Nail Art. She Swirls and Swirls Again.

Hello Beauties,

As ever my nail varnish collection is vastly growing, it is honestly terrifying how many shades I have. So many people that I am in contact with daily are forever saying that they have never actually seen my natural nails before.... polish addict? I think so!
I have so many colours I can never choose which colour I want on my nails and so this brings me to this post. I've come to the conclusion that painting each nail a different colour like a rainbow is not an acceptable solution to indecisiveness. Recently whilst scouring youtube for new nail art ideas I cam across Marble Nails. After many attempts and 10 youtube tutorials later, this is what I came up with, I have decided that it is much a more acceptable choice to rainbow nails, might I add it also looks pretty damn beautiful.

This was achieved with three colours: Black by Barry M £2.99, Porchester Square by Nails Inc £11 and Thunder and Lightning by Models Own £4.90. I am really excited to try out a few more marble nail looks. Patience and complimentary shades are my two biggest tips for creating this nail art.

Will you be giving marble nail art a go?
Love,
Belle.x

One Year On....

Hello Beauties

I would just like to begin by saying a HUGE thank you to all of you who follow and read my blog!

It has been an amazing experience starting out and dabbling in the world of blogging.

On Saturday the 29/9/12 my blog turned one.

 I can contently say that I still have no permanent direction for my blog as I am not 100% what I want to gain from the experience, however I do not believe this is a bad thing as I enjoy reading other blogs and updating my own, it leaves me always questioning what is around the corner. I am so proud of my little space on the Internet. I do believe I could be better, more efficient and be a better blogger. Hopefully my second year of blogging will be just as positive as the first.
Love,
Belle.x

Shopping Whilst on Holiday

Hello Beauties,

I have been sunny myself in beautiful Spain this past week. It has been a well deserved to break and I can I enjoyed every second and am already looking forward to my next visit. I did a little shopping whilst in Calpe in between sun bathing and enjoy the odd cocktail of course. Here are a few bits and bobs I purchased in Spain from the pretty little shops and local markets.

handmade leather bag 15Euros, Spanish market

His and Hers watches 12Euros

Prada?

Beaded clutch 5Euros and Daisy leather ring 4Euros

Have you been on Holiday recently?
Love,
Belle.x

Lipstick Review. Oh Laaa Laaa

Hello Beauties,

On my recent trip to topshop I was scouring the make-up shelves initially hoping to purchase 'Brighton Rock'. Unfortunately they did not have my desired lipstick of choice in stock, even though I live in a capital city and the store is rather large the lipstick range they have is limited! I was on a mission and intended to not leave topshop without a new lipstick, luckily I fell head over heels for 'Oh La La'.
'Oh la la' is a coral lip with a peachy creme tone. It is very comfortable on the lip and smells lightly of vanilla, which is undetected once applied. The formula of topshop lipsticks are lovely and smooth and I very rarely have a grumble with them.

 

Have you tried any of topshop's lipstics?
Let's just hope they have 'brighton rock' next time!
Love,
Belle.x

Saturday Night, Dance, I Like the Way You Move, Pretty Baby.

Hello Beauties,
Last saturday night I went out with my lovely girlfriends, we had a fabulous night out, fuelled with many a delicious cocktail. I thought i'd share what I wore with the use of Polyvore. A fashion website where you can gather your outfits and favourites in one set.

The dress is a firm favourite of mine, it has a simple black corset top with lace panelling down the sides and it has a skater style chiffon skirt attached, from miss selfridge. I wore my amazing rose gold accent platform heels from zara which are super comfy and so easy to walk in! I teamed the outfit with the beloved black YSL clutch, Nars bronzer, Topshop lipstick in oh la la  which I have reviewed here and my favourite eyelure eyelashes.

 

Below is the very apt song 'Saturday Night' from Whigfield, although it was released back in 1993 it is still a firm favourite of mine! Take a listen when you're next getting ready for a night out or a night in, it's on my playlist!

 

Love,

Belle.x

As Sweet as Parma Violets

Hello beauties,

I thought I would share with you my violet nails feautured in my last outfit post that you can read here. Everytime i'm in Topshop a new polish some how finds it's way home with me (after paying for it of course!). The last time I was having a wander in Topshop I came across this violet beauty, 'parma violet' is a milky creme shade. I thought it would take a while to build up but with two coats and a top coat of seche viete my manicure was complete. The Topshop polishes do apply like a dream and with their extensive colourful collection growing, so is mine!

At £5 a pop and super cute packaging how could you leave it behind?

Have you ever tried a Topshop nail polish?
Love,
Belle.x

OOTD. Monday's a Breeze When the Sun Shines

Hello lovelies, 

Last Monday the majority of the UK saw a lovely summers day. I decided to put on my summer specials and head out for a day of sunshine, ice cream and lovely food!

When the sun shines I always revert back to my classic yellow silk skirt that has a ribbon waist band from Topshop, it feels so girly and floaty, I love it. I usually pair it with a cream silk racer back vest that has a zip down the back which is also from Topshop. On this occasion it was rather warm and a plain white Jersey drop arm vest suited better. My gold necklace is vintage and is from the 1920's, I wear it with everything and anything. The shoes are my trusty 'Gena' wedges from Dune.

I hope you've had a nice summers day.
Love,
Belle.x

Polyvore Favourites.

