the nail art update: overload

Well well well.. it's been a few weeks since I wrote the weekly nail art update I enjoy doing so much. I do apologise for my recent absence but I have valid excuses. I am leaving London this weekend and so have been saying my goodbyes to my favourite parts of this lovely city and ticking things off my London Bucket List ready to leave. As well as this I have been tackling mice and partying hard - as you do.

While I have been away I have had a few different nail designs. One good, one average, one I don't like anymore! In my attempt at the July Californails Nail Art Challenge 39037th month in a row I failed and managed 2! But I guess God loves a trier right?

So given that I haven't much of a tutorial like I planned, I am going to keep this post nice and visual...

I'm a lover not a hater (well..) .. but I think I might hate this design. I thought it was super cute and simple at first but my opinion on it slowly declined. It was part of the nail art challenge and I did it whilst watching American Dad in the dark! - so good effort but I think it could have been much much better!

Going for gold is one thing intend to do in life, and I LOVE my gold nail polishes (I have a few glitter and just plain shiny like this one). This design I really like and can see myself doing again and again in variations and different colours, all I used was two sizes of a dotting tool and two shades of gold/cream polish. And tah dah! Easy peasy!

Slurple the Purple... Hehe couldn't think of anything purple related!... This is a new design for me and a good first attempt - I did rush with my top coat as it was so late and I was tired! But my advice  with doing dark colours on top of light is WAIT UNTIL ITS TOTALLY DRY. Honestly, you will regret it if you rush it and ruin your design! Generally though I enjoyed doing these nails, the inverted moon is new for me and I am getting a good feel for negative space now :)

I am dying to get thinner nail art brushes as well and have them on my wishlist for after my trip to Thailand! Where I will be backpacking for a month finding fun beauty ideas and Thai tricks to put on here in dingy internet cafes! So keep your eyes peeled for those posts in August! x

French Connection A/W Launch Party

There is no jazzy pun title on this post because you all need to know exactly what I am talking about straight away! I am not a fashion blogger but I am a fashion marketing student and so I do have a huge interest in fashion, like most girls but slightly elevated. I follow fashion weeks and with my PR/Marketing brain break down every campaign in the industry - and I enjoy it. This week I was invited by a friend, rather last minute, to a wonderful event for the launch of the French Connection Autumn/Winter range and campaign.

My initial thought was - 'Oh no! Look at what I'm wearing!'. I have spent the entire day walking and tubing around London doing POS checks for work in my Rebook classics with an old pair of frilly Topshop socks and a vintage dress I was sweating through that probably cost me all of a fiver. I was sticky and not too excited at this point. So I popped to Primark bought myself some ballet pumps, confined myself to the Westfield White City loos to backcombed my flat hair, slick on the mascara, concealer, eyeshadow and lippie to make myself look more like a girl without a care than a girl without a towel at the gym - I was ready to go.

The event itself was really exciting - I walked in to the Oxford Street store to be embarrassed by friend at the door (I won't elaborate as to why so she doesn't kill me in my sleep for exposing her) and once we sorted her out we waltzed in like we thought we were the belles of the ball. Up the stairs and past the photographer and branded backing board we entered the mini makeshift hallway into an open room full of beautiful models. Everywhere I looked were chiseled cheekbones, perfect eyeliner, blow-dried hair - on trend men and women that looked like they had just stepped out the pages of Vogue... Need I say I felt my height was my only advantage in this room of beauties, it was fabulous.

Next thing I knew - I have a super strong vodka and juice in my hand and was gabbing away with my friends about which man was the most beautiful (shame the majority were certainly gay - not that we had much of a chance!). This is were it got interesting, a few vodkas later in came Nick Grimshaw to DJ, then I was told Azealia Banks had just been and gone, next I turned around to totally deny to myself that Jourdan Dunn (a personal favourite) walked through the door, to then be told 'No- it really is her Abi!', bumped into someone called Luke from the X Factor on my way back from the bar (not a huge follower, forgive me but all I remember is her never washed his hair) and so after all that excitement I spent the night staring at model who's skin looked like caramel and cheekbones could cut you. Perfect evening.

Aside from being star struck the campaign itself I loved! The theme 'Never Miss a Trick' and hashtag Abrafcukingdabra says it all. A magician doing tricks on camera, surrounded by magicians props, top hats filled with sweets and playing cards is all you need to know. As for the clothes, gorgeous, typically FCUK - simple, tailored clothes and  stunning shades of blue (I spotted a lovely wool oversized coat I would love to have hanging in my wardrobe) were what caught my eye. Through the blur of the vodka (thank you French Connection) it was a brilliant range and campaign and event overall. I had a ball.

Check out the fantastic range and campaign yourself by clicking here. 

