Ciate Crushed Velvet

A while back my friend Holly from I2style invited me over for a little sale she was having of some unwanted beauty and fashion items. The beauty lover in me had a complete meltdown at all the nail products she had to flog and this little duo was one of my bargains.

Until recently I'd not tried any Ciate nail polishes, I was desperate to get my hands on the advent calendar last year but unfortunately it sold out everywhere. I have used and loved the Ciate caviar manicure, so I was super excited to test out this crushed velvet set.

The colour is beautiful, exactly like my old car which was called 'hot magenta'. its one of my all time favourite colours and absolutely perfect for Autumn/Winter. I just applied one coat on all the nails and then a second on all but my ring finger.

I then a applied a second coat to my ring finger and immediately dusted over a layer of the crushed velvet. You need to ensure that you apply an even layer and I would also recommend doing this over something. I used a tray from my caviar nail set but a piece of paper would do fine, just to stop you wasting all the product and making it easier to get it back into the jar.

I absolutely love this product and am actually more impressed with this than I was with the caviar set. This seems to last a lot longer and is just more practical.

This gets a massive thumbs up from me and ill definitely be on the look out for more colours.

Have you ever tried the Ciate crushed velvet set? what did you think?

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Forever Living | Aloe balancing cream

When an old school friend of mine recently contacted me regarding forever living products, I was intrigued. Over the years Ive heard of the amazing benefits of products containing aloe vera but to be honest I'd never invested the time to really look into it. If you haven't already heard of them, Forever Living are an international company founded back in 1978 by Rex Maughan. Along with their affiliates Forever have become the largest grower, manufacturer and distributor of aloe vera and bee products in the world. Forever specialises in Weight Management but varies to skin care, personal care, nutrition and beauty. In 2010 they were awarded the Peoples Gold Award for very prestigious investors. pretty good going, wouldn't you say?

So after some discussions Naomi suggested I try the Aloe Balancing cream* from the Sonya skin care range. I didn't want to go with anything too experimental due to my acne, so this seemed perfect. Enriched with aloe, vitamin E and white tea, this rich face cream claims to help restore and balance your skin’s natural moisture, to leave it feeling well hydrated. As well as exfoliate the build up of dead skin cells to make way for a more radiant appearance. Lets see if it lived up to those claims.

The Review

The Packaging
Naomi did a wonderful job of sending this package in a lovely little bag for me. The cream itself comes in this magenta and silver box that lists all the ingredients and when you open the box lid, all the instructions on how to use the product are over leaf. The jar itself is acrylic with a screw top lid. It feels very sturdy which I like and all of the writing is actually printed directly onto the jar. For me this adds a lot of value to the product and makes it feel expensive. When you take the lid of the jar off there is a disk sitting inside that holds a scoop. Don't you just hate it when you get to the bottom of a product and it all gets stuck under your nails in your failed attempts at getting it out, so annoying. This eradicates that problem. Overall I think the packaging is really nice and definitely reflects the price of the product.

The product
First of all lets take a moment to talk about the smell of this cream, its delicious. It has a very sweet, zesty fragrance. Very light and refreshing. Its a nearly opaque white formula that has a jelly like constancy. When applied it glides effortlessly across the skin and after being rubbed in does leave the skin feeling lovely and smooth. My only dislike is the amount of time it takes for the product to absorb into the skin. Lets take a closer look at some of the ingredients in this product:
  
Cyclopentasiloxane: 
A very common ingredient in personal care products, shown to aid in wrinkle reduction, blemish control, stubborn effects of rosacea and helps the skin retain moisture.
C13-14 Isparaffin: 
Derived from petroleum, C13-14 Isparaffin contains certain impurities that can cause allergies and even be carcinogenic. It is also considered a pesticide so, is potentially toxic
Sodium hyaluronate: 
Sodium hyaluronate is the sodium salt of hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid is found naturally in the fluid that bathes joints. It's abundant in the dermis of young skin, but with age the level of this compound decreases. Hyaluronic acid gives skin volume by holding onto water
Tocopheryl Acetate: 
This ingredient is a form of vitamin E, so you would think it was all goodness. However, manufacturers take the vitamin E and add acetic acid to it. The word acid means exactly what you would think - Corrosive and attacks the skin. The reason this is added is to make the products cheaper and longer lasting. A small amount of this is not harmful, however researchers worry that like most ingredients of their kind. Over time, they can build up on the skin.
Glycerin: 
This ingredient is one that can fight skin diseases such as psoriasis. When applied to the skin it signals them to mature in a normal fashion. With psoriasis for example, the cells reproduce extremely quickly. Glycerin would slow down this process giving skin a healthier more natural looking appearance 
Citrus Medica Limonum (lemon) fruit extract: A natural source of Vitamin C and antioxidant bioflavonoids. Protects skin against damage from reactive ozone. Used as an anti-inflammatory.
Camelia sinensis leaf extract: 
In a nutshell this is green tea. By protecting your skin's cells from the daily damage caused by free radicals, Green Tea is a favourite in anti-aging formulas. It is also known to reduce skin swelling and help soothe and condition sensitive skin
Caprylyl glycol: 
its an effective conditioner and moisturiser that also helps increase the shelf life of a product by increasing the antimicrobial activity of other preservatives.

