opinion they can't be beaten.

Stylfile 2
A great quality nail file and buffer in one with a couple of extra tools for your cuticles and other nail maintenance. I wont bother with cheaper alternatives any more.

Happy new year everyone!

DIY Christmas present tags

Last week I stumbled across the idea somewhere online of using your old Christmas cards to make into present tags for next year.

So last night, armed with my trimmer and corner punch I sat down and made these...

What do you think? It's amazing what a rounded corner can do.

Next year I plan to wrap most of my presents with plain brown parcel paper and then use these tags and some ribbons to brighten them up.

Week 52 manicure challenge

Wow! I've made it to the end of the challenge. In case you weren't following from the start of 2014, I set myself a challenge to blog a different manicure every week for a year. This is the final week of 2014, week 52!

For Christmas I wanted a bit of length, so added some of my trusted Nailene falsies. You can see them below with my new Swarovski stardust bracelet that my boyfriend got me for Christmas.

Now what challenge shall I set myself for 2015?!

The end.

Makeup favourites 2014

I have tried so many new products this year, that I thought I'd share some of my favourites.

Clockwise: Tanya Burr lipglosses, Rimmel exaggerate liquid eyeliner, Collection mosaic glow, Bourjois healthy mix foundation, Real Techniques brushess, L'oreal Miss Manga mascara

Tanya Burr's new makeup line flew off the shelves on it's release and I must say I am a fan of the glosses. They wear well and there are a lovely range of shades available to suit everyone.

Rimmel's exaggerate liquid eyeliner has been a firm favourite for years now. I haven't found another drug store brand to rival its strong colour and excellent staying power. 

Collection's mosaic glow is a lovely shimmery bronzer which is subtle enough for day wear when applied lightly and can be built up for a glowing evening look. 

I brought the Bourjois healthy mix foundation by mistake. After reading glowing reviews on numerous blogs about the serum, I didn't realise that there was a liqud foundation as well as the serum type. But it was a happy mistake as its been a firm favourite ever since. 

I doubt there is a blogger in the UK who doesn't own a Real Techniques brush. The quality is amazing, the bristles are sooo soft and the price is pretty decent, especially if you keep your eye on Amazon or Superdrug deals.

Miss Manga mascara was a new release for L'oreal in the earlier par of this year. For me it beats Benefit's They're Real hands-down providing glorious long thick lashes that people can't help but notice.

What have been your makeup favourites this year? 

Have a lovely Christmas and new year everyone.

Week 51 manicure challenge

This week I've had three lots of turkey and Christmas parties to attend. For the main party I had a little black dress with gold detail on, so to complement that I went for gold nails.

Have a lovely Christmas everyone.

Week 50 manicure challenge

This week I went for some falsies again as they are low maintenance and look great for Christmas parties. 

I thought I'd show you the best false nail glue there is too; Nailene ultra quick (drying). This glue is so strong that your nails will last and last, avoiding any embarrassing public "pop-offs". 

Week 49 manicure challenge

What comes after penguins I bet you wonder. Well I'll tell you what comes after penguins; reindeer!

Inspiration pic:

My attempt:

Week 48 manicure challenge

This was a tough week. If I was talking about hair, it was the week-long equivalent to a bad hair day. In my head I was thinking of sparkly red and white snow flakes, but the snow flakes went wrong. The red is shimmery (Rimmel's red carpet) but not really picking up on the camera. The snowflakes are no more.

Week 47 manicure challenge

This week I got into the Christmas spirit after making a good start to my Christmas shopping. I decided to try a cute penguin design on my nails, because doesn't the John Lewis advert just make you fall in love with penguins?! 

These boots are made for walking

I have spent the past couple of months trawling the high street for the perfect pair of boots to see me through the colder months. I have tried on loads! Twice, I thought I had found the perfect pair, only to find the shop didn't have my size, so I ordered them online. Then once they arrived - disappointment - they looked clumpy and made my feet look massive. No surprises then that they had to be sent back.

Last week, I was browsing Tesco's Florence & Fred website to replace a pair of loafers I have for work, when I stumbled across these little beauties. They caught my eye straight away but I didn't want the repeat hassle of ordering online and sending back for a third time so I left the page but bookmarked it on my browser. A few days later I had to go to my local Tesco Home to pick up said loafers (click and collect to save on postage costs, yeah baby!), so I had a little look around. There, on the shelf were the boots.

I tried them on and it was love at first step. The first thing I noticed was how comfortable they are. F&F shoes always have quite padded soles. They don't feel particularly high, I think I could walk around in them for hours at a time. And they only cost £28! I practically skipped to the till with them.

