A Christmas Gift for *Nearly* Everyone

Don't get too worried, this isn't the beginning of a hundred gift guides. "Gift guides for your cat." NICE. I picked myself this little set up last week and couldn't help but share it. I'm sure there's not many people that wouldn't love receiving it, its elegant, pretty, and simply one of the best mascaras out there. 

This set is priced at the same price as the mascara alone, so the value for money is amazing. With the sleek packaging and bonus product, it will look like a much better (and more expensive) gift than just a mascara. The dinky little palette is a neutral one called Montaigne with both warm coral and brown tones. Pretty much my perfect kind of eye colour.

I confessed my love for Dior's Iconic Overcurl AGES ago, and you can catch that here if you're interested, but don't laugh. 

It's currently available for £22.05 on Debenhams website, including their 10% off. If you're stuck for a gift for any woman, I can guarantee that they will love this! Happy Christmas shopping...

The six BEST nail polishes

It's hard whittling down what your favourite polishes are when you have a large collection of them, probably, if I counted, over 100. But when you look at them individually, there are some clear favourites, and some regularly repurchased.

I thought I'd share the six polishes that I believe to be the best, and probably the ones that would complete a nail wardrobe, without the necessary other 100+ polishes. I guess it's kind of like where to start if you're a newby with nail polishes, too.

Sheers and tints are something I'm a huge fan of, not for everyone, but, something that depending on where you work, or go to school could be a necessity...

I always say that Essie's Ballet Slippers is my favourite polish of all time, and despite the fact that it boasts similarities to OPI's Bubble Bath, the OPI offering is the much more subtle of the two, being pinker and sheerer in tone, and mimicking your natural nail colour more than Ballet Slippers which runs quite white and creamy in appearance. I love wearing this with Dior Nail Glow, which is a completely sheer, pink toned polish. Reviewed here, and obviously, I am still loving it, it'll be due a repurchase soon as I get to a Dior counter!

Butter London's Nail Foundation is a weird concept, but basically, it is a sheer, semi-matte nude/pink colour, one coat mimics the nails natural colour, evens it out and preps the nail for other sheer colours, or works brilliantly on its own. Using this as a polish does work, in about three coats, you can have the mannequin-look nails that were all over catwalks last summer, or with one single coat, your nails will just look healthier, yet people won't know you're wearing any polish (score for those that aren't allowed to wear polishes!)

I'm not always one for colour, and if you were beginning a nail polish collection, the "anti-colours" are the ones you need to go for, the none-bright, and quite classic. Chanel are ideal for fashion colours, and as the brand itself suggests, for classy colours, Rouge Noir and Frenzy are two of the brands most popular shades, I believe, and it's easy to understand why. Rouge Noir is a beautiful deep oxblood red, almost black, but so much softer, and ideal for people that tend to stray away from dark shades. Frenzy however, on the lighter side, is a beautiful grey-toned nude, completely beautiful, suits numerous skin tones, and is appropriate for work and play.

A classic, pillarbox red shade is a must in every ones nail polish collections, being seductive and appropriate for most occasions, all seasons, and the perfect colour for those intimidated by the other brights on the market. I've stuck the Balmain Nail Couture Rouge in here as an example of one of the classic reds I use, but this isn't the easiest to get hold of, all brands have a perfect blue-toned red (Essie-Fifth Avenue, Revlon Red, Chanel- Dragon)

The dupes I know of for the other shades are as follows; 
OPI Bubble Bath; Chanel - Ballerina, Essie - Mademoiselle
Chanel Rouge Noir; Revlon - Vixen, Essie - Wicked, 
Chanel Frenzy; (There are truly no identical dupes of this shade, Essie - Sand Tropez is close, as is Rimmel - Oh, Mr Darcy!)

Currently feeling a touch of irony, typing this with naked nails, now I'm feeling temptation for a couple coats of Chanel Frenzy...

A Pretty Haul of Sorts...

Technically, this post includes lots of things I haven't paid for, so does this still make it a "haul"? I don't know, but just to clarify, I did not steal them... 

Space NK, meet my currently empty bank account. I LOVE a little Space NK shop, and I needed to stock up on my much-loved Touche Veloutee, which by the way, lasts FOREVER. I also needed a new serum and body lotion, so I got these two Kiehls products for the first time. I'm loving them both so far, and I've never had a lotion that did anything but moisturise, so this is quite a wonder really, details will come in a post soon ;-) 

My Aunty went away to Portugal a couple weeks ago, and despite being offered the chance to go, I was excessively excited to spend two weeks home alone, because, I cannot lie, I love my own company. (I'm so shallow.) She bought me Calvin Klein Euphoria and MAC's Hue lipstick seeing as I didn't go, pretty win-win, if you ask me.

