Well I am looking forward to the Royal Wedding tomorrow. We aren't having a street party or anything extravagant but will be camped out on the sofa watching the live coverage, hopefully with a glass of pimms in hand!
I thought I would do a nail design in honour of the royal festivities, its very patriotic and simply just a bit of fun!
A perfect match for my Kate Middleton ring!
A bit of added sparkle!
To get this look I used Alpine Snow from OPI, Indigo (312) from Barry M, Red and White nail art paints and some nail gems.
Take a look at my tutorial to see how to get this look!
I wouldn't normally have union jacks on my nails but if ever I was going to do it now seems like as good a time as any!
Have you guys done any wedding inspired nail designs? let me see if you have!
If you are celebrating the Royal Wedding I hope you have a great day full of festivities!
So this is the final part of my 60's inspired series which means today I am bringing you a Big hairstyle!
Hairspray and back combing were two essentials when it came to hairstyles back in the 60's and I have used plenty of them to bring you my look today. Its very simple to do and literally takes 5 minutes!
The main part of this style is the volume and to achieve that I back combed in a "U" shape around the top of the head so that it gives a look of fullness over the whole head rather than just the back. The key to back combing is to be rougher than you think you should, it will brush out so don't panic! Doing this to the hair will give volume and hold the style in place.
I have naturally wavy hair so I used that wave with in the style but you could create a neater version by keeping your hair straight too!
All you need to recreate this look is a comb, hairspray, hair clip, straighteners or curling tongs and a hair band or scarf to add the finishing touches.
Take a look at my tutorial video to see how to recreate this look!
In my opinion an outfit is never complete until you have added your accessories, which is good as bangles are back!!
One of this seasons key accessories are bangles and plenty of them, I have always been a fan of bangles so I now find myself back on trend which is always good news! One of my favourite places to pick up some bargin bangles is primark, with prices ranging from £1 to £2.50 you could buy a few to complete your stack!
A small selection from my collection of bangles!
I used to think I could only wear one pretty thing at a time so would carefully choose my accessory of the day, but my sister was the opposite and would wear lots of pretty things at the same time, so one day I thought to myself, whats good for her is good for me so I gave it a try and stacked em high! Finally I was liberated from my accessory rut!
Mix colours, textures and sizes together, You can add you watch in to the mix too or just keep it simple!
I was recently given these two for my birthday, they are massive and I love them, perfect for summer!
Have you seen any you thing I should rush out and get? Do you love bangles as much as I do? If you do send me some pictures and let me see your stacks!
Todays post brings you part two of the Hairspray/60's inspired series!
I wanted to create a nail design that was inspired by the 60's but had a modern day twist, so I came up with two!
Psychedelic is one word that pretty much sums up a lot of the patterns that were used in the 60's, one of the designs I have created is taken from a black and white mod style dress that is a well know design from back in the day! Using colour in blocks and creating a reverse mirrored effect with them seems to have been the trend, so that is the look I decided on!
The first design was created using a black and white nail varnish and black and white nail art paints. If you wanted to make it slightly more festive you could use a glitter nail art paint too. The nail varnishes I chose were Alpine Snow and My Private Jet both are from OPI. With this design you can do each nail the same of make them all different, as the key trend was a bit zaney if you make any little mistakes it will probably add to the design! Take a look at my tutorial to find out how to recreate this look!
For the second design I used Konad design plate M63 (take a look at my Konad blog for more info) to create a colour blocking effect, I used a white nail art paint on top of Big Apple Red from OPI.
I hope that you all like these designs, If you try them out or have any of your own 60's inspired designs I would love to see them so please send me some pics!
me and my mama! (kind of!)
need to practice me photography
skills!
I'm sure most of you have heard of the Garra Rufa Pedicure, it's a fairly new treatment that's sweeping the beauty industry! Well yesterday I had the chance to try one out, I went with my mum to a the spa Rookery Manor, where we were to have a garra rufa pedicure and use of the spa (unfortunately due to still being on crutches I wasn't able to use the spa).
This treatment is actually carried out by tiny little fish which have been nick named 'doctor fish'. These amazing little fish originally came from Turkey, but back in 2006 a spa was opened in Japan and the garra rufa pedicure became a must have treatment, after that many other countries followed suit and it soon became a treatment that was available pretty much world wide!
The idea behind plonking your feet in to a fish tank, is that the hungry fish will nibble away at the dead skin cells on your feet and leave you with smoother skin! As the fish only feed on dead skin they have also been used as part of the treatment process for psoriasis in some countries!
This is definitely one of the strangest treatments I have ever tried but once you got used to the strange sensation it was fine! The hardest part was initially putting your feet into the tank, my mums advice would be not to look, just put your feet in! It is definitely a strange feeling, the best way to describe it is, it feels as if something is vibrating under your feet. The fish nibble away at any skin that is in the water so our legs got a bit of fishy exfoliation too!
here you can see the fish nibbling away!
Who would have thought sitting with your feet in a fish tank would take off!