Overall I would say the product does have some conflicting ingredients, however its important to remember that there are no Paraben's or sulphates in this product. The only ingredient that does contain anything to be concerned about, is in such a small quantity that its use in a daily moisturiser will unlikely cause any negative effects, as long as you are cleansing your skin correctly on a regular basis. It has a few anti-aging properties which is always a positive and some calming ingredients which would really help with balancing your skin, as it claims.

The Conclusion
Overall I think this is a wonderful product. It leaves your skin feeling refreshed and hydrated. I would prefer a more cream like constancy in a moisturiser but I guess thats due to the aloe gel, something you wouldn't find in your everyday moisturiser. The moisturiser is £25.61, which is rather expensive. I'm not sure I'd repurchase this product, but as my foot into aloe vera door, ill definitely be looking at some more products from forever living in the near future.

Forever Opportunities 

You too could become a forever living affiliate just like Naomi. Forever Living has so many opportunities to help people from any background achieve fantastic things in life. They believe in recognising commitment, leadership and hard work which is why they offer such amazing opportunities from cash bonuses, being recognised on stage at company success days, to all expenses paid holidays courtesy of the company. Forever Living gives you the opportunity to be your own boss, control your own hours and enjoy a residual income. 

Where do I sign up? you might be asking. 

Well if your interested in finding out some more information about the Forever Living opportunities or to purchase the aloe balancing cream you can contact Naomi directly at:  naomi.24.nl@gmail.com

Thank you to Naomi for getting in touch and sending me the aloe balancing cream to try out. Its a wonderful product. 

I hope you all enjoyed this post and learnt a little about Forever Living. 

Had you heard of Forever Living before? Ever tried any aloe vera products? 

Let me know in the comments section below.

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*This is a sponsored post. However as always, all opinions are 100% my own. Please see my full disclaimer for more info

Guilt free low fat burger recipe

Some of you may be aware, I'm currently trying to lose weight. Today I thought I'd share with you a guilt free low fat burger recipe, that I love to make when I'm in need of some comfort food. you would be amazed at the amount of calories shop bought burgers contain. This is a really simple recipe and tastes absolutely delicious. I hope you enjoy it :)

You will need: 

• 450g extra lean beef mince (5% Fat or less)

• 4 rashers of bacon

• 1 small onion, finely chopped

• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 1 tsp dried parsley

• 4 x 60g wholemeal rolls

• 2 light Dairylea cheese triangles

• Salt & pepper to season

• Frylight

• Handful of iceberg lettuce

• 1 large tomato  

1. Rinse the mince and break it up into a large mixing bowl.
2. Add onion, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, parsley and salt & pepper into the bowl and mix everything together.
   
3. Combine the mixture together, separate into 4 and shape each into a thin, flat burger. Cut all visible fat from the bacon rashers.
4. Preheat your grill to high. Place bacon and burgers on a foil lined tray and spray with Frylight
5. Grill for 3-4 minutes on each side, or until cooked to your liking.
   
6. To serve, spread Dairylea over halved bun and fill with burger topped with chopped lettuce & tomato 

And thats it. I really hope you enjoyed my guilt free low fat burger recipe! 

let me know if you give it a go.

Bon appetite :)

Purple makeup look for green eyes

 

As you all know my real passion is makeup. This hasn’t really been portrayed recently as my confidence has been low due to my acne. I was having a 'good' skin day so decided that I would film a makeup look for you whilst I was getting ready.

