Label Love and Cheap as Chips ♥

Bonjour mes amis. Today is a beauty post, Yaaay! I thought I would just give you an idea of two products that I am loving at the moment, one a higher end buy, and the other a cheap as chips buy. Apologies for the rubbish pictures again, I don't have time to carry around my big SLR and do fandangled pics, I wish I did! 

So the first product is the Clinique Chubby Stick! These are floating around blogs like nobody's business, and so here it arrives on mine. I got my first one for my birthday Monday, and is actually the first product from Clinique I have ever purchased. Their brand is never somewhere I gravitate towards, but since these Chubby Sticks have come around, I want them all. 

For my first one, it was a toss between Watermelon or Curvy Candy, but I went for the Curvy Candy because it was more pink toned than the others. It is a lovely 'rosey' pink, and definitely my favourite after swatching nearly the entire collection at the counter.

It has a twisty-uppy bottom so no need to sharpen too, nice and easy.

I love it. I love the colour pay off, sheer but definitely noticeable and what a great pink it is! It is 100% fragrance free and allergy tested, but I do get a teeny tiny scent of wax crayons, and it took me right back to being at primary school. That is only when applying it though, once it's on the lips you can't sniff a thing.

It is so moisturising, not sticky in the slightest, and my lips feel really soft with it on. I've also found it does last a good while, couple of hours really, which is great for a lip balm. The Chubby Sticks retail at £16.00 and are available at any Clinique counter - who, might I say that the ladies are very friendly at, in Derby anyway!

For my cheap as chips product that I am loving at the moment, I am picking the Primark Very Fluttering Lashes. I love these babies! They are only one whole pound, and come in a few different varieties. These pictured, are by far my favourite. I use my own eyelash glue because I know I can trust it, so I don't know how the glue that comes with them shapes up. The lashes themselves are lovely though, quite feathery but full, and I like to add a lot of volume with false lashes, but look like natural strands rather than the blocked 'spikey' type. 

Have a little peak in good old Primarni if you haven't had these before, they are worth a try. If you don't want to use the glue that comes with them, try Duo Eyelash adhesive available at MAC stores or counters. 

So there we go. Just a couple of different recommendations either end of the beauty scale.

Ciao for now XxX

Nails for the weekend ♥

Bonjour Mes Amis! It's Fridayyyy! Wahooo! The Jubilee is fast approaching, and I must admit I am feeling rather patriotic with all the Union Jacks everywhere. Despite the current status of our country, we are lucky to be able to celebrate something like this to bring everyone together. Anyway, my nails today couldn't be any less patriotic, but they will be changed in time for the Jubilee party I am going to!

I fancied a change, and something funky for the weekend so I decided to go for a blue leopard print.

The products I used were:

Primark's own brand sky blue colour - available in a pack of four pastel shades.

China Glaze Liquid Crystal.

Models Own Black Nail art pen.

I've never done any nail art before, only regular painting so I thought I'd give it a go!

I used two coats of the blue Primark polish which is quick drying, but does start to gloop up in the bottle with the lid off for a bit, so be wary of that if you have it. Then I used the pen tip of the nail art pen to create the 'leopard' black lines. Make sure these are dry before continuing. I then got an eyeliner brush and dipped it in the Liquid Crystal polish to fill in the gaps, when this was dry I just went over the glitter that had gone over the black lines with the nail art pen. Finish with your favourite clear top coat, or leave bare for textured glitter.

Please excuse bitten fingers! Terrible habit!

I'm quite pleased at how this looks for my first attempt! Will have to get practising to perfect this and do some different designs. What's your manicure for the weekend or Jubilee?

Have a great one! Ciao for now XxX

Make up, nails n stuff! ♥

Hey everyone! So I thought I would just do a little update again with what has been crackalacking! Ed & I are off to the lake district tonight which is a lovely picturesque part of the UK, and covered in lakes! (If you hadn't already guessed...) So we have been before to this particular hotel, but it was only on business last time. We liked it so much we thought it would be nice to spend the weekend there for Eds birthday tomorrow, so we can have a little relax and an explore. Then we go to Cyprus 2 weeks today! Woohoo I'm excited, so much going on! 

So firstly, I have FINALLY bought a 120 palette. Something I am sure you have all seen before, but it has taken me years to get on the bandwagon! I don't know why really just haven't bothered, but I am glad I did now! It did take the mickey to come as it is from China, almost 3 weeks! But it was worth the wait. If you just type into Ebay '120 palette' they all come up. Usually they set you back about £10 - £15, but I quickly jumped in on a bid only one and got it for £7 with postage, so keep your eye open for a bargain! 

Sorry about the shocking picture, it was just a quick one to send to my Mom! The colours are wickedly pigmented, and I think it is going to last me rather a long time!

