Nail Art - Polka Dots

Hi everyone! So I know I normally do just reviews of different nail varnishes I was thinking about being a little more adventurous and trying out different nail art styles as series of blog posts, so I thought I would start off simple with polka dots! For my birthday my sister got me a set of dotting tools which vary in size so you can get tiny dots and huge ones! I love the design of the tools them self because you can twist them around and it looks really cool.

Personally I think dots on nails look best when it is white dots on top of colour so I went for the classic black and white polka dot. I couldn't decide whether black dots on a white base; or white dots on a black base would look better so I incorporated a bit of both with an accent nail.

So I started by applying my base coat as I always get a bit nervous when I'm using very dark colours on my nails as I've had a lot of bad experience with my nails staining. I used my Sally Hansen one as it drys so quickly!

Then I applied my base white colour to 4 of my nails and then I painted my ring finger nail with a black base to create an accent nail by inverting the colours. Both nail varnishes are from NYC color and are £2.49.

I applied a second coat of both nail vanishes because I felt the white was a bit patchy and weak with only one coat and I needed it to stand out. Although the black didn't really need a second coat I thought I might as well!

Now for the fun part! I put a blob of the same white nail vanish I had used as a base onto a bit of paper and I read that it made the dots look a lot better rather than trying to paint onto the dotting tool. I chose the largest ball size because I did want quite big polka dots. I dipped it at 90 to the paper straight into the polish and then did the first few dots on my accent nail. Obviously after 1 or 2 you will need some more polish on your dotter so just dip it back in.

It's important to clean your dotting tools because they are made of metal so you don't want them to rust or end up with dried polish on the end. I then did exactly the same putting a blob of black nail varnish onto the a paper and then dotted the remaining 8 nails.

I then sealed it all with my Barry M top coat and tidied up all the bits that went on my skin and they were all done!

I love how they look and got loads of compliments on them today. I think they work really well because they go with everything and look really classic. Dotting your nails is probably the easiest from of nail art so if you don't already have nail dotting tool I would recommend you getting some as they are really cheap if you do a search on Ebay or Amazon. If you don't want to buy some you could always use the head of a pin but I'm not sure it will work as well. Let me know if you think the nail art series is a good idea and if you love the polka dot look as much as I do! Thanks for reading!

Fragrance Direct Haul

Hi everyone! I know you shouldn't start with an apology but this is going to be a really quick small post because I've been so busy this week with Guiding stuff, my DT coursework deadline and preparations for mocks! However, I will post another one during the week to make up for it!

So I just wanted to tell you about this amazing website - Frangrance Direct! My sister came across it and then told me about it and now I'm telling you - it's basically a website that primarily sells perfumes for great discounted prices but also has a huge selection on make up, hair products and items for your bath & body and more!

I ordered an Essie nail varnish in All Tied Up, OPI nail varnish in Congeniality Is My Middle Name , Sally Hansen nail varnish (just a base coat), Bourjois 3D Effect Lip Gloss in Coral Artistic and an UNE Smart Length Mascara all for £13.22 (which included P&P)! That was basically a saving of just more than £30 which is amazing; especially being on a tight budget! I did question how they were so cheap, so I did a little bit of snooping around and it seems some were sent to shops as testers but never used, or are a slightly older range (I know the Essie nail varnish I got was from their Summer 2012 collection) and some are just missing a bit of packaging but who keeps the boxes anyway!

I was so happy to test mine out when they arrived and they were all full and sealed still in their original wrappers and cosmetic seals which gave me great confidence in the company! Be prepared for some individual item reviews soon! They tend to only have a small amount of stock for each item so I'm checking back every week to see what new stock is in and I will without a doubt be placing an order again! Let me know if you've got anything from Fragrance direct before or if you'll use it in the future! Thanks for reading!

Review of 'Lush Karma Komba Solid Shampoo Bar'

Hi everyone! As you might know I have spent 2 weeks of the summer backpacking around Europe (travel diary sort of things will be coming soon!) and as I had to pack all my stuff into one bag there was just no room for shampoo and conditioner bottles. Then one day my Mum came home and she had bought me this shampoo bar from Lush and I have to say it is one of the best things I own!

It at first seems a little pricey at £5.25 as you also have to buy the tin if you are using it for travelling purposes which adds on £2.50 but I honestly think it is worth it!

Picture from www.lush.co.uk/product/247/Karma-Komba-Solid-Shampoo-Bar

It made my hair feel really clean (which was great considering my clothes were hardly smelling of daises by the end) and it smelt amazing and fresh! I also found I didn't need to use the small bottle of conditioner I had managed to squeeze in as after using the shampoo bar my hair was very manageable and felt so soft and lightweight when it was dry (which of course was it drying naturally as we had no hair dryers!)