For those of you that don’t know, my favourite colour (besides black) of course, is purple. It just suits me of all colours and I think it’s really pretty and girly without being too much as I often find with pink. Purple eye shadow is the one, when it comes to making green eyes pop. Here is the look I created J




I really hope you enjoyed this video. If you havn't already go over and subscribe :)

♥

Favorite Posts of the Week #1

As you've probably noticed, I haven't been very present on social media over the past few months. You may or may not know that I was recently diagnosed with Acne, although I've only just been diagnosed I have however been suffering with the low self esteem as a backlash of this for a several months now. As you can imagine the thought of filming a video or posting anything that would include a picture of my face has been mortifying. I have been fortunate to be chosen to take part in the Sk:n Clinics Skin Challenge and am currently receiving treatment, so expect to see some selfies again soon.

Although I've not been publishing posts, Ive been reading them like mad and have discovered so many amazing bloggers. I did a post here on my top 5 bloggers at the minute. To get myself back into the swing of thing I thought I'd start by sharing with you some of the posts I've loved that week.

To kick things off lets talk food. you've gotta love a good food blog and Amuse Your Bouche is definitely up there in the top 5 for me, if your in need of a delicious simple vegetarian recipes this blog is for you. This week Becca posted a Prasorizo (greek rice with leeks) recipe that looks amazing. I can't wait to try it.

Last month I discovered Jenny Purr and oh my god is her blog amazing. She posts such insightful and useful things on such a wide spectrum of topics that I really think theres something for all of you. This week she posted 8 Ways To Stay Positive which really struck a chord with me. I love these types of posts at the best of times but this one came just at the right time. She also posted Building a Better Routine which is definitely something I need to do, her tips are simple yet effective and are definitely something I'm going to start implementing, or at least try to.

Another useful post this week was from A Little Opulent and it was all about Finding Your Creative Feet. If your in need of some inspiration or motivation to get you back into the swing of blogging this post will get you off to a great start.

Zoe London let us in on some of her Tips for Blogging Photography Backgrounds this week. I love a good post on photography tips, I could definitely use them so this was great. I love her creativity.

I haven't read a tips post in a long time where I've genuinely had a *gasp* reaction and gone running to try it out. When Design Love Fest posted the Little Life Lessons I thought I could expect to see some same old, but oh no these are real out there.. who knew putting a penny at the bottom of a vase made flowers last longer (I know, right?) go check it out its awesome.

Finally is a post that has inspired me and I'm contemplating joining. Its The Blog-Tember Challenge, basically Bailey has given an idea for something to write about everyday in September, I am seriously contemplating joining. It sounds so fun and would be a great way to get back into writing. If you fancy checking that out its over on Brave Love 

What posts have you been loving this week? share them in the comments below.

❤️

Summer Holiday Lookbook & Pictures - Mallorca 2014

Hi Lovelies,

If you follow me on Twitter you may know that I recently went on holiday to Mallorca with my family. It was lovely to spend some quality time with my nieces and nephews and on the evenings have a drink with my 2 gorgeous sisters :)

Whilst away I filmed a lookbook of all the outfits I wore, you can watch it below or head on over to my YouTube channel.



I thought I'd also include some of our Holiday snaps, sorry about the quality, these are taken on IPhones not my DSLR ...



Me with my Mom & Sisters

Our drunken night, we jumped in the pool 10 minutes later :)

My 2 Nephews and Neice

Lets jump in the pool he said.. it will be fun he said :(

3 Sisters

Me getting what we like to call a Raymond lecture ha

I saved a Moth :)

Me and my Neice Charlie

So that's it for holidays this year, except I am going camping this weekend to take the Doggies away :) were going to shell island so I will take lots of pictures to share.

Where have you been on your summer holiday this year?

Thanks so much for reading, I'll see you again soon

♥

One year blog anniversary

This time 12 months ago I was just starting out as a blogger .... again. Having had several blogs since around 2009 none of which I truly put my heart into, this time I was determined to stick it out. To celebrate a year of Eskay Beauty I thought Id look at the reasons I started this blog in the first place, the things I've achieved through my blog so far,  what I've learnt from it and what I want to accomplish over the next 12 months.

Why I started Blogging...