I broke two nails and so them gorgeous long babies I was donning just had to get cut down, I decided to stock up on Avoplex in hope of encouraging a little growth. I'd also had my eye on OPI's Bubble Bath for quite a while, given its a sheer pink (you all know they're my favourite nail polishes now, right?) so whilst placing a cheeky Amazon order, I caved. I also repurchased matte nail envy, which hadn't arrived when I took these.

Favourite mascara ever repurchase, Dior Iconic Overcurl, bought with £15 in Debenhams points. Score! I also bought the Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder and fan brush upon recommendation from the forever flawless Zoe Newlove.

Seriously exciting acquisition in the form of a YSL Blush Radiance palette, and a YSL Glossy Lip Stain that I won from the incredibly lovely Dave Lackie, editor of online beauty magazine, Beauty: The Guide. He has tons of awesome beauty giveaways on Twitter, and even more incredible beauty advice, straight from the experts. I insist you go follow him straight away on @Davelackie.

Following Dixi jewellery on Instagram and Twitter is dangerous for the bank balance, but good for the soul. Last weekend they shared a flash discount with me, for 20% off, so I caved, buying the ever so beautiful and elegant moonstone midi ring, rose gold thumb ring, and rose quartz necklace. Totally gorgeous, right?

Hope you've liked this little post (apologies for the occasional bad quality photo) I will be coming back soon with more posts, given my new laptop will very soon have its presence graced with Photoshop. I cannot wait to be back to posting on a regular basis.

The Quest for that Perfect Glow - Dior Nail Glow Review

Hey chicas! No, you're not seeing things, this is a real post from me. I decided to brave my leg-burning, overheating, old laptop to get a post up so you don't think I've disappeared off the face of the earth.

We're forever searching for that perfect glowing look, whether it be with our hair, skin, eyes, teeth, it seems we're becoming more and more obsessed with looking healthy, and finding products that can recreate it (especially for the girls like me, struggling to say no to chocolate.) One place I'm always whining about wanting to look perfect is my nails, whether it be the hideous flaking or accidental snapping, they're always refusing to do as I tell them to. However, despite numerous buffing tools, files, treatments and cuticle oils, I've never really referred to my nails as glowing, or even wanting them to glow, until now...

Dior nail glow is a pink tinted, completely sheer polish which gives your nails a french manicure effect without the tiresome white tips which, honestly, remind me of us getting giddy with the tip-ex in boring maths lessons. -I know you all did it! I have no idea how this works, but it whitens your tips and makes the pinks of (well, the pink...) your nails pinker (you know you've missed my miraculous language don't you) ;)

As with the majority of Dior products, the Christian Dior logo is etched into the cap, adding to this products luxurious feel. I picked mine up in my local Debenhams store, and I used some of my beauty card points so I think it only ended up costing me a couple pound, but it is available to buy at Escentual for the cheapest price of £15.30. I'm so glad I purchased this, it works amazingly on my nails, and if it runs out, which I cannot imagine it doing soon (a little does go a long way!) I'd definitely recommend. A generous 9.5/10 from me! And not just because I have a little Dior addiction.

- The first hideously hideous snap is my naked nails feat a little tan staining from last week, woops! 

- The second, somewhat less hideous snap is ONE coat of Dior Nail Glow, how fantastic is that?

- The third is my complete manicure, two coats of Essie's Ballet Slippers, one coat of Essie Mademoiselle, and a generous coat of Seche Vite's top coat to give it that gel-like finish.

I personally feel if you're addicted to opaque polishes, this is a complete unnecessary product, and you'll get no use out of it whatsoever, but, if you're not allowed nail polish for work, or school, this is ideal. For sheer pink polish addicts like myself too, this is a perfect base coat, it preps your nails much better than any other base coat.

Hope you've enjoyed this post. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my Photoshop discs will transfer easy enough onto my new laptop so I can get posting again, because I miss blogging and you lovely guys!

Birthday Gifts and Lots of Pretty Things

There's quite a few pictures in this post, for no other reason than, I got, well, a little camera happy! I thought I'd share with you my birthday gifts, a lot of which were from me, to me. Any excuse!

Oh, and just to clarify, before anyone goes off on one... I'm not bragging in anyway. Some of these are gifts, and some of them I bought for myself. I just love shopping...

One of my favourite jewellery pieces ever, comes from this beautiful, elegant, gold open heart ring by  the Irish jewellery designer, Chupi. My Nan and Grandad bought me this so it means more than it would have if I'd bought it for myself.