I definitely noticed that my feet felt softer this morning so the clever little fish worked their magic on my not so lovely feet! I'm not sure it will be something I would do regularly but I definitely think it's something you should try at least once!
I'm really excited about the Blogs and videos I am doing this week! I have a three part series planned, all based around the style from the 1960's!
Last week I went to see Hairspray at the hippodrome and it was amazing! I watched the film about four years ago with a friend and we loved it, so when my mum asked me last September if I wanted to go and see the musical, it was an immediate YES!! So the day finally came around and it didn't disappoint one bit, in fact it was even better than I had imagined! The clothes were bright and colourful, the Make Up was striking and the hair was BIG (good job they had lots of hairspray!! sorry I couldn't resist!).
I was mesmerized by the whole thing and it got me thinking about how I could bring that style back up to date? So I decided I would do just that, and make a three part series, and bring you a Make up, Nails and Hair tutorial!
So this weeks Make Up Monday kicks it off, and I have created a 60's inspired Make Up look that will suit pretty much anyone.
To recreate a 60's style eye make up you will need three eye shadows, a light one and two darker ones. I have used a pallet from 'Front Cover' which is made up of a silver, dark purple and black.
Ensure you use a primer over the lid to ensure you have an even base to work on, I use Benefit's 'lemon aid'.
You will also need a black eye liner, ideally a liquid and khol, my favourite one at the moment is from New ID Cosmetics and is a double ended applicator, the liquid liner is like a felt tip so is really easy to use!
As well as the black eye liner you will need a white one too, in the 60's they used white liner along the water line of the bottom lid to give a really clean look and it also gives the illusion of bigger eyes!
One of the best parts of this look is the false eye lashes! And it seems it was a case of the bigger the better back in the day! I always use DUO eye lash adhesive, its holds the lashes in place really well and is easy to remove.
Use a jet black mascara, especially on the bottom lashes.
Another 60's trend was to have very defined eye brows, not only arched but long too! To get this look use a flat ended brush to fill in the brow and then with the excess left on the brush make the brow longer by carrying the line further down towards the corner of the eye.
Use a blusher to emphasise your cheek bones. My trick is to suck your cheeks in and use an angled blush brush to contour along the lower part of the cheek bone. This will give the illusion of a longer, thinner face!
My favourite blusher is Dallas from Benefit.
And to finish the look choose a baby pink lip gloss. I love this one from MAC in Frozen Dream!
This is a look you could wear as a day time look (maybe use a slightly less dramatic set of false lashes!) and for he evening just darken it up a little.
I had intended to put photos on here for you to see the finished look in a bit more datail, but unfortunately I had a few technical issues with them!! But you can see it in my YouTube video where I have a I have a full tutorial waiting for you!
I really hope you all like this look. If you give it a try send me some photos on twitter or facebook, i would love to see!
Im sure that many of you will be hitting the shops over the weekend, and if you are planning on buying any skincare products I have a definite must have item for you!
My skin was in desperate need of some tlc so I thought I will try a new moisturiser and see if that helps. Now I have to say I don't normally buy skin care products from the chemist, but i have noticed a lot of people on Twitter and YouTube mentioning their drugstore bargins so I thought I would see if I could get a decent moisturieser on a budget (which was £10)!
I am a retailers dream, I am completely attracted to pretty packaging so when I saw the Soap and Glory boxes lined up calling my name I had to have a look. I love this product range and you may have read in an earlier blog that I was given a massive S&G tote which had a huge amount of body and bath products in for Christmas! But now i'm looking for Facial skin care and thats a completely different ball game! Well I picked up Glow Job, Daily Radience Moisture Lotion, I read the box and decided I would give it a go, it sounded good, looked pretty and was with in my budget at £8.17 (which when i got to the check out it was on offer at just over £5! which gave me enough change to buy something else - watch out next week to see what it was!).
Well, pleased is an understatement, I am completely amazed, This product is pure brilliance in a tube! My skin is super soft and hydrated and actually looks fresh and glowy! One of the main features of this moisture lotion is Bronzeburst which are tiny little beads that when rubbed together burst open with bronzing agents which as a result give your skin an extra dose of radiance! This isn't one of those daily build up tan/moisturisers, it is a daily moisturising lotion that gives you a one day glow. You only need a pea sized amount so its going to last ages and it smells great too!
The tiny bronzeburst beads!
My beauty must have!
Now that i've tried this product and loved it so much I will definitely be working my way through the rest of the range, and will be sharing the results with you! Let me know if you have any favourites from S&G that you think I should try or if there are any of the products you would like me to try out and review.
With Colour Blocking being majorly on trend at the moment I find myself completely panicked by the thought of bypassing my black top in exchange for an orange one and then popping on a pink blazer so I can consider myself part of the fashion craze sweeping the nation this spring, so I thought I would find another way to stay at the fore front of fashion!
My inspiration for colour blocking my nails came from reading Kandee Johnson's blog! One of her friends Romee had painted her nails and they looked great so I decided I would put my own creative spin on this design and place myself back with in the fashionable crowd (whilst wearing my black top of course!).