So here is where it gets a little deep, apologies in advance... when I was 14 back in 2006, I got 'jumped' (a gang of girls beat me up for no reason) and I sustained some pretty serious injuries not to mention the mental damage it inflicted. Because of this I spent the next three years glued to my computer during any spare time I had. At this time YouTube wasn't really a thing for makeup tutorials, it was mainly music covers. I was actually one of the first to watch some of Justin Bieber's covers and say "he'll be famous one day" (had to throw that in there HAHA) along with that I discovered the world of blogging and would sit up reading endless posts on healthy recipes, makeup routines and more. I decided to start my own called sophisorus, CRING!! That was one of about 5 over the last 6 years, none of which I took seriously. In those 6 years I discovered the world of Youtube and 'vlogging' and each time I started again, I would concentrate that little bit more.  I would watch videos from people like Carah Amelia and think 'I could do that' and with no one in 'real life' to share my passion with I wanted to meet like minded people to talk endlessly about make-up and such things. I watched a Nikki Phillip video last year and it really inspired me to just go for it. That's when Eskay Beauty was born :)

In my first year of blogging I have...

After about 3 months of blogging I got invited to my first ever blogger event by Next. If you've been with me from the beginning you may know about my battle with anxiety, so for me this was a HUGE deal. The Next Blogger Event was held at the Hoxton Hotel in London and was a day filled with so much useful knowledge from industry specialists and experienced bloggers, like Lily Pebbles and Anna from Vivianna does make-up. Here I met up with some lovely girls including Mel from Vintagetearoses and Holly from I2Style who I still keep in regular contact with and would now consider friends. Mel took me for a little tour around london and then we met up the following day to go to the event. It was amazing and so inspiring and really opened my eyes to the world of blogging.







I started talking to Abbi from Abbigayle Warner and we met up in Birmigham and had a day shopping and went for a coffee. It was a really nice day and we still keep in touch now. 

I then went to London for the Bloggers Lounge London Blogger Fashion Week with Holly from I2Style. We had a great evening meeting lots of lovely bloggers including Beth from Beauty in Beta and April from Beautiface 



The past year has been crazy exciting, and makes me so excited for where else my blog will take me.

What I've learnt from blogging...
Blogging has taught me so many things but I'd say the biggest thing I've learnt is to be myself. There are so may bloggers these days and it can be really hard to not duplicate what others have already done. I've learnt to not feel pressured to be the first to do something but just make sure I do it in my own way. Follow people you actually enjoy reading and watching or those who you have built genuine friendships with. Don't feel pressure to follow back everyone. There will be people who follow you and expect a follow back, if you don't they'll delete you. Let them. Concentrate on the people who love to read your content and the stats will look after themselves. When I first started blogging and I was constantly checking my follower count, I would always notice the un-follows and worry about what I was doing wrong, it's easily done. Now I try to concentrate on the people who actually communicate with me regularly through comments and on twitter. Don't get me wrong, stats are important and make you feel accomplished but don't let it possess your every thought.

What I want to accomplish over the next 12 months...
The biggest thing I'd like to do over the next 12 months is to complete organising and hold my first ever event, the #midlandsbloggermeet. If you haven't heard about it yet, you can read up on it here. I'm really looking forward to attending more blogger events and meeting lots more people and making friendships. I want to get super organised with blogging and post a lot more frequently and it would be amazing to reach 1000 followers this year :)

I thought I'd include all of my stats across all social media as a little reminder of where I am now and I can look back next year and reflect on how far I've come.

Bloglovin: 237
Members: 80
Google+: 68
Twitter: 700
Facebook: 203
Instagram: 818
YouTube: 61
Pinterest: 22

Making the decision to finally start this blog and follow through has been the best decision I've ever made. The past 12 months have been my best yet!

Thank you so much to each and every one of you. Here's to the next 12 months :)

♥
 

JOIN ME: 25 things I'm going to do this summer

Some of you may have seen Alfie Deyes from Pointless Blogs recent video. He pledged to do 25 things this summer, take pictures and write about them in a little notebook. Im a really sentimental, borderline cheesy person, so thought this was the best idea I'd heard for a while and was definitely in on it. With that said I went out, bought myself a pretty little notebook and spent all of last week coming up with the 25 things I'm going to do this summer.

So heres the plan. I'm going to list below the 25 things I'm going to aim to do over summer. For each one I'm going to take a picture and write about it in my little notebook and at the end of the summer ill have a little book filled with all my memories of summer 2014 that I can treasure forever :) awww. Along with that I'll be sharing them on here for you all to see what I got up to.

