Week 10 manicure challenge

I bought some nail art from ASOS for £1.20 last week, what an absolute bargain. 

Here is my experimental spring look for the week...

The nail art didn't last great, but then I put it on a bit rushed. Also I didn't bother with a top coat for it to stick to.

It was fun to use though. Watch out for more in the future.

By the way, I also wanted to share ASOS' poor judgement on what size packaging is suitable.. :)

Toni & Guy big barrel curling tongs

I love big, wavy, voluminous hair and when I discovered the large barrel curling tongs to help achieve this, they went straight on my wish list. 

I decided to go for the Toni and Guy ones. I read the reviews on those and the Babyliss and there didn't seem to be much in it.

I used the Hollie Wakeham - how to get big hair like Cheryl Cole video as a guideline. http://youtu.be/TsG8jYK-MI8

I prepped my hair with GHD curling spray, then curled all of my hair, pinning it up as I went. I curled my fringe and put it up in my sleep rollers large fringe roller.

I left it up in the clips for about an hour. It had fully cooled down. Then released the clips to reveal lovely big wavey curls.

I pulled them through with my fingers to shape it how I wanted then spritzed plenty of hair spray all over.

So far so good and pretty easy to do. Now for the downside. This look only lasted a couple of hours at best before all the curls started to drop out. By the evening my hair was practically straight. 

I have no idea what went wrong. Was my hair spray not strong enough? Did I not prep my hair properly? I have done this twice now and had the same problem both times. I curl my hair with my GHDs and Babyliss conical wand all the time and the curls last a couple of days, so it's not my hair type.

If you have any advice on how to keep my curls, please leave a comment below. Would love to be able to maintain this look for a day, or a night out.

Week 9 manicure challenge

Nails Inc blue/green. Nice and bright for spring. 

Happy Friday!

My Kate Spade glitter bug Stacy purse

This post has been a long time coming. When I went to New York in October I saw the Kate Spade glitter bug purses in Bloomingdales but didn't buy one. On my return I regretted it, so I trawled the internet to find them.

As luck would have it I found out there was a Kate Spade shop in Covent Garden London and I was going to Covent Garden the next weekend to see The Bodyguard at the Adelphi! I rang the shop to ask if they had any in stock and they did, AND they were having a 25% off everything sale. They wouldn't put one by for me because of the sale, but they let me pay then and there over the phone. 

The following weekend I practically skipped into the Kate Spade shop with excitement to pick up my gorgeous new purse.

As you can't see it absolutely clearly in the photos above (stupid flash), it is black patent with specks of gold glitter in it. The lining is cream and the spade badge is gold.

View it clearer on the Kate Spade website here.

I love it. Not only does it look great, but it has a lot of space for your cards, notes and coins.

Now I need to get saving for a designer handbag to go with it. ;)

Week 8 manicure challenge

Today's manicure is a bright pink with pink glitter on the tips, great to get you on the spring feeling!

Have a great weekend everyone.

Week 7 manicure challenge

This week I put some falsies on. Then topped them with MUA nail polish in lush lilac.

If you want to read about the false nails I use, click here. 

Little MUA haul

I am on the MUA mailing list so get various emails advertising old and new products. Last week the temptation got the better of me and I made a little order.

Clockwise - Fashionista powder compact, Fashionista illuminious foundation, MUA Luxe precision felt eyeliner, MUA Luxe power brow, MUA lip trio in siren and Fashionista vanishing cream primer

I am loving all of these! Got some of the bits on sale prices. The foundation and primer were £3, the compact was £2 and the lip trio was £1.25. The power brow and felt eyeliner were £3 (full price).

Powder compact 

Good level of coverage. Great for the handbag and touch ups during the day. Has a decent size mirror which you can rotate to any angle (thinking very handy if trying to touch up your makeup at your office desk).

Illuminious foundation

Very good level of coverage, though I wouldn't say 100% flawless, but it is buildable. Gives you a lovely glow, similar to what you get from the Rimmel wake me up foundation. I watched a video on YouTube when the reviewer found it far too shiny and said it didn't last 2 hours. But I'm happy to say it lasts all day on my skin, and as I said it gives a great glow. 

Precision felt eyeliner

Very easy to use and looks good, but you can't get as black-a-line as you would get from using a liquid eyeliner, the formula just isn't thick enough.

Powerbrow

Love love love. This is double ended; it has a pencil on one end and a highlighter on the other end. Both ends are extendable/retractable by turning. The pencil goes on well and lasts all day and the highlighter is a great little extra to use and goes on well also.

Lip trio siren

I bought these because MUA advertised them and showed a model wearing one of the shades from this trio and I thought the colour looked great. Am happy with the colours and they come with a little applicator. The applicator could do with being a little brush rather than similar to an eye shadow applicator, as it soaks a lot of the product up. 

Vanishing cream primer

Nice to use, covers well with a small amount of product. But I couldn't really see what benefits there were from using it.

So that's my haul. What have you been buying lately?

Week 6 manicure challenge

This week I did a daisy manicure inspired by Hollie Wakeham.

I used my nail dotting tool. Unfortunately I used a cheap, thin white nail varnish which didn't take too well to dotting. I have learnt my lesson for next time though.