And enter their £1000 shopping spree competition here by 31st Aug!

rainbow lips for pale girls

Taking a break from my 500 products of summer today I am going to review some lipsticks. The first set from Makeup Revolution aa affordable brand that explores colours I couldn't have seen coming. The second GOSH lip lacquers I have been using a couple of for a while and I thought I would review the whole set. I wanted to concentrate on how these lipsticks suit my skin colour because sometimes I see pale girls wearing that just aren't the right shade for them.

MAKEUP REVOLUTION SCANDALOUS LIPSTICKS

I have been seeing Makeup Revolution all over the blogger community and so I looked them up online and saw their limited edition scandalous lipstick range was on offer for £5 for all 5 lippies, how could I saw no? Incredible colours with incredible names. From the stop:

Crime: A gorgeous deep purple/pink shade, that goes on perfectly and is such a lovely colour for girls with pale skin. Love it.

Vice: A bright tangerine shade, goes on quite nicely and is a current trend for this summer so perfect if you are after a catwalk look. It didn't drown me out as I expected, I probably wouldn't wear it too often. An occasion lipstick for me.

Depraved: Almost a violet colour, something I've not tried before as I normally wear a darker purple but I really loved this shade, it matched my orange hair! But unfortunately it didn't stick very well to my inner lower lip :(

Felony: Yellow lipstick. YELLOW! I didn't like this lipstick at all I'm afraid. It completely drowned me out and was really difficult to get an even colour!

Immoral: Or as I like to call it Ichiban! Lipstick for men! I LOVE this, but more as a gimmick lipstick than a serious one - it also was quite difficult to apply.

Overall, I like the lipsticks for their price (usually a £1 each). They don't last that long but are easy to apply and are rich in colour! I would definitely buy more.

GOSH COSMETICS LIP LACQUERS

I love the brand GOSH, I have a lot of their nail polishes mainly, so I tested their lip lacquers that were launched earlier this year. These charming little nail polish style pots of gloss are lovely and smell lovely. I only picked colours that suit my skin.

Hot Lips: This shade isn't to harsh a red, it's soft and gentle. A perfect red for during the day.

Dangerous Lips: I love this red, it's great for evening drinks. It stays, but doesn't stain your lips. And its a nicer colour than the picture shows!

Sweet Lips: I wasn't sure about this shade, I don't normally wear pale pinks in light of the face I am pale but I like this lipgloss. It is really soft, not thick or sticky.

Other lipsticks and colours I am liking at the minute are Clinique's Chubby Stick in Super Strawberry (a deep pink) , MUA's Lipstick in Shade 1 (a really dark deep red) and GOSH Velvet Touch Lipstick in Yours Forever (a dark deep pink - almost red).

500 products of summer (almost!) part 2: everything

I really couldn't nail a theme for the products I selected for this post. I wanted to do the 5 senses until I realised tasting and hearing beauty products wasn't really as possible as I thought it would be. I also then realised i had originally decided to only do 2 posts so had to cram everything in - Now the 500 products of summer posts will be a 4 parter of colours, everything, nail art and protection. Hope you are as excited as I am!

Summer for my face...

will be hopefully as exciting as summer gets for a face. I have a lot of products I use for my face, I try to keep them pretty regular so not to disturb the PH balance or get a reaction to new products but I do love to try new things! (Hence why we are all here today). I have added a few new and exciting products to my face routine such as oils, day creams and masks but I picked these products as they were specific to my summer needs.

In the summer my face gets quite red and warm - meaning it sweats! - so I have to protect my make up. I try not to wear a lot in the summer but when you have work and then parties and birthdays and dinners and nights out planned you can't not put on a bit of tutti. To make sure my make up sets and stays where it is I have started using UR Cheeky Freeze Frame, which is a makeup setting spray. I never knew these existed until a few months ago, I used to use hair spray to set my make up as I am sure most of us do - but I can only imagine that that is terrible for your skin. This spray is light and non sticky (unlike Asda's own extreme hold hairspray) and actually does the trick of keeping my foundation and eyeshadow pretty perfect for longer!

To wipe away the end of the day make up we all love so much I have started using these Vitamin E by Superdrug Facial Cleansing Wipes - I LOVE these wipes due to my ever talked about appreciation of Vitamin E with all it's healing qualities, and the fact they smell gorgeous. I have taken a step away from my long routing, these are much easier and quicker for cleansing after a long day at work.