The beautiful Chupi ring in action, and with a vintage, ornate rose ring my Aunty got for me. I won't wear these together all the time - just thought I'd save a picture and put them together (I'm so helpful, right?!)

My Aunty bought me this beautiful coffee table book which is currently on display on my shelf, its Audrey Hepburn in Hats, and showcases a beautiful collection of images like the one above. (Isn't she just the epitome of elegance?)

The DVD collection is actually a gift to myself. I've already worked my way through all of these, and love them all so much. I'm currently becoming very much addicted to Audrey, and if you follow me on Instagram, you'll probably already have been bombarded by Audrey related pictures already...

I mentioned in my previous wishlist post I'd like to read The Notebook and my beautiful Aunty bought it for me, alongside Safe Haven, which I haven't seen the movie of yet, so I'll be holding off until I've read the book.

It's not as excessive as it seems- I promise! A lot of these are freebies which I got with various orders, but I decided, after buying my first Chanel polish that I'm very much in love with them and need more. I bought Frenzy in Southport on my actual birthday, and Blue Satin when Debenhams had a sneaky 10% off. I bought my MAC lipsticks at the same time (because of course I needed more...) And as a self-confessed Dior addict, I decided to pick up this gorgeous nude lip colour because I had £10 in points on my Beautyclub card.

They're beautiful, right?
Mac's Pure Zen and Plumful, and Dior Incognito.

(Left to right: Dior Incognito, MAC Pure Zen and Plumful)

Another treat for myself thanks to sales. This beauty was 1/3 off in Argos, and only cost me £20! It comes with a heat proof mat, full glove, and a carry bag to store it all in, not to mention how brilliant it is. I'll be reviewing this soon.

I can't say I usually shop in The Body Shop, but when I heard about the beautifying oils which had come out, I decided to go and pick one up, I use it mainly for my cuticles every evening, but it's a bugger to apply from this bottle! I also picked up a foot cream with the "Buy one get one half price" offer... GLAM.

My "to-read" list is getting ridiculous, but I still had a little stroll into Waterstones and came out with these...

And I had to add this little fella to the end of this post. If you don't follow me on Facebook, or Twitter, you won't know that I'm planning on bringing some nail-art tutorials onto my little corner of the web, so keep an eye out, and no doubt you'll find out how to make this little guy yourself.

And another reminder, my giveaway closes tomorrow, so don't forget to enter! I can't wait to draw the winner, and I'll be letting you know via Twitter, and email!

Hope you've enjoyed this post, and I promise I'll be back with more substantial posts soon, I've been a little bit of a let-down during the summer months.

Perfume for your Hair?! - Dior J'Adore Hair Perfume Review

Listed on Escentual's website as a "Hair mist" it's easy to say that this is one of the most peculiar things I've ever owned - a hair perfume! It's easy to say I'm quite the sucker for things that are different, I love owning things no one else has (such a drama queen, aren't I?!) so when I read about this in a magazine, and with me being a self-confessed Dior addict, I knew I had to get my hands on one.

This is a 30ml bottle and is priced at £26.35 (at time of posting) on Escentual here in the UK. So, in my opinion is quite good value for money, given that Dior perfumes are a lot higher on the price scale...

The product itself is cased in a perfume shaped bottle, and comes out in a perfectly fine mist, so your hair doesn't get drenched with product, nor does it distribute unevenly in those dreadful little spits that hair sprays often do. I use about three sprays, for the sides and back of my hair, which tends to last from when applied in a morning, to when I scrape my hair up into my Invisibobble at night-time. But this product isn't only for making your hair smell like heaven, it is enriched with Ylang-Ylang oils, providing shine and nourishment to your locks.

The scent, is the same as the J'Adore perfumes, and is a beautiful floral, and feminine scent, with top notes of Ylang-Ylang, heart notes of Damask Rose, and base notes of Sambac Jasmine.

The packaging of this is completely beautiful, elegant, and looks nothing short of amazing lined up with my Miss Dior, Jo Malone and Diptyque on my dressing table. As with most Dior products, it has the little Christian Dior logo etched into the top of the bottle, a nice little touch don't you think?

On the less glamorous side, I feel like my hair smells amazing after washing anyway, so I wouldn't dream of unnecessarily product, so this does only see use when my hair is already dirty. While I like using quite natural dry shampoos, I find they don't disguise any (cue, upcoming TMI) unpleasant scents, so when the scalp is getting oilier, and the ends drier, this comes in more than handy for freshening up your "I really should have washed it last night" hair...

Overall, I love this product, if it runs out I'll definitely repurchase, as luxurious as it is, it really does perk me up, and make me feel so special when I go out. And much unlike the Velvotan Self Tan for the back applicator I reviewed last week, this is a novelty which works, and I thoroughly recommend to anyone who, like me, feels the urge to squirt their perfume all over their hair, too.

