Friday 21 February 2014

Little Spring/Summer Wishlist

5. H&M Bikini Top & Bikini Bottoms - £12.99 & £6.99

I'm a bit strapped for cash at the moment as every spare penny I have has been going towards my Harry Potter Studio Tour/London fund for March so I've been mostly avoiding online shopping but somehow these things have caught my eye! This dress from Motel would be perfect for summer. The print is so gorgeous, I think it'd look great dressed down with just bare legs and sandals. Here's hoping we get another heatwave this summer! I have also been crushing on this amazing bikini from H&M. It reminds me of Triangl swimwear but thankfully it is a fraction of the price.

In the accessories department, I've been lusting over these pink pretties. This shell bag from Accessorize would be such a cute alternative to the standard clutch bag when going out, however I'm not sure I can justify paying £35 so I'll have to keep an eye on it to see if the price goes down in the next sale. I also think these two pretties from New Look would be great for spring. I'd love to use the rose hair swirls in a plait to change it up a bit and I cannot get over the price of that watch! I can definitely see a cheeky trip to New Look coming on when I've got some spending money!

Saturday 15 February 2014

NOTD | Valentine's Nails: Heart Tips

Heart tips:
No7 Stay Perfect Nail Colour in Devil's Delight
Base colour:
Essie Nail Lacquer in Neo Whimsical

I've seen this nail design around for a while but I had never attempted it before so I thought Valentine's Day would be the perfect time to try it out! I was a little nervous about getting the heart design right but I found these were actually pretty simple to do. I'll definitely need a bit more practice doing my right hand though... Damn my non-ambidextrous hands!

For the base colour I used Essie Neo Whimsical which is a very pretty pale purple-pink colour and for the tips I dug out No7 Devil's Delight which I had in a Christmas gift pack a couple of years ago. I'm not usually a fan of bright reds all over my nails which is why I had never actually tried this polish before now but I was pleasantly surprised with it. The brush is thick and flat which makes doing this design much easier and the consistency is brilliant. It only took one stoke for each curve of the heart which was great because I think if I had to go over them, these wouldn't look half as neat!

If you'd like to try these out for yourself, you can find the tutorial I used here. Hope you had a lovely, relaxing Valentine's day whatever you did!

Monday 3 February 2014

My Valentine's Day Fragrance Picks - From Only £12!

From L to R
Top row:
Guerlain Insolence
Vera Wang Lovestruck Eau De Parfum - £29.78 for 100ml
Next Just Pink Eau De Parfum - £12 for 75ml
Bottom row:
Miss Dior
DKNY Be Delicious Fresh Blossom
Guerlain La Petite Robe Noire
Marc Jacobs Oh Lola!

With Valentine's Day coming up in less than two weeks time (where did January go?!) I thought I'd share a few of my favourite fragrances and the ones at the top of my wishlist in case anyone needs inspiration of what to hint to their partner for. I'll admit now that I'm terrible at describing scents but I'd say these all fall under the 'floral', 'fruity' or 'sweet' categories.

My two all-time favourites have to be Miss Dior and Insolence by Guerlain. Both smell so lovely and have the best lasting power - I can still smell both of them on my clothes weeks after I put them on! However these are definitely on the pricey side so if you're looking for something a bit more reasonable then I'd recommend Vera Wang Lovestruck or Next Just Pink. You can get 100ml of Lovestruck on Amazon for just £29.78 (compare that to 100ml of Miss Dior which is around £90!). The floral bottle would make a perfect Valentine's present and even though it is inexpensive, the scent is by no means cheap.

Next Just Pink is also a great alternative if you're on a budget. At only £12 for a 75ml bottle it is a great perfume for everyday use. It has a very pretty scent and I think the bottle is also really good considering the price - I love the little bow on the top!

 Hope this helps!

Sunday 2 February 2014

NOTD | Essie Neo Whimsical & Barry M Rose Quartz

Essie Nail Lacquer in Neo Whimsical
Barry M Glitter Nail Paint in Rose Quartz
Bowknot Midi Ring from eBay

Sorry for the double nail-related posts but as I've been on a bit of a spending ban I've recently been concentrating on playing around with my existing nail polish collection. I've always loved glitter tips but I'd not tried them before as I was worried I wouldn't be able to do them very well but I think these have turned out quite well for a first attempt! Now that I've finally mastered getting rid of glitter nails (guide here) I'll definitely have to try these out more.