Shiny & sleek strands 

Once I have a hair cut my hair will be in perfect condition for now I have to take extra care of my dry ends and dull colour, i am dying for a trim (it's only been 7 months eek). To keep my hair perfect this summer I will use a lot of sleeking and shining and taming products alternatively, depending on how my hair feels. It's an ad hoc kinda deal. My current favourite product for my hair is Color Wow's Pop & Lock, which is perfect for summer - it is a just-in-time addition to my dressing table. This crystallite shellac is different to your regular hair serums as they would normally sit on hair, where as this non sticky shellac sinks in and protects the hair from toxins while blocking out toxic bits and bobs (we don't need technical terms here!). It makes your hair shiny and sleek like you have just stepped out the hairdressers. I use it pre-blow dry on wet hair and give myself a salon style blow dry for the best results, but you can put it on dry hair and dry it through roughly with a brush too if you prefer.

Skin that is ready for the sunshine...

No matter how pale. Aside from the obvious protection (which I will elaborate on in my next 500 products post) my skin has to have extra special treatment during the summer. Starting with cleansing, in the summer I use a creamy and milky shower gel as apposed to my usual clear fruity ones because my skin can get quite dry when it it dries after a shower I have to give it as much moisture as I can, this summer I have got (the same as last year!) Soap & Glory Clean On Me Creamy Shower Gel. It has a lovely orange scent to keep me fresh and summery smelling and a creamy and silky texture and built in body lotion that leaves my skin feeling utterly gorgeous.

After I have showered with this in shower gel I still need to moisturise to lock in the nourishment, here I will be using Nip + Fab Yoga Blend Body Lotion with yummy and scrummy lavender, coconut and rose. It's really lightweight so perfect for summer, and I tend to shower in the evening in the summer so it's unwinding and de-stressing lavender scent will help me wind down after an exciting day in the sun!

My skin can dry out over night too in the summer annoyingly so I can loose some of that lovely silkiness from my evening lotion, so to wake me up for my day and keep my skin refreshed and nourished I will use Aromatherapy Associates Revive Body Gel. This fragrant gel sins into the skin so quickly and wasn't at all as thick and gloopy as I first expected, it's so easy to apply and soothes the skin as well as evening out my skin tone and texture (sounds lovely doesn't it?)

Don't let those cuticles dry out

I have to keep on top of mositurising my hands in the summer, but I always manage to get dry and flaky cuticles (not pretty when you take so many pictures of your nails). I will be using the wonderful Sally Hansen Gel Cuticle Remover, it has a built in pusher tip so you don't need all the tools of the trade to keep your cuticles perfect. it is so easy to use - it makes manicures easy and keeps my cuticles looking very pretty.

Hairless legs

Avoiding waxing my own legs after waxing my friends I turn to the second best thing in hair removal. Veet hair removal cream is miraculous, it gets rid of all the hairs so quickly. I put it on before my shower as I have still not mastered the in-shower hair removal cream routine (it just comes off, or I am stood there like a naked melon in the shower for 10 minutes with no way of timing myself - i don't get it). So, on it goes before I ditz around playing on my phone, making a hot hot coffee for after my shower or whatever pleases you then bish bash bosh silkiest legs I've ever had!


So there we have it, part two. What is on your summer products list?

the nail art update: gel polish & birthday nail art

It has been a while hasn't it? I want to say over a week but it kills me that I have neglected my little blog! 

So here is a nail art update for you all featuring the nails I did for my 21st birthday and my new favourite ail polish find!

Red swirls with negative space

This isnt't the best picture, but to get this effect I used one of my favourite techniques. Use two polishes one a the top, one at the bottom and use a small dotting tool to swirl the colours into each other.

I did these nails for my birthday party back home which was amazing! For the first time I used a clear polish to creative a negative space in this design, and I loved it! I used GOSH Cosmetics nail polish in Lambada (a stunning harsh red)

New glittery polish!

I own a lot of glittery polishes and for my birthday my best friend got me some more! (cause she knows me so well) and so I did a lovely but simple design with the red one (evidently I love red).

I love this colour polish, it's so much fun. It went perfectly with my new Maybelline Super Stay Gel Polish in Berry Stain which brings me onto my next polishes..

Maybelline Super Stay Gel Polishes

I LOVE THESE POLISHES! I have tried a couple of random Gel polishes from other brands and liked the results, I much prefer them obviously as they last longer. But these ones are the best I have tried, the clear I can use over any design so make it stay more than two days and the Berry Stain is one of my favourite shades. It's quite dark and rich, which I love in a polish. (you can see a swatch in the image above)

I highly recommend them to people who have chipped nails quicker than they like, or those of you who get a shellac manicure as they stay just as long. I applied mine on Monday night and they were still perfect by Sunday - this never happens to me!

June Nail Art Challenge

I always take up the nail art challenges by Californails and promise myself and my followers I will do them but NEVER do. This month I am really inspired by some of the challenges and I am actually setting alarms on my phone so I don't forget to do as many as possible! I must say.. Challenge Accepted.

See you soon for my next round of summer essentials :)