Favourite Things #3

(Insert typical British comment about how brilliant this sunny weather is...) Thanks to the much welcome sun finally making it's appearance, I thought I'd fill up my little wicker basket with tons of beauty products, my camera and get outside to take some pictures. This time my favourite things post seems very much summer orientated, and has more fake tan than I think most people own. Hey, the things you'll do when you aren't blessed with olive skin...

Xen Tan Moroccan Tan- Okay, the story behind this tan, I bought it WAY back in Winter '12 when it first came out, and being nervous that it was going to be way too dark, I ended up sticking it in a storage box and overlooking it everytime I applied a fake tan. So about a month ago, I thought sod it, I need to give it a go, right... So I did. I left it on for about five hours, when the tube says three. However, it hardly developed and I was left the same colour as I was previously. I tried it again a couple weeks ago, and decided to sleep in it, and after a doctor's appointment the morning after, it had been left on for about 14 hours, and this time, once washed off, I was left with a beautiful olive, natural deep tan (not as dark as most people make it seem, however.) with zero streaks, and I smelled like a holiday, thanks to it's lovely coconut scent. It wore quite well too, and lasted about a week. I'll get a full review posted of this at some point...

This Works Perfect Legs Gradual Tan- To keep up a tan, I moisturise and exfoliate regularly so that the colour fades evenly, and to keep it looking glowing, about 4/5 days into the tan, I top up with a gradual tan. This Works Perfect Legs products are packed with vitamins and other fancy-shmancy ingredients which help even out skin tone, and cover bruises and blemishes. I often get a little nervous about fake-tanning my legs, as after shaving it often settles in pores and just looks horrible. This doesn't, and makes me feel as confident as those women that seem to jump around like kangaroos in Veet and Bodyform ads.

LDN: Skins Lotion TONE 1- ANOTHER TAN? GOD, SHE MUST LOOK LIKE AN OOMPA LOOMPA? No, I use this one for the upper half of my body in the middle of the week. It has a slight tint, making it easy to apply, and it smells divine, leaving me smelling my own shoulder all night when I've applied this. It is a gradual tan, and just leaves your skin moisturised, and keeps up the "moroccan" olive glow which comes from the Xen-Tan offering.

(Just to add, I apply tan ALWAYS with either a mitt or latex gloves, which I buy from my local chemist. This avoids stained palms, but always remember to use the remaining product leftover to graze over the tops of your hands...)

Diorskin Forever Foundation in 020- Another product which got slightly abandoned from fear of it being too dark, and guess what, it wasn't! I've rediscovered this baby, and I'm loving it even more this time round. It's a wonderful foundation, definitely not popular enough for how brilliant it is. It's a medium coverage, long-lasting, natural matte foundation which manages to blend in perfectly, and makes your skin look fantastic! Another Dior product getting raved about from me... I just LOVE Dior!

Clinique Chubby Stick for eyes in Ample Amber- I bought this after seeing it on LLYMLRS' blog, as I thought when they first came out that none of the shades were very wearable, but this is a gorgeous shade, described perfectly by it's name, Amber. It's a lovely warm shade, and looks amazing on its own, but also works fantastic as a base colour, for the rest of the shadow to cling to.

MAC Art of the Eye Collection (Rimal Dahabia palette)- In particular, the shade I've been using the most is Shroom, a colour in MAC's permanent collection, but a new discovery for me, and it makes the most perfect inner corner highlight colour, and seriously finished off any eye-look, by brightening the eye area and making it look just a little more glamorous. (I feel like that whole statement came off a little "I think I'm a Kardashian." but just to clarify, I very much dislike the Kardashians, so I apologise...)

John Frieda Frizz-Ease 3 Day Straight- Being a curly girl with very thick hair, it does become occasionally hard to manage, but I've started using a very small amount of this spray with my usual Neal and Wolf Heat Protectant, and it manages to keep my hair a lot less frizzy, and minimises styling time across several days. 

Avene Thermal Spring Water- Technically an empty bottle now, but it shows how much I've been loving it! I won't waffle, as the review is here.

Bourjois 1 Seconde Polish Remover- Yes, I'm very late to the party with this one, but I must admit, that I'm kind of loving this. Despite the weird sensation of sticking your finger in a foamy hole (avoid giggles!) and its one second claim this is quite the revolutionary product. It's much tidier and easier to use, as well as minimising the need for packs of cotton wool and nail polish remover, it's kind of brilliant... 

Leighton Denny Crystal Nail File- Another anti-waffle product, as the review is here.