They look great with skinny jeans and leggings. Equally I think they'd look good with the right casual dress/skirt.They are really on trend with the gold trim (I've seen lots of gold trim around on my travels such as these from Miss Selfridge, which are more expensive, higher and not as comfortable).

You can find 'my boots' here.

Herbalife Skin review

I first heard about Herbalife Skin via Facebook (I am FB friends with a girl who makes dresses and has recently started selling Herbalife). She claimed that she used this 7 day results kit and it changed her skin and made it look amazing. Being someone who has struggled with my skin since puberty, a claim like this made my ears prick up. 

She was selling it for £20 plus P&P, but I found another distributor via eBay (shh) who did it a couple of pounds cheaper. For what you get in the kit (3 small tubes and 4 sachets), it's bloody expensive! 

The kit contains:

Mini Soothing Aloe Cleanser 50ml 

Mini Daily Glow Moisturiser 15ml 

Mini Replenishing Night Cream 15ml 

Firming Eye Gel Packette – 2 x 2ml 

Hydrating Eye Cream Packette – 2 x 2ml

 It arrvied a few days later and at this point I started to wonder how a cleanser and a couple of moisturisers could have any major impact on my skin. Not even a toner?!

Still, I thought I'd give it a go, after all I had spent my hard-earned cash on this. So for 7 days straight I used nothing but the kit. 

A couple of days in I had a spot breakout on my forehead. I kept going though, put it down to the possiblity of monthly hormones. The Herbalife rep actually messaged me on day 5 to ask how it was going (and if I'd like any full sized products!). I told her about the breakout, and she likened it to when you get a facial, that the products bring out all of the impurities first.

It is now day 9. The breakout on my forehead is still there - not any worse, but not any better.

Maybe if the kit came with a bit more, like a toner, or a face scrub it might be a bit more effective for spot prone skin. But for me, it's not really done much good.

I'll finish the kit, but wont be ordering any full size products.

Week 46 manicure challenge

Stripy accent nail. A little messy, but it was my first ever try. Practise makes perfect. 

Week 45 manicure challenge

Black and sparkle 

Week 44 manicure challenge

I wanted to make an extra effort with my nails for my birthday, so I picked these falsies up in Superdrug. They were on offer, so only £3.29 I think.

The glue they came with didn't seem to dry very quickly, so I didn't hold up much hope for it. I ended up using my Nailene quick dry glue, which holds very well.

They are quite short, but very neat and looked pretty classy. They had a nice shiny, freshly manicured finish, although that faded after acouple of days.

Loving the look in the photo below with the ring from my boyfriend.

Best tweezers ever!

Tweezerman pointed tweezers: ★★★★★

It was my birthday this week and I was so lucky to get lots of lovely presents from my family and my boyfriend.

These tweezerman pointed tweezers have been on my wish list for a while, so I was really excited when I unwrapped them.

They really are amazing! The point could take your eye out, so you have to be careful, but this allows for brilliant precision. You can get even get fine and short hairs with it.

With these and my 10x zoom mirror, I have no excuse not to have perfectly shaped brows from now on.

£19.50 from Boots

Week 43 manicure challenge

Poppy red worked perfectly for my day out in London.

Week 42 manicure challenge

Ended up a bit Christmassy this week with red and gold AND some nail stamping. 

Week 41 manicure challenge

Blue Barry M magnetic nail polish.

Week 40 manicure challenge

Autumnal burgundy.

Updated dressing table (vanity)

It's been a year or two since I last showed you my dressing table. In fact I think it was in my old flat. So I thought I'd show you a little update.

My dressing table is from Homebase and on the right of it I have the Ikea Alex 9 drawer unit. 

I have two sets of the wide muji two drawers for my makeup. The top contains primers, powders, bronzers and blushers. The second is mainly single/duo eye shadows. The third is mascara, eye liners and lip liners. The bottom is false lashes. 

On top of the drawers I have the large and small muji 3 slot pots. The large have all my makeup brushes in. The small have foundations, concealer and liquid eye liner. 

I bought an acrylic lipstick holder from eBay which holds my collection of lippies, glosses etc. On the right of that I have my No.7 brush cleaner and a couple of products I'm trying to use up. 

I got this white shabby sheek letter holder from Amazon. I use it to store my eye palettes. 

On top of my Alex drawers I have an acrylic nail polish storage that I think is from eBay. 

I'm pretty happy with my set up. I regularly tidy it and bin old bits that I never use. I don't intend to buy any more storage now as I have plenty of makeup and don't need any excuses to buy more!

