Share your imperfections...

So I have been doing this blog for six months now and I am yet to share with you the biggest set back I have when it comes to making beauty purchases. But I feel now is the time to let you know about my 'imperfection', I know, I know you thought I was flawless right? Thought so. Anyway for about five or six years now I have suffered from very sensitive skin. It is something that my Mam and cousins have suffered with for years but to me it came later on in life.

 

To anyone who has sensitive skin or any form of Dermatitis such as Eczema will know there can be more serious cases than others. At the beginning I had eczema on my legs to the point where my legs were cut and scabbed and incredibly sore. I would not even consider getting them out in public.

 

Then as if I was not already body conscious enough three years ago I developed contact dermatitis on my right hand. 'Contact dermatitis is inflammation of the skin that occurs when you come into contact with a particular substance. Contact dermatitis is a type of eczema that can cause red, itchy and scaly skin, and sometimes burning and stinging. It leads to your skin becoming blistered, dry and cracked.' (Taken from the NHS website).

My hand on a good day!

As you can imagine this was pretty irritating. Especially considering we are yet to find the substance that is creating the problem. I believe it to be many things. Anyway it can be really sore and to the point where I don't even want to touch anything it hurts that bad and I have been driven to the point of tying my hands behind my back to stop me itching. This is quite a sensitive subject to me and something I am quite embarrassed about, to the extent I am often shy about holding hands with my boyfriend (of four years) because I am worried about my hand feeling horrible against his.

 

Anyone with a similar condition has probably like me explored every cream, lotion and antibiotic the doctors have to offer. So it is then I set myself out to find products that work best for me. I have to evaluate everything I use on my skin from hand wash to fake tan.

 

The reason I have decided to share this with you is I feel I could use this blog to share the products I have found with other people with a similar condition and hopefully we can help each other and for the rest of you, the products I will share in most cases can be used by anyone to help soften and look after your skin.

I would love to hear your comments on products you have tried if you have sensitive skin or even if you don't. Thanks for reading.

 

xox

 

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Journey to Neverland

 This weekend on my routine shopping trip to the Metrocentre, I popped in to New Look and was astounded by the large selection of Peter Pan Collar necklaces they had in store! All the designs were beautiful and unique I found it so difficult to choose just one. I fell in love with this pastel bead and gold chain colour instantly and knew it was the one for me, for just £5.99 I would definitely recommend!

I received so many compliments this weekend when I wore my necklace to work at the restaurant I work at. And lets face it we all love a compliment! It definitely brightened up my boring black uniform. Who spy's my fave Lavish Alice skirt?

What do you think of Collar necklaces, rate or hate?

xox

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Ciate Colourfoil Manicure: Review

By now you will know I'm a big fan of Ciate's manicure kits! Although slightly more expensive than other brands they are always ahead of the competition with new creative designs. And I for one love nothing more than sitting down to try them. So when I seen an instagram pic of Kimberly Wyatt wearing the Ciate Colourfoil Manicure I knew I needed to try it! So you can imagine my excitement when my brother came home from London this weekend with a Selfridges Bag! I chose the 'Carnival Couture' kit but there is two other colours to choose from with different foils and colours. So here's my step by step guide to the kit...

Duration: 45 minutes (the duration of Towie!)

Price: £18

I love that Ciate included a testing set for you to try out different styles, really helpful when your not sure how it will look and haven't got time to make mistakes!

Firstly, paint each nail with two coats of the Ciate base coat and leave to dry. Quick Tip: It's good to make sure your hand is comfortable when doing styles like this that take a little longer, I bought this manicure cushion from Ebay for £1.99, bargain!

 Secondly, paint a small amount of the Ciate glue on the area, only where you want your foil to go. Once the glue has gone from white to clear, place the foil sheet colour side up on the spot of glue. Rub it down and then remove in once quick movement. This can be slightly tricky, especially if the glue is not dry. Repeat this process with three or four more foils.

Repeat the process for each nail, alternating between colours and patterns. I painted a clear polish over the top as the nails were quite sticky from the glue and to help the look last longer.

 And there you have your beautiful colourfoil nails! I love love this look. Like all of Ciate's kits they don't always last as long as you would like, but great for a night out or special occasion and out of all the kits I have tried so far this definitely lasted the longest at four days. I got a lot of compliments on my nails while I had this on and its definitely one of my favourite looks Ciate have developed so far.

