World Cup Nail Art - Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire)

Hi everyone! So not too long ago I got an email from Emily over at Nailsxo asking if I wanted to join a World Cup Nail Art competition she was running. Now, I don't really know anything about football and I haven't really done much nail art before but that's never stopped me before! The idea was once you'd been allocated your country you had to create a manicure design that reflected that nation and I was given the Ivory Coast!

Again, I have to admit I knew very little about Ivory Coast so of course I used all my powers, by which I mean Google, to research the country itself as well as the culture so I wanted to share a couple of facts I found out!

Location

The official language spoken on the Ivory Coast is French.

As of 2012, the population stood at 22 million making it the 54th largest population in the world.

Average life expectancy is 57 years old. (It's 80 in the UK!)

And it has many names! 

• Conventional long form: Republic of Cote d'Ivoire
• Conventional short form: Cote d'Ivoire
• Local long form: Republique de Cote d'Ivoire
• Local short form: Cote d'Ivoire
• Formerly known as: Ivory Coast

So bearing that all in mind I set on thinking up a couple of designs that I could create and here is the finished design!

I based the design on my thumb to mimic the coat of arms coloured with the colours of the flag!

On my pinky I tried to mimic the referee kit!

And then on my remaining three nails I went with the slightly easy option of the flag but I think it looks very effective in contrast to the other nails!

So I hope you enjoyed reading this slightly different blog post and I'll keep practicing my nail art and maybe write another post when I improve because my hand wouldn't stop shaking drawing those lines! Thanks for reading!

Review of Barry M Brushes

Hi everyone! So back in April I entered a competition run by Barry M on Twitter to win all their make up brushes and if you haven't already guessed by the title I won! Last year I bought a selection of about 25 brushes on eBay for just under £10 for them all but as I'm sure you can guess the quality of them weren't great and the bristles were falling out all over the place. Since then I've just applied my make up with my fingers but my sister who has a load of brushes from the Real Techniques collection was just as excited as I was to hear I had won the giveaway. In the collection there are 7 full sized brushes and a travel set which are all synthetic and 100% vegan which is always nice to know.

So lets start with the packaging. I love the colour scheme of the pink, black and white and on the back of each of them there is a cute little quote instructing you on how to use the brush. The colour scheme continues on the brushes themselves and they are all light weight and so soft which is nice. My one criticism would be that the brushes themselves don't have any labels on or numbers indicating the purpose of the brush which would've been nice as the eye shadow and the concealer brush are pretty much identical.

Foundation Brush - £4.99 Barry M/ £5.99 Superdrug

I'm not exactly sure why the price varies for this one as it doesn't for any of the others but hey ho! The brush is very soft but quite sturdy which I know is not always everyones cup of tea when it comes to foundation brushes but I really like it. I don't often wear foundation but I have used it once and it doesn't leave any streaks and blends really well.

Concealer Brush - £2.99 Superdrug

I used this brush everyday and it is so much better than using my fingers. It's also really soft and again quite sturdy but it's perfect for concealing those dark circles! It looks pretty much identical to the eye shadow brush as the only really difference is this one is about 1cm smaller.

Eyeshadow Brush - £2.99 Superdrug

Again this is a brush that features in my everyday routine. Personally I prefer using sponge applicators for applying eyeshadow but this brush has really started to grow on me. It picks up powder really well and is perfect for blending.

Angled Eyeliner Brush - £2.99 Superdrug

My sister has had her eye on this brush ever since they arrived at the front door. I've used this brush once to apply some darker eyeshadow in place of using eye liner but my sister who is a big fan of gel eyeliner says it feels as though it would be a great brush for gel. The bristles are sturdy so you do get quite a defined line but the are soft enough that you don't hurt yourself.

Blusher Brush- £4.99 Superdrug

I love that this brush is angled slightly so whilst it is supposed to be to apply blusher I think it would also work really well for contouring as well as for blusher. Again it's so soft and feels really nice on your skin.

Bronzer Brush - £7.99 Superdrug

This brush seems very big to be used as a bronzer brush for contouring but it would be perfect to give you that natural sun kissed look when you blend the bronzer in. It is so soft and I love just stroking it across the back of my hand (not as weird as it sounds I promise!)