How do you store yours?

Week 39 manicure challenge

Subtle nudey-fawny-brown by nails inc with a shine thanks to Seche Vite.

Week 38 manicure challenge

Trying out the Nails Inc matte polish that I got in the September Glossybox. I've not noticed any difference between that and the Rimmel one so far, which is crazy at this one retails at £9.

LIB The Glamour Beauty Power List 2014

As soon as I got the email from Latest in Beauty advertising the Glamour Beauty Power List 2014 and saw the contents I knew I wanted it. For only £15.99 including p&p for all these products, I thought it was a great deal.

Here are my initial impressions.


Philip Kingsley daily damage defence conditioning spray
This spray smells lush and makes my hair feel really soft and look smooth, even without using my usual serum.  It's the first Philip Kingsley product I've tried and would encourage me to try more.

Nude Maybelline color sensational lipstick (710 sultry sand)
I initially thought this shade was too pale, but I've worked with it, and if I put a gloss over the top I quite like it. It's a decent formula, doesn't dry my lips out, but as it's quite sheer, it doesn't last for hours.

Laura Mercier foundation primer
In all honesty, my foundation has never lasted so well for 12 hours. I'm not saying it was pristine by the end of the day, but my skin tone still looked so even and not at all blotchy like it normally does by 7pm. Plus you get so much as you hardly need to use any product to get good coverage. I will definitely replace this if I ever run out!

Eyeko mascara off eye makeup remover wipes
I don't normally bother with makeup wipes unless I've put on a full face for a night out. Usually I'm just lazy and wash my makeup off in the shower. These wipes are really lovely. They are fairly small squares but plenty big enough for your eyes and they feel amazing. So thick and soft, they smell nice too and don't sting my eyes in the slightest. A great little luxury for me.

Liz Earle cleanse & polish hot cloth cleanser
I've heard Liz Earle mentioned a lot in the beauty blogging world, so I was really interested to see what this was like.

James Read sleep mask tan
This applies as a clear gel which is not what I was expecting. It's s but like Johnson's holiday skin but without the bad fake tan smell. Subtle, even colour.

Bourjois volume 1 second mascara
It's ok, will use it up, but it's not amazing enough for me to repurchase. Not as good as my manga mascara.


You can buy the box here (whilst stocks last) £15.99 http://www.latestinbeauty.com/glamour/

Benefit Hoola Review

Now I know what all the fuss is about! This bronzer is gooood.

I bought this little gem for a discounted price the other week from Cohorted. As you can see above, they included a little freebie too in the shape of a peach Maybelline baby lips (it feels and tastes amaze by the way!).

Anyway, back to the review in hand. The first time I tried it, I made the mistake of using the brush it came with. Although it is an ideal shape to apply to the contour of your cheek, it is not the ideal density to blend. The next time, I tried it with my Real Techniques contour brush and was much more satisfied with the outcome.

Matte bronzer has not been a holy grail product for me before now. I've always gone back to my Collection Mozaic bronzer which is bronze shimmery beautifulness. However, I really like the subtleness yet effectiveness of this bronzer.

The down side is that it is very pricey for what it is. However, for me part of the price tag on Benefit makeup is having that pretty packaging sitting in your clear muji acrylic drawers, or poking out the top of your makeup bag. (Is that just me who is that snobby?!)

Definitely worth a try though if you can afford it or you can find it discounted.

Glossybox September 2014 unboxing

I decided to record my unboxing and upload it to YouTube just to test the waters. I realise it's far from a decent video in more ways than one, and if I had more time I would probably re-record it. But here you go, warts and all.

http://youtu.be/zNL5plintFE

I was a bit disappointed with my first ever Glossybox on opening it. But I've since reflected and maybe I was a tad over critical. Let me know what you think.

Week 37 manicure challenge

Holding on to summer with this shimmery aqua colour and a silver accent.

Week 36 manicure challenge feat. £1 gel nails

Last week I showed you the Gel Perfect polish I got from Poundworld, now this week I can tell you my thoughts. 

I tried the shade orchid. The first disappointment was that it is a major faff to apply. You have to put a layer of the activator, gel, activator, gel then activator again. In between that you are meant to clean the gel brush. 

However, once applied I liked the look of it. It was nice and thick, like proper gel nails. 

BUT... It didn't last 24 hours before chipping. My nails are quite weak and bendy. So as soon as I caught my nail and it bended, the gel started to chip off. It was such a shame as they did look so good when freshly done. 

For someone with strong nails this might be the bargain of the century. But for me, I don't think it's going to work out. :(