I thought it would be a great idea for us to all do this together. Whether you want to just make a pledge to try and do 25 things that get you outside and doing something different, or like me you want to write post about each thing you checked of your list. Maybe you just want to read them, either way we can all keep track together using the hashtag thats floating around - #25thingstodothissummer and it will be lovely to read about all the great things we've got up to, don't you think?

This summer I am going to:

1. Go on a rowing boat

2. Go camping

3. Feed ducks

4. Bake a cake

5. Watch the sun rise

6. Roast marshmallows

7. Build a sandcastle

8. Star gaze

9. Go on an adventure to somewhere new

10. Watch the sunset

11. Find a place, sit with a pad and draw

12. Have a water fight

13. Go to a zoo/safari park

14. Plant a flower in the garden

15. Have a BBQ

16. Write a pen pal

17. Go to a water park

18. Make my own ice lollies

19. Have a picnic

20. Take all my nieces and nephews out together

21. Go to a museum

22. Go on a bus to an unknown destination

23. Go on a bike ride

24. Go to an outdoor market

25. Volunteer

So theres the 25 things I'm going to do this summer. I think this is such a great idea to get me away from technology and doing something outside. Some of these things I might do together, either way ill be sure to update you as I do them :)

It would be great if we could get a little group of us together and I'd love to here what you want to do this summer. I thought it would be nice fore those wanting to take part to tag 5 people they'd like to see join in.

The people I tag are:

Erin
Holly
Jordan
Beth
Gemma

Please leave links below if you've done this, I'd love to here what your planning on getting up to ... x

My Top 5 beauty bloggers right now

Today I thought I'd share with you my top 5 beauty reads at the moment. I'm sure you can all relate when I say that there are a lot of bloggers I follow, but don't actually read every single post. There are however a few bloggers, who whatever they have to say I want to read because I can either really relate to everything they say or I maybe just like their writing style. Here are my top 5. let me know in the comments below who yours are

Beautiface Blog

April is actually my favourite blogger at the minute. This girls ability to write is just incredible, coupled with her talent for photography she makes an incredible blogger. You know when you see someone who just holds a camera in a way where your like 'damn, she knows what she's doing, I'll put mine away' Aprils that person. We briefly met at the London Blogger Fashion Week, she was whizzing around snapping away, yet the pictures on her post were amazing, like she'd spent way more than a second on them. she just has the eye. Jealous.com.

Technicalities aside, April has an ability to suck you in like no other. I love that she is so brutally honest and that really shines through, along with her humour. As well as all this, she also has some really useful posts with advise for things such as taking good blog photos, using your cameras, and overcoming bloggers block. All in all she is just fantastic and if you don't follow her you definitely should, your missing out.

Autumn Leaves

If you need a kick up the bum with organisation Rebecca is the blogger for you. I have some serious envy when it comes to being organised. I am just rubbish. As well as working Rebecca blogs daily and every single post is a must read for me. She shares product reviews, hauls as well as home posts and organisation ideas. She is so relatable because just like most of us she's juggling all of this as well as working and my god does she do it well.

Beauty in Beta

Beth was my first ever blogger 'friend' when I had no one else and was stuck for what to do on a trip to London, Beth was right on the case and private messaged me with some ideas. She is so friendly and relatable. She posts about everything from fashion to beauty and some lifestyle thrown in too. She is the creator of some really popular groups the latest being #healthyselves where we can all share are journey to get healthy physically and mentally. She's an SEO whizz and has some amazing tips and tricks up her sleeve. She's genuinely one of the nicest bloggers and definitely worth a read.

Maisy Meow

Eilidh is predominately a fashion blogger, however she does a lot of beauty posts too. Her blog is so sophisticated, her pictures do all the talking, they are just beautiful. I love her style and she seems so sweet through her writing that I can't help but read every one. As well as fashion and beauty she also includes some lifestyle posts. All in all her blog is so lovely to read and makes me want to really take control of my fashion.

Scarphelia 

Finally is Katie. Now this girl just screams TALENT. Her ability to write is just out of this world. Whenever I need some motivation or something to completely uplift me I head over to Scarphelia. Its like reading a continuous book. She is so philosophical and has such a passion for life that jumps out the screen at you and sucks you right in. You leave her posts and feel like you could take on the world. Definitely head on over and check her out. 

So there you have my top 5 bloggers at the minute. All of these are just brilliant and I honestly can't imagine my weeks without their posts.