It's also really simple and easy to use. You can either rub it into a lather in your hands or you can rub it directly onto your hair until it lathers. You then just use it like normal shampoo ie. you rub it in and then wash it out. And mine has hardly gone down it size despite using it everyday for the last 2 weeks!

It doesn't normally look as slimy but I had just used it - sorry!!!!

However, there is one thing I don't really like about this product and it was something I discovered the second day in. After using it I put it straight back into the tin as we were moving onto our next location and when I opened it the next morning I couldn't get it out of the tin. Turns out you need to let it fully dry after using it before placing it back in the tin. This wasn't something I could easily do as we were moving around so much but I came up with a solution! I put it into a small plastic bag and then into the tin whilst travelling and then got it out to dry properly when we got to the next hostel.

But I think it's a minor fault with the product and it's quite easily overcome if you have a spare plastic bag!

I would whole heatedly recommend this product, and the range they have is pretty good so if you don't like the smell of this one (not sure why you wouldn't but anywho) or if you want one specific to your hair type there are plenty for you to choose from!

Hope you enjoyed reading this and let me know if you have tried any of the others as I'd love to know if they are as amazing as this one!

Home Sweet Home!

Hi everyone! I am now home from Europe! In case you didn't know, for the past two weeks I have been travelling around Europe on a Girl Guiding South West trip and it was amazing! It was such as great experience and it has made me realise I want to go travelling and try lots of new things!

Over the next few months I will be posting day by day accounts of the trip - sort of like diary entries along with videos & photos! Of course I will be posting beauty ones as per usual in between but I can't guarantee the regularity of my posts for the next month or so as I am going away on a family holiday next week; I will be getting my GCSE results & I have lots of work to do in preparation for starting sixth form! But I will of course try and post as often as I can!

Review of 'Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint by Barry M' in 'Pomegranate'

Hi everyone! There is so much hype surrounding the Gelly Hi-Shine range that Barry M brought out sometime last year from so many different people about how you only need one coat; how glossy it looks etc and to be honest I was a little bit skeptical because I apply quite thin coats, as you may know, so I thought I would give it a whirl and see if it's all it's cracked up to be!

I picked it up for £3.99 from Superdrug (although I think you can get it for around £2.49 from Amazon) in the colour Pomegranate because I really like dark pinky colours and it looked really nice and rich!

Please excuse the shortness of my nails but at the time of painting them I was a day away from embarking on my backpacking trip around Europe so I wanted to make sure they didn't break whilst I was away hence the shortness. I think when this is published I will be in Germany/Holland which is a little strange to think about!

Firstly, I applied my new favourite base coat, also from Barry M! It was £2.99 and I have been finding since switching to this my nail varnish has taken longer to chip and my nails haven't been breaking as much so thank you Barry M!

I then applied the first coat of colour and WOW! It glides onto the nail so nicely and it has really good coverage even with the first stroke. As it is a gelly nail varnish it is quite a bit thicker than normal nail varnishes which is probably why it gives such an even appearance on the first stroke. I honestly don't think I need another coat or even a top coat! It is super glossy and looks like I've already done two coats! The pictures seem to show it as a red colour when in fact it is exactly like the pink bottle so don't be fooled!

Well that was short and sweet! I would really recommend the Gelly Hi-Shine range as it is such great value for money and looks so professional! I will definitely be going out and buying more colours so you can look forward to seeing a few more reviews of this brand cropping up in the near future!

As it looked so great after the first coat I didn't feel the need to apply another coat which meant this review was very short! So I thought I would spice things up a little and add a sprinkle of glitter over the top and review that nail varnish at the same time! It's like killing 2 birds with 1 stone! So if you want to find out how this ended the continuing review will be up tomorrow! Thank you for reading (:

Backpacking Around Europe - EuroQuest 2013

Hi everyone! So today is the day! I've spent all day rushing around packing and making sure there is nothing I've forgotten. For those of you who don't know what I'm on about, I was selected last year to go on a South West Region international guiding trip around Europe (which I've recently found out we are the first group to try this moving around idea). If you want you can read more about it HERE.

I can't wait to tell you about it when I get back. I hope to take lots of photos and maybe even some videos to show you what I got up to! We have so many exciting things planned such as a Segway tour around Zagreb; visiting the spas in Hungary; watching a show at The National Black Light Theatre in the Czech Republic and so much more!

Although I will be away for about 2 weeks visiting 8 countries but I've written plenty of general beauty blog posts which are scheduled to post whilst I'm away so I won't be abandoning this! For you it will seem like I'm still in the UK blogging away from my bedroom!

So keep checking my blog for new updates and I will see you when I get back!!!