Monday 22 April 2013

NOTD: spring dots

Hey guys,

Today's post is a NOTD that in my opinion, is perfect for spring time. I've tried to do dots many time but they've never looked great but this time I was rather impressed if I do say so myself. The colours used are 'smarty pants' by George (can be bought from ASDA) and all nude by MUA which can be bought here. To actually create the dots I used a dotting tool which I bought from ebay ages ago for around £1.50.


What are you favourite nail designs for spring?

Thanks for reading!
xxx

Saturday 20 April 2013

New year, new me.


Hello guys,

I know that we're in April now (it's my birthday this Sunday, yay!) and most people try to lose weight at the beginning of the year but it's better late than never right?

For years now I have wanted to lose weight but to be honest, my will power is almost none existent as is my motivation and I just love food so I've always struggled sticking to any sort of diet. However, someone told me about the 'MyFitnessPal' app for iPhone which is basically an app which allows you to log your food intake, your exercise and helps you to work towards a goal that you set. Since nothing else has worked for me I thought I'd give this a go and it has definitely worked!

Since using this app I have realised that my biggest problem was just overeating, whether this was portion sizes that are too big or just eating when I'm not actually hungry whereas now I eat better sizes and a reasonable amount of food.

Along with losing weight I have also decided that I also want to be healthier so have joined a gym and started going running but have also bought some little weights, a yoga mat and a yoga ball to do in my house. As for motivation, I've found that exercising at the gym or going running with a friend really helps me to push on and get a good workout done. Music is also my friend when working out as it keeps me upbeat and in the mood.

Food wise, I have been eating healthier but I've still been eating everything I enjoy just in moderation, this means that I've still had takeaways and chocolate but just not as often as I used to. One of my favourite healthier things to eat are lettuce wraps. I use a lettuce leaf, fill it with tuna, a bit of chopped up onion and some cheese and then wrap the lettuce leaf up. They are extremely delicious and an alternative opinion to having a tortilla wrap for lunch.

When I'm not going to the gym or going running then I do exercise at home either on an exercise bike or using my weights/yoga ball. I often follow workouts posted on the ToneItUp youtube channel that you can find here.

Below are some of the pictures that I have posted on my instagram in relation to me going running/working out and a picture of the lettuce wraps that I mentioned above. You can find my instagram here and I would love for you to follow me :).
Since starting this journey in January I have lost 15 pounds and I'm extremely proud of myself for finally having the motivation to stick to something!



I hope that this post has either giving you some motivation or that you have at least found it interesting!

Thanks for reading.
xxx

Thursday 28 March 2013

NOTD: Essie 'Cascade Cool'

Hey guys

So although my nails haven't been this plain in a while, they are currently plain as I absolutely love this colour which is cascade cool by Essie. I think this is such a gorgeous pink colour and I will definitely be getting a lot of wear out of it throughout spring and summer. I've also started to develop an essie collection and I'm really starting to love the formula. I find it's very long lasting although some essie polishes have better formula than others. I used three coats in the picture below although I could have got away with only two.


I bought cascade cool from here for only £1.99 and they also sell different essie shades for the same price (such a bargain!)

What's your favourite Essie shade?

Thanks for reading 
xx

Tuesday 26 March 2013

My top 5 favourite lip products

Hey guys, hope you're all well. 

Today I thought I would share with you my top 5 favourite lip products as I actually have quite a few now (I'm blaming blogging!) and thought this post might interest some of you. I mostly wear lipsticks and Revlon lip butters nowadays so it's not surprising that my top 5 consist of those. 




[Left to right: Revlon lip butter in 'Cotton Candy', Revlon lip butter in 'Berry Smoothie', MUA lipstick in 'Shade 15 Juicy', MUA lipstick in 'Shade 9' and Revlon matte lipstick in 'Mauve It Over'].

I adore Revlon lip butters and have posted a review about some of the ones I own here. I love the fact they are so easy to wear and if I don't feel like wearing lipstick I always grab one of these. The two I wear most are cotton candy and berry smoothie and I absolutely love them. You can buy the lip butters here for £7.99.

Like the Revlon lip butters, I also love the lipsticks from the brand MUA. At only £1 each they are extremely cheap and I find that they are very good quality. I have posted a review on some of the colours I own here. My two most reached for MUA lipsticks are shade 15 'juicy' and shade 9 as I find they're extremely easy to wear everyday and aren't too over the top for uni. Out of the two shade 9 is definitely my favourite but I love them both. You can buy the lipsticks here.

Lastly in my top 5 favourite lip products is a Revlon matte lipstick in 'mauve it over'. This is the only Revlon lipstick I own so far and I adore it. I think the colour is perfect and really like the fact it is a matte that doesn't dry out my lips. I wrote a review about it here. You can buy this lipstick here for £7.49.

What are your most worn lip products?

Thanks for reading

xx

Sunday 24 March 2013

Two attempts at nail art

I don't know about you guys but recently I've become extremely interested in nail art and now rarely find myself with my nails painted with just one colour. I thought I would do this post to show to two designs that I have tried recently and loved!


This is the first design I did. To get the three different colours I painted my nails white and then painted  a yellow, pink and blue line onto a sponge and then printed it onto my white nails. I love the fact this doesn't have to look neat but still looks rather effective anyway. To create the leopard print on my ring finger I used a dotting tool and a cocktail stick and followed a tutorial similar to the one here. Once dry I then sealed with a clear top coat.

The second design is probably my favourite one out of the two as it was the easiest but looks like I spent a lot of time and effort doing it (which I didn't to be honest). The tutorial I used to create this design was this one but I chose not to add more dots. 


Overall I loved both of these designs and will definitely be trying them again. I also got a lot of compliments whilst wearing these including a sales assistant and a woman who works at my university who both asked me if I did them myself/how.

What do you think of these designs?
Thanks for reading!

xx

Friday 22 March 2013

Nail polish swatch sticks

Hello everyone

If you're like me and have many different nail varnishes then it makes choosing a colour often a task. To make this an easier task, whilst browsing Ebay one day I came across a nail art stick fan which I thought would be perfect to swatch all of my nail varnishes so that I can instantly see which nail varnish I want.




As you can see from the picture above, I've painted the nail end of the sticks and then using cut up labels, I've written the nail varnish brand and shade so I know exactly what colour I'm looking for.

The fan comes with 50 individual sticks and a large screw and bolt to hold the fan together. As I have more than 50 nail varnishes I have bought a second fan and I'm just waiting to get around to swatching the remainder of my nail varnish colours. 

I absolutely love this idea and it has honestly made it so much easier for me to choose a colour to paint my nails and also to see what nail colours work well together.

Do you think this is a good idea?

You can buy the fans here in white like I have or clear for 99p and 73p postage.

Thanks for reading
xx

Wednesday 20 March 2013

How can you follow me?

Hello guys,

As many of you will know, Google Reader is going so many people are finding alternative options for their readers to continue to read their blog posts and I'm one of them people!

I really appreciate every single one of you who read my blog and would love it if you would continue to follow my blog once Google Reader has gone.

Other ways in which you can follow me:


Thanks for reading
 xx