Who are your top reads at the minute? Let me know in the comments below :)

Lost and found

Source

As you've probably noticed I've not been very present on my blog over the past month or two. I thought before I get back into posting I'd fill you in on where I've been. The long and short of it is, I needed a break. I've been blogging now for just over a year and in that time have met so many inspiring people and had some incredible opportunities, however, I feel that over the past few months I'd lost touch with why I started my blog and what it meant to me. 

It was actually the below video that sparked my decision to take a little break, its incredibly inspiring.

My main purpose for starting my blog was to meet like minded people who shared the same interests as me. To have people to talk to about my latest makeup crazes and to tell you all about products that I'm loving. as well as sharing experiences and it generally being my little journal.

I think I'd got a little wrapped up in the whole hype and was really starting to pressure myself about the times I was posting, worrying to much about consistency and not the content. Feeling like I had to write when actually this is my little space of the internet and anyone who likes my writing style will want to read what I have to say, regardless of when I post it. 

I do think I'ts important to have some consistency and will definitely be aiming for this but I've decided to not put so much pressure on myself going forwards :)

So theres a little update for you, I'm back to it and will be posting regularly again! keep an eye out for some new features soon too, I'm looking for someone to do some amendments to my current layout (I'm no good with these things).  If you know of anyone, please let me know in the comments.

I thought I'd leave you with a really inspiring video I saw yesterday, this guy really cheered me up :)

The perfect summer coat

Today I wanted to tell you about my successful conquest to find a summer coat (finally). Who needs a summer coat you might ask? Well any fellow british gals will know, our seasons are so unpredictable over here in the UK that you could be pulling out a summer dress in November and need a Winter jacket come June. This can be such a nightmare when your trying to keep up with the latest season trends, I for one am loving the jelly shoe craze at the minute, but here in the UK there isn’t enough opportunities to where them. 

Last Winter I bought two coats, one being a leather sleeved boyfriend style and the other a burgundy fitted coat with detachable fur collar, as you can imagine, they aren't really appropriate for spring/summer. When the weather is rubbish (which is quite often the case) you want a coat that is on trend and comfortable, without being to heavy but warm enough to take off the chill in the air and protect you from the rain. Typical british weather, ay. I searched everywhere for one that I liked but nothing really stuck out at me, after countless fitting rooms and online purchases then returns I had pretty much give up. 

When I was contacted by a representative at Joe Browns to check out there latest collection, I fell in love with this coat*. it is literally the perfect summer coat for me. 

The camel colour makes it perfect for summery outfits that are mainly bright colours or pale jeans, that said it also looks so smart and put together with some dark blue denim jeans. The floral detailing repeated on the cuffs and up the inner zip seam really adds a touch of femininity whilst still keeping it very versatile and casual.

Finally, lets just take a moment to appreciate this lining. I know its inside and you never get to see but isn't this just lush. I am a sucker for a good lining, it's a little like matching under wear. No one can see it but you know it's there and it makes you feel more confident. The added details of this coat really add to the quality of the piece.

Joe Browns offer a wide range of unique clothing for both men and women, if you haven't already checked them out I'd definitely recommend them. The service is 1st class. A huge thanks to them for sending me this coat, I can't believe after all the searching for the perfect summer coat I finally found one and I love it :)

Have you found your staple summer coat this season? If so where was it from?

     BLOGLOVIN  |  FACEBOOK  |  TWITTER | YOUTUBE 

*This coat was gifted to me from Joe Browns, as always all opinions are 100% my own

Top 5 spring nail polish picks

Most of you will know I'm a HUGE nail polish hoarder, I like to change up my nails regularly and love dabbling into nail art. Spring is usually one of my favourites for the colour trends and this year is no exception. I think the biggest colours this season is definitely blue and orange, the catwalk has shown a lot of variations of blue from dark royal to a more placid dusky tone, for orange its apparent the brighter the better. 

Of course pastels are so on trend as always. I'm especially loving the more blue/green shades. although we've seen a lot of poppy red from the catwalks, I must admit I find it hard to disassociate red from christmas haha.

Using some of the colours we've seen emerging from the runway this season I decided to pick my top 5 and find a nail polish to match. So here are my top 5 Spring nail polish picks:

Freesia
Definitely one of the more difficult shades of polish to pull of this season (YELLOW) but thats why I love this one so much. As you can see from the picture above, its bright yet very sheer. I LOVE this!! Its so on trend this spring and such a happy colour, so if your brave enough then go for it. With the gloomy weather in Britain it can be hard to really go hard with spring fashion trends as its so cold so this is the perfect shade to throw in some colour to a more muted outfit. This polish was actually bought on holiday in Portugal, when I head back in a few weeks I'm defiantly going to go have a look for some more shades from this brand.