To get this look I used OPI's Suzy and the life guard (light pink) and Shorts Story (dark pink) and for the detailing I used a white nail art pen. This design would work with any colour so you could switch it up and experiment! For a tutorial on this look take a look at my YouTube channel!
I hope you all like this design, and if you try it out i would love to see!
Over the weekend here in Bristol the weather was amazing! Great weather for a wedding some could say, which was great as a good friend of mine was attending a wedding on Saturday and had asked me to help her with her hair. Her original request was that she wanted to look natural but groomed and she was going to find an accessory for a bit of added glamour! Now knowing Sarah as I do, I know she has impeccable taste and a flair for style that not many of us can pull off so when I heard "Hair Accessory" I knew it probably wouldn't be just any old hair clip!
About two months ago I received a very excited text about a fascinator Sarah had bought followed by a picture, as I predicted it was like nothing I had ever seen before and the best way to describe it was It'sso Sarah!! So armed with my kit and my super stylish mum (as my styling assistant for the morning!) we set off to Sarah's where I would finally see the 'hair accessory' and it did not disappoint!
(see i told you...not just any old hair clip!)
This beautiful fascinator is aptly named 'I love Paris' and yes that is an Eiffel Tower you can see, it's gold and has a single diamonte on the very top, the base is a deep plum colour with matching plum net and a pretty pink flower adding an extra pop of colour. The whole thing is on a head band which is very thin which made it easy to hide under the hair.
Sarah's hair didn't need much styling, I simply straightened it, a bit of back combing for added volume and a good coating of hair spray, then all that was left to do was pop on her gorgeous coral Karen Millen dress and matching Christian Louboutins and the stylista was ready!
One of the things I admire so much about Sarah is her fabulousness (if thats even a word!?), whether she's wearing her beloved designers or beautiful bargins the one thing that always shines through is her confidence, and that is one thing I think we should all have!
So next time your going to a wedding, choosing an outfit for a special occasion or for every day why not choose something different, quirky and gorgeous? Your style options are endless!
The countdown to the Royal Wedding is upon us (22 days and counting BTW), and it's hard to flick through a magazine or watch the TV with out seeing coverage about street parties, wedding dress predictions or which palace will they live in!
Some people may think 'who cares' but the majority of Brits, and it seems most of the world will be tuning in on April 29th to see the lavish nuptials of our potential future King, and I will be one of them!
I cant wait to see what dress Kate Middleton swishes down the isle in, will she come in a horse drawn carriage, how will her hair be styled?? The questions (and speculations) are endless.
The 'Kate Middleton' style seems to have swept the nation, and with homage's to her style in all the shops I guess it is fairly easy to feel a little bit like the modern day princess, especially with the little beauty i found!
This replica of Kate's engagement ring, was from Primark and cost £2.00! its a bright sapphire blue (the picture doesn't pick that up so much) and sparkles so much its hard not to feel royal whilst wearing it!
One of the things I've noticed about Kate's style is that it's elegant but simple, and that carries through to her nails. I have picked out two nail colours from OPI that would be a perfect accompaniment to keep the focus on your bling!
'Heart Throb' Is a natural pink which works really well for the barely there look with one coat or becomes more baby pink with two.
'Tickle My France-y' is a nude colour that is very on trend
Both these varnishes work well and will suit everyone, and are very 'Kate Middleton'!! So if like me you are still waiting for your prince charming to come along, why not pop to primark and pick up one of these gorgeous rings to wear until you get the real thing!
Last week I painted my nails with a Hounds Tooth Check, which I think looked really striking!
Traditionally this check is black and white, but I chose a dark plum colour from OPI in 'Black Cherry Chutney' and then used a white nail art paint to stamp the design on top. I used a Konad Design plate M63.
Hounds Thooth Check using 'Black Cherry Chutney' from OPI
This is all you need to recreate this design!
For a step by step guide to recreating this look take a look at my tutorial video!
I hope you like this design, if you have any design ideas let me know i would be happy to try them out!
For those of you who don't know about these little beauties, I can almost guarantee you will want them after you read this!
I love nail art and have been doing free hand designs on my beauty clients for about ten years, but there is always the odd thing i can picture in my head that I can't quite perfect on peoples nails......that was until now!!
I discovered Konad Nail Art at the beginning of the year and am now obsessed with doing my nails with different designs!
Konad Nail Art is a stamping tool which enables you to create stunning nail art designs that are as simple or as detailed as you like, it is really easy and doesn't take much time either. You can can get these products directly from Konad or you can source them from other sites ( i got mine from eBay).
This is the double ended stamping tool and scraping tool that are the essential pieces of kit that you need. You can also get a image plate holder but i personally don't think you need to have that.
These are the three design plates that I chose to get first but I'm more than certain I will be purchasing a lot more!
As you can see from just this one plate you have six separate designs, the possibilities are endless!!
The best thing about using this form of nail art is that you can achieve results that look very much like Nail wraps such as minx but with out the cost!
If any of you already use Konad please send me some pictures, I would love to see your designs or if any one would like to see a specific design let me know, i would be happy to try them out and show them on here!