We went for a curry with Eds Mom and Dad for Eds birthday as we won't be here, so I thought I would try the palette out. Here I am wearing a very light lemony nude shade, applied firstly all over the lid. (After applying primer), then if you can see the blue patches on my top, I matched that to the nearest blue on the palette, and put that on the outer corners and crease. To define it a little more, I went in with a darker turquoise shade (a little like my hair colour), and further defined the crease, and super blended it all. I quite like these colours together, nice and springy! Earrings £2, Necklace £4, Shrug top £8 all from Primark. On the lips, George ASDA nude lip liner £4, and MAC Hue over the top £13.50.

Again sorry for the poor quality of the picture, but we were zooming really quick out to the cinema to see the Hunger Games!! I thought I would do a really quick 5 minute Katniss Everdeen inspired look - not exact, but how I liked it! I did a messy side plait as she has it, thick black winged liner (Blacktrack fluidline from MAC £16.00), mascara (MUA curved mascara £3.00) and Hue from MAC on the lips (£13.50). I thought the film was absolutely amazing and the second one can't come quickly enough!

So for tonights Lake District adventure, I have done my nails ready for the weekend. I decided to do a graduated glitter nail, because they always look pretty cool, especially when I have my fakies on. Fake nails are 200 pack from Boots (£8.00), my holy grail fake nails! Polishes are both from Primark and come in sets of four (not these colours together though), and the sets are £2.00 each. They are great quality varnishes and the blue is a one coat wonder! To graduate glitter, start about a quarter way up from the cuticle to the tip, then let it dry. When dry start a little bit further up, let dry etc etc you get the drift! If its a holographic glitter like this, try and get most of the larger glitter pieces towards the nail tips, it may be fiddly but gets a much better graduated look! Finish up with some Sally Hansen Diamond Shine nail hardener (£10.00) - not really a top coat but works wonders for me! 

So there you have it! Do you have any good nail designs to try? I would love to see!

Thanks for reading and I'll post some piccies when we return! 

Ciao for Now xXx

Happy valentines day ♥

Hello guys, blimey it has been ages since I have posted. Sorry to those who read, I have just been super busy! One of our friends has just had a baby, so here I am with baby Jak! We are Aunty Tilly and Uncle Ed. Jak is so cute I absolutely adore him! He has the softest skin ever and when Ed held him he opened his little eyes!

Scrunchy up face for Aunty Tilly hehehe :)

Open eyes for Uncle Ed :) xxx

So it's valentines day today! I have been looking forward to it for ages as we are going to a restaurant that we have been to once before that we really liked. It's pretty swanky, and I'm feeling a little like whatever I wear I will be underdressed, but you know what, I just want us to enjoy ourselves so it isn't the biggest deal what I look like I suppose! The restaurant is called Simpsons in Edgbaston, Birmingham. If you want to check out their website click HERE . We are having a ten course taster menu! I am so excited! Posh Nosh! =D

This is what Ed drew in my card <3 aww so cute. We got engaged up the Eiffel tower - if I haven't already mentioned it a million times - so he drew one for me! I got him a card with an Eiffel on the front, but me being an idiot didn't pick an envelope up with it! Nevermind, it's the words that count, can't help being a bit useless!

I have done my nails ready for tonight, here is the finished result!

This is the kit I used to create them. Boot's 200 nails kit and Primark Beauty nail varnish - believe it or not! The Boots nail kit is a definite essential. Rather than paying £25 - £30 a pop to have your nails professionally done with acrylics or gels, for £8.50 these are just as good. They last as long as you are careful with them, and the glue for them is great. I have done two sets out of them so far and both have been a success! I also prefer these because you can change the colours (don't forget to use an acetone free nail varnish remover so the nails don't dissolve!) and they don't damage your real nail underneath. 

I begin by selecting the correct sizes, and  laying them out to make it easier for application. I then file the tips, and all the top surfaces of my own nails, to give a rougher surface so the nail applies with a little more security.  Begin by applying a small amount of nail glue, and spread it around with the tip of the bottle to cover all the surface of the nail. Take the false nail, and starting with the round tipped bottom of it, push onto natural nail, laying flat from the base upwards. To set, hold down the nail very tightly with finger and thumb to compress any air bubbles. Continue for all nails, and let them dry.

Take the nail varnish of your choice. As I said, I have used Primark Beauty's new range of nail paints, which are actually brilliant for £2 for a pack of 4. I think they have 4 sets at the moment, which I have all of them because they are too much of a bargain to miss out on. So, these are the metallic colours. I used the shimmery gold (second from right), and the gold holographic top coat (far left). I used two coats of the gold, although you could probably get away with only one! They dry nice and quickly too, so not much waiting around. The holographic polish spreads the glitter quite well, and I have only used 1 coat, but you can add more if you wish. I haven't put a topcoat over that, because I wanted the textured effect. And there you go! Cheap, but greatly effective nails for valentines!

Thought I would just put on the roses I got sent to work! They are totally gorgeous and covered in glitter! He's an old smoothie hehehe <3

So I hope everyone has a great rest of valentines day, and if it's not your thing, get some choccy down your neck! Have a good'un!

Ciao for now! xXx