Paloma
Cooler nudes are really in this season, which makes me a very happy girl. I'm a massive fan of grey so when Paloma came out as one of the top ten colour picks, I just knew it would be in this post. This shade from Beauty UK is absolutely gorgeous and will go with ANY outfit. I believe these polishes came in a set and were really REALLY inexpensive but the pigment in them is great, defiantly worth keeping an eye out for them.

Celosia Orange
Orange is MASSIVE this Spring/Summer, most designers have incorporated it in their runways and its really predominant on the hughstreet. This polish from Cristian Dior was actually my moms, it must be at least 10 years old but it still applies like a dream and is an absolutely gorgeous shade. The picture above doesn't really give you a true reflection of the shade but if you look up celosia orange you will see the exact colour I'm referring too.

Placid Blue
Again the picture above really doesn't give a true reflection of this shade, but if you look up placid blue you will know the colour I'm talking about. I adore this shade and every time I see an item of clothing in this colour I have to prise myself away (I'm currently losing weight so on a fashion ban (where possible)) haha. The colour is very flat and cool, and works great with brights such as red and orange. This definitely gets my colour of the year award (so far).

Radiant Orchid 
The final shade comes in the form of Radiant Orchid, sound like the name of a child these days doesn't it haha!! The polish I've chosen to represent this shade is a lot more nude than the actual colour but I really loved it and felt it was too purple toned to be under the Paloma category but the purple undertone definitely has a radiant orchid feel to it. This was picked up from a spa I visited a few weeks ago and I must admit I only got it because I had a voucher. Jessica polishes are normally just under £7 for this tiny bottle. I however had £5 of so I could justify the spend. I was so pleasantly surprised by the texture that I think ill defiantly be getting some more Jessica polishes in the future.

So there you have my top 5 nail polish picks this spring to go along with some of the top colour trends; Freesia, Paloma, Celosia Orange, Placid Blue & Radiant Orchid.

Whats your favourite colour trend this season, and which nail polish sums up Spring for you?

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April 2014 Favorites

Im back with my monthly favourites :) You might of noticed that I missed out my march favourites. If you didn't know, it was my birthday in March, so with lots of new beauty products that had me all excited, I felt my favourites would not have been an honest reflection of the month.

With that said, a few of the items I got for my birthday are featured in this months favourite now that I've had some time to really see which products I reach for regularly.

Urban Decay Naked 3

This is such a gorgeous pallet, and sooooo perfect for spring. The rose gold shimmery tones are just beautiful. I love the pigment in this pallet and the fact that it is so versatile and can give you a day, night or in-between look. Whatever your after this pallet can give you... bravo Urban Decay. You hit the jackpot again!!  

ModelCo Cosmetics Lipstick (Kitty)

The perfect spring time nude in my opinion. I really struggle to get the right balance between ink and peach toned nudes, I think primarily because my skin has a very pink undertone. This shade is just perfect for my skin tone. It does claim to be matte, which I don't agree with, I think its definitely more sheer but it is beautiful none the less. 

Lancome Teint Miracle (010)

I think this is definitely such an underrated foundation. I don't hear anyone in the blogging world talk about this product. It offers medium to high coverage and leaves your skin looking youthful and dewy. If you skin is normal/combination then this would be perfect for you. For me in the winter my skin is a little dry and so the foundation clings to dryer patched and in summer it can be a little oily through the T-Zone which does make the foundation slip but with a good primer it is brilliant. I use this more in spring an autumn and absolutely love it! 

Chella Highlighter Pencil

So after watching tutorials last year I went out and purchased a white eye liner. BIG mistake haha. I looked pretty damn awful!! So with that disaster behind me I must admit I was a little disappointed when I received this in recent Birchbox. I decided to give it a whirl anyway and was pleasantly surprised. This definitely makes you look more youthful and awake, the look I was trying to get when I purchased the white liner. So if you have tried white and failed, I'd defiantly give nude a go. This is actually for use on the skin also so is great for highlighting bridge of nose and brow bone. BONUS!