Powder Brush - £5.99 Barry M

I love using this brush every morning because it's so much softer than the brush I had been previously using. It doesn't pick up a huge amount of powder but it's perfect for when you want a light covering.

Mini Brush Set - £9.99 Superdrug

In the set there appears to be a powder brush, concealer/foundation brush and an eyeshadow brush along with a lash/brow comb. They are just as good quality as the rest of the collection and just as soft! I love travelling and I normally only take the essentials when it comes to make up in a my smallest make up bag which these fit in nicely so no doubt they will come in use on my next adventure.

I really love this collection of brushes and would give them an overall strong 9/10 because they are affordable but still great quality!

So what do you think of the collection? I love that they are so affordable but still great quality - Barry M have really hit their target market! Let me know if you've bought any and what's your favourite brush? Thanks for reading!

The Next Few Months...

Hi everyone! So when I started this blog I said I would post at least once a week but in the last month or so I've been struggling to get just one post up a week! I have loads of idea and loads of photographs of products I just haven't found the time to sit down and write about them and the next couple of months aren't going to be any better I'm afraid! It's now May and you know what that means... exams. I've got my As Level exams this year and I'm not going to lie to you I'm stressing out a little bit because I'm really not ready for them! I chose to take 5 subjects plus general studies which has left me with 13 exams which I think is more than I had last summer at GCSE!

Basically this means for the next month or so I can't guarantee that there will be a new post every Sunday but I will try and do one even if it's just a little one so there is still 1 going up a week. But I promise as soon as my exams and everything are done I will get back into a routine and maybe for a little while do 2 posts a week to make up for it! So bear with me please! Thanks for reading!

EuroQuest: Day 11 - German Scout Camp/Cologne

Hi everyone! So it was our last day at the Scout Camp so after we cleaned up and packed our bags we were faced with the challenge of finding our way back to the train station. We decided it would be a great idea to walk through the woods to get back into town and it didn't take us long to realised we were lost after the path we were following disappeared. Jenny then took the lead and led us on 'Jennys Magical Mystery Hobbit Tour' which eventually got us back on the track and to the train station.

As we were waiting for the train to arrive the heavens opened for the first time on the trip and at first it was so nice because in most places it was around 30 degrees but then it got heavier and it turned into a mad scramble to find shelter. Our rain jackets were at the bottom of our bags because we didn't think we would need them so made makeshift shelters using our bag covers - well we are Girl Guides after all!

After several train journeys including as usual a sprint to the train after we realised we were waiting on the wrong platform we finally arrived in Cologne. There were so many shops in the station! There was a whole shop selling different things all made out of jelly sweets which looked amazing! I was very tempted to buy something but I didn't think it would still be in one piece by the time I got home! We then wandered into a clothes shop which had loads of really nice but cheap clothes and shoes! I got a dress and a top (which I'm still waiting for the weather to improve to wear) and Hayley found these shoes which were amazing and they were so cheap she had to get them!!

After our little shopping break we headed to a restaurant to get some food because we were so hungry after a day of travelling. The restaurant was primarily pork and had an amazing interior design. As the two veggies on the trip Evie and me decided that we would both order a macaroni cheese from the snacks menu and then share a portion of chips and some hash browns as we assumed being from the snack menu it would be small portions but oh how we were wrong! I don't think I've ever felt so full and neither of us could finish it all!

We then headed to the hostel and it was so nice! I was sharing a room with Frances, Evie and Hayley and as we got to the room we found the door literally wouldn't open. We were pushing against it with all our force but it would budge. Some guys in the room next to ours came out to see what all the noise was and apparently we were opening the door all wrong because you had to do something first with the key. Our room so so nice (once we finally got in!). We had a balcony and a proper walk in shower! This meant we could wash stuff and hang it over the balcony to properly dry rather than just hanging it over the bars on the bunk beds!

If you want to see more I filmed a bit of what we were doing so you can check that out here:
The video is a montage of several clips and pictures throughout the time we spent at the Scout Camp in the Harz Mountains and in Cologne as apposed to these blog posts which a split by day.