 

Look forward to what you will come up with next Ciate!

What do you think?

xox

Nail Art for amateurs!

So of course we aren't all skilled in the craft of nail art, but I for one love to experiment with new styles as you can tell from my previous posts. Nail art doesn't have to be difficult it can just be as simple as polka dots and stripes which is the look I'm going to show you today!

One thing every Nail Art fan should own is the 'Wah! Book of Nail Art'. It is is full of step by step guides to loads of clever different styles from simple bows to intricate roses. The book is aimed at anyone and really shows you how to do each of the looks with the correct tools and stages to make it perfect.

Today I combined two of the looks 'Candystripes' and 'Polka Dots' because I have to be different you know that... So I'm going to share with you how easy it was to complete!

Barry M is definitely my go to nail varnish brand, so much choice at such reasonable prices.

So for this look I used two pastels colours which I felt would blend well together, 'Mint Green' and 'Berry Lilac'. Start off by painting two coats of the colour on each nail and leaving to dry.

For Step Two I used an Avon double ended dotting tool and brush, which you just pop into the nail varnish of your choice. It can be quite messy so an alternative is Models Own Nail Art pens. I dipped the dotting tool into a plain black varnish and drop small dots randomly around the nail. Careful not to smudge the dots.

Once you have finished the dots on alternative nails, I chose the Lilac nails for the dots. Clean your dotting tool and switch it to the brush end. Carefully brush straight lines vertically up the nail. This is more tricky than the dots as its difficult to get the line straight, especially if you have shaky hands like me! But we don't need to be perfect do we?

 

So what do you think?

Send me your looks!

 

xox

My obsession with Missguided

Anyone who knows me will know I'm not a massive party girl, going out and getting 'mortal' just isn't really my thing. But recently I have been letting my hair down a little bit with my girls and of course any excuse to buy a new dress is good to me. So where do I turn to when in search of the perfect dress: missguided.co.uk!

Missguided is always my first port of call when looking for a dress for any occasion. They have such a varied amount to choose from. While some other sites only have one  have 10 or so dresses to choose from, Missguided have hundreds... and I mean h.u.n.d.r.e.d.s. If you a dress lover like me Missguided is like heaven. In fact my wish list is so long because I'm addicted to browsing, even though my bank account doesn't always support my addiction.

You can trust me to always be honest with my review of any brand, I have no biased here just a genuine love of the site. It is only a recent discovery for me but the purchases I have made I have been really impressed with.  They aren't the type that look so much nicer online and then you get them and the material or shape is nothing like what you expected. And a great plus is none of the dresses have ever cost me more than £30 and you can get delivery from just £1.95. Who can argue with that?!

But just incase you don't believe me, here's some of the purchases I've made so far...

 Me (centre) in Missguided's Monochrome Studded Bustier Dress



(Left) Missguided Cut Out Dress (Gorgeous but too short for me, so I had to cover my bum with this Lavish Alice skirt to be allowed out of the house!)

So if you haven't already, get yourself to www.missguided.co.uk and let me know what you fall in love with.

xox

Tartan for a fiver? Why not!

I love love love the tartan design. Timeless and beautiful it gives life to any outfit. I have loved tartan since I was a child sitting on my Nana's tartan picnic blankets and cuddling into her tartan scarves. However I have never found it that easy to pull off and its only recently when tartan made a comeback on the high street that I decided it was time to reignite my love. I came across a few tartan skirts on missguided.com which were gorgeous but then I came across a gorgeous little tartan skater style skirt for just £5 at Internationale and I was not about to turn it down!

The skirt is so versatile and you can where it day or night to achieve a gorgeous eye catching look. I have so many compliments when wearing it and people are surprised at how cheap it was! And a major plus is that its subtle enough not to feel like you stick out like a sore thumb but still grabs attention.

Here is some looks I have achieved:

Look One: Simple Black Tee

 

Look Two: Cosy with a Chunky Knit

 

 

Look Three: Girls night with a high neck blouse!

 

So there you have it, I fell in love with some bargain tartan, what little treasures have you found in the sales recently?

 

xox