Heal Gel*

Having read up what to expect on their website I was intrigued to see what this product had to offer, I was honestly very sceptical about this product. As you may know since giving up smoking I've had some SERIOUS breakouts, from which I've been left with some dark spots and pigmentation issues. although breakouts are still occurring they are really starting to calm down and with the help of Heal Gel the pigment issues is really fading. Ive been loving this stuff this month. 

Epsom Salts

Perfect for de-stressing and relaxing. I got these from my boyfriend for my birthday after recommendation from Tanya Burr. Having battled anxiety for over 3 years, I always find it hard to relax and unwind. These sounded absolutely amazing, and I couldn't be more impressed with them. I have no idea how they do, but they simply relax your muscles and really give you mental clarity. These are honestly fantastic.

Here is the video for my monthly favourites if you fancy hearing me have a bit more of a chat about all the products.

I really hope you enjoyed my monthly favourites. Please leave me a comment below and let me know your favourites this month.

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Update your wardrobe: Autumn/Winter to Spring/Summer

The older I get, the more my organising (borderline obsessive) tendencies seem to make an appearance. I've never really been one to bother with the change in seasons, but with social platforms such as Instagram throwing amazing fashion down your neck, its hard not to get sucked in, especially when you live in a world full of blossoming fashionistas. This year, I decided to 'get with it' and transition my wardrobe from Autumn/winter to Spring/Summer. Unfortunately this means my beloved 'go with anything' knee boots were banished to the under-bed shoe draw, meaning I have no choice but to choose more fashion/season appropriate items. Heres what I did to update my wardrobe from Autumn/Winter to Spring/Summer.

Empty my complete wardrobe

Yes you heard right, regrettably I emptied my ENTIRE wardrobe, I have to do this so I don't stop halfway through, something I do way too often. Below is what my wardrobe looked like before its makeover..

I always keep my most worn shoes on my top shelf in my wardrobe, it makes it easy for me to decide what goes with my outfit and then when I get home just put them back, rather than having to open my under-bed shoe draw. 

As you can see my wardrobe was very dark and grungy. Lots of magenta, leather sleeves and plaid patterns. Not at all fitting with the changing seasons.

Get out last Summer's

For me, one thing I am pretty good at is putting all my swimsuits and dresses in a suitcase and storing them under the bed. For no other reason, other than the fact my wardrobe simply doesn't have space for it all. So its time to get the boyfriend under the bed and drag all of that out too :) once I have everything out its time for...

FASHION SHOWWWW!!

This was by FAR the best part of this long and tedious process, I spent a good few hours trying EVERYTHING on. I blasted some of my favourite tunes and had a good ol' time parading up and down my upstairs hallway putting on my very own fashion show haha. Every item I tried on I assigned a pile.

Sell, Store, Salvation

Like I said, after trying on every item I assigned it a pile. Sell, Store and Salvation. Pretty self explanatory. Any items that I've worn to much, don't fit, are out of season or I've just changed my mind about (something I do A LOT) they all go to the sell pile. Any items that I love, but are not really season appropriate but will come back in next year, go in the store pile. Then I have a pile of 'not good enough to sell, to good to throw away' items, these all went to my chosen charity. The Salvation Army.

Wash, Dry & Iron

Definitely the worst part of this process. All the items from the suitcase full of Spring/Summer items, had been sat in suitcase for 12 months so definitely needed a freshen up. I put them on a fast 30 degree wash, dried them and then had to sit and iron them Eurghhh!!

Finally

Once thats all out of the way, its time to put all your season appropriate items on display.

And here is the finished product. It was one hell of an ordeal but I'm so glad I did it. Waking up every morning and looking at this array of colour certainly gets me in the mood for a productive day. If only the weather would agree with this. Damn you British weather. 

So with all of that organised the only things left to do are...

Ebay run: All the items in your sale pile, upload them to Ebay and make some of that holiday spending money. Its amazing how much you can earn from some clothes you would otherwise throw 

away.

Pack it up: The 'store' pile needs to be packed and hidden under the bed in a suitcase ready for next year. For me all my shoes go in my under bed draw. 

Charity delivery: I delivered all the items no longer wanted to the salvation army who were very thankful for my donation.

And voila..

Thats exactly how I transformed my wardrobe from Autumn/Winter 2013 to Spring/Summer 2014. It honestly feels great to be so organised.

Have you changed out your wardrobe yet? Whats your staple item this Spring/Summer?

P.S What do you think to the bigger font? keep it or go back? let me know in the comments below :) 

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