SCOUT CAMP VIDEO: COMING SOON

COLOGNE VIDEO: COMING SOON

Review of 'Barry M Aquarium Collection' in 'Pacific'

Hi everyone! So not that long ago Barry M brought out a Silk collection (which I wrote about here) and I was worried that their new Aquarium collection would be exactly the same but I had no reason to worry! There are 6 new polishes in the Aquarium collection, 4 duochrome effect polishes and 2 glitters. All of them have oceanic names and I picked up Pacific for £3.99 (although Superdrug were doing a 3 for 2 offer so I did get another two!)

Pacific is a bluey green colour like the ocean really and is kind of metallic so in different lights it appears slightly different in colour which I think is really cool! In the bottle is does seem very similar to East Village by NYC but a bit more blue. I love the scale design on the lid of the bottle making this collection very distinguishable.

I used NYC toughen up nail varnish which isn't actually blue when it goes on! I know it isn't a base coat exactly but my nails have been braking a lot recently which I'm putting down to my new job at Costa!

I then applied the first coat of colour and was surprised how thickly it went on! I was expecting it to be very similar to East Village but I did find it to be a little streaky as I was applying it. Due to the metallic nature of the polish it means that brush strokes are a lot more visible than normal. I did really like the colour and even with one coat it was pretty much the same as in the bottle.

For the second coat I applied it a little thicker than the first to eliminate any brush strokes because I think having brush strokes on your nails just make them look really cheap and badly done! I mean, you wouldn't want paint stripes down your walls would you!?

Finally, I applied a top coat and tidied them up a bit and that's the finished look!

Whilst I really like the formula and colour of the nail varnish it's definitely not the first or only ones out there. I do love the colour and I think it's my favourite of the collection but I kind of forgot I had the NYC one at home because they are so similar I now wish I'd bought a different colour! Do you think you'll give the collection a go and what is your favourite one? Thanks for reading!

Dealing with Dark Shadows Under the Eyes

Hi everyone! I've always had problems with dark shadows under my eyes for as long as I can remember and yes you can cover up with concealer but prevention is better than cure right? I'm no professional but these seemed to have worked for me so I wanted to share some products and tips for reducing those dark shadows.

The first tip everyone tells you is to get more sleep, which yes will help reduce those shadows but especially for me at the moment with my exams starting in less than a month and procrastination levels hitting an all time high, sleep is becoming a bit of a luxury! According to research as a teenager you should be getting 8-9 hours sleep a night... I'm lucky to get 7 most nights! You should also try and make sure you keep your skin hydrated by reducing the amount of caffeine and concentrated fruit juices and switching to water or squash.

A quick fix to dealing with dark shadows is before you go to bed run two spoons under the tap and put them into a freezer. When you wake up in the morning run them under some water again and gently pat them on the area under your eyes. You do have to be careful with this as sometimes the spoons might stick to you skin if you push them on too hard for too long.

As well as keeping healthy I've found a couple of great products that have really helped me! The first is the Revitale Collagen and Q10 Anti-wrinkle eye gel patches which I found on Fragrance Direct for a bargain price of £0.99!!!! I was a bit hesitant because I hadn't heard of the brand before but the reviews seemed to be good so I thought I would give it a whirl! Although they are designed for combating wrinkles I found they were really good at reducing the puffiness of my under eye area which in turn reduced the dark shadows. You just leave them on for 20-30 minutes before I go to bed and when I took them I could actually feel the difference straightaway!

Another product that I also picked up from Fragrance Direct was the Pretty Perfect Rejuvenating Eye Roll On also for £0.99! I tend to use this in the morning but I found it takes quite a while to dry/ soak in so I don't use it every morning because I don't really have enough time (I'd prefer the extra time in bed!) but when you first roll it on it does feel pretty good! The stick itself was a lot thinner than I had expected and you have to tilt it when you roll it on otherwise the liquid doesn't come out but it's got a very ergonomic design which makes it easy to hold. There are probably better products like this on the market but for the price I really can't complain!

I know this post was very short but I hoped it helps if you too are suffering for huge dark circles! Hope you enjoyed reading and let me know if you've got any tips or products that you use!