Hello Beauties,
 I am very aware that it is 27degrees and boiling outside here in Wales although when creating what was meant to be my 'summer wishlist for payday on Polyvore, I could not help but lust over these secret wedge hightops from River Ssland. I then found a beautiful maxi waterfall hem skirt and found a great kitsch moustache printed drop arm vest top to go with them.
I then thought to heck with it, my 'summer wishlist for payday' has gone down the pan. 
And so I just carried on with what I am inappropriately loving at the moment, so I threw some red lippy and nails in to the mix.
I have accidentally created myself a classic, autumnal yet designer outfit not at all fit for this weeks weather. Typical when the sun comes shinning!

I am absolutely loving leather jackets and the leather YSL Clutch range at the moment! 
I obviously can not wait to embrace the winter months!
My 'summer wishlist for payday' is not far behind, I just have to put the red and black aside for a moment ......

Love,

Belle.x

Collection, Way to Glow.

Hello Beauties,

I have been on the look out for a new bronzer for a while. After my Dior skin colour and glow bronzer came to its last legs and with the price far to high to justify I have resulted to searching for a drugstore alternative. After purchasing many bronzers from various brands I think I have found a suitable alternative for my beloved Dior colour and glow, at a mere fraction of the price. 

The Bronzer comes in a quad style pallet, the four colours range from warm to cool. The top left is an off white shade with lilac undertones, i use this to cancel out over bronzed errors and highlight my cheek and brow bone. The top right is an olive based brown shade with green and golden flecks. I use this as the main shade on the apple of the cheeks, this shade can also be used to create a neutral smokey eye along with the off white shade as a base. The bottom left is a warm terracotta with golden flecks, I use this to contour (with a light hand). The bottom right shade is my most used shade which i use to highlight the apples of my cheeks and below the brow bone.

 Collection Way to Glow pallette can be purchased here for £4.19 or from your local Boots store. 
All four colours complement each other and work well with one another. I have repurchased the pallet and I am currently on the look out for the blush version!

Here is 'Way to Glow' by newly re-branded Collection, applied before a night out on the tiles with my lovely ladies and I can vouch that it lasted all night long and provided me with a lovely way to glow!

Have you tried Collection bronzer and blushers before?
Love,
Belle.x  

Who needs Nikes or Keds? Wearing your All Stars, you'll turn all heads

Hello Beauties, 

With the strange rainy weather in the UK drowning out our summer, flip flops and sandals seem to be a no go area. With the sun hiding behind the clouds and the downfalls hitting us out of no where, I never know whether I am coming or going when it comes to what to wear on my feet. I joined the Vans bandwagon along time ago. I own a few pairs however, all of mine are dark colours and I feel they are a bit heavy for "summer" and so I decided to buy a pair of Converse in white. 

They are my best purchase of the summer, they go with everything. They cover my feet come rain or shine. I have been teaming them with floral dresses and cardigans, leggings and shirts or oversized jumpers and jeans. They add 'cool' to any outfit and I love them.

What have you been wearing on your feet this Summer?
Love,
Belle.x

Current Beauty Storage

Hello Beauties,

I am currently in a rather awkward living situation which I shall not divulge into, although it leaves me in rather a predicament when it comes to my beauty products and how I store them. As I currently do not have much space for such items I have had to put away and condense my beauty items.

I have arranged my most used and needed beauty products into categories such as: tanning products, Makeup, nail varnishes, face, hair and body.

I was searching the web for storage boxes and after many hours of frustration i turned to tidying my room, I then found all of my empty glossy boxes and wondered if I could find a use for them, to my surprise the storage boxes were staring me right in the face. I used six of my glossy boxes with the lids put on the bottom (to make them more sturdy).

How do you store your beauty products? Do you have a great use for empty GlossyBoxes?

Love,
Belle.x

I will lie and I will say, it’s just an ordinary day at the end of may.

Hello Beauties,

I am happy to accept the award of worst blogger in the world as I have not been around for a month and the last post was in fact April's instagram post! Exam period has well and truly taken over my life and they don't end until june 19th. Ihave kept up to date daily with my favourite blogs but have managed to disregard my own.

instagram #2

mummy and me, belle in my old room, lovely messy hair, the boyf and i at barry island, bath bombs at bristol, my outfit for saturday night, chanel nail polish -such a beauty, me and the bestie rachel on a night out, new jeans and the watch of my dreams, kiera and my 'way to glow' collection bronzed face!, new pink blazer, nike pink suede blazers.

Love,
Belle.x

 

I'll be content, you loved me once, in April.

Hello Lovelies,

I can't help but jump on the instagramming blogsphere bandwagon at the moment, and so here is April : loving nail art with OPI second honeymoon, fat cat marley on my bed, dream shoes for spring, my face one day, frappucino on a warm day, the boyf and I, lemon cake and cappucino, my new lisptick, chicken on a farm, my new laptop, a lovely cuppa teapigs 'lemon and ginger' (review to come), cutest pink sparkly baby converse ever, gemma correll, perfection on a summers day, army of easter chicks, holiday t-shirt, lilly rolling in my revision notes, my wedding outfit, new vans size 2, a night out with Belle's beauties!

this is my very first instagram post, shall i feature more of these on my blog?

Love,
Belle.x

6months

HelloBeauties,

I have written a thank you post before so sorry if it's a bit boring for you all however, my blog turned 6 months old on the 29th of march, in that short space of time I have gained an amazing 98 followers.

In all honesty I can not believe it, and I am so grateful everyday for the time you take

to read, comment and follow, thank you so much, here's to the next 6!!

thank you kindly,

Love,

Belle.x

Nice Stems

Hello Lovelies,

Today I have an OPI review for you all, from the minis collection called 'Nice Stems'

'Nice Stems' comes aptly packaged in faux flower pot cardboard packaging, 

 it is such a cute touch and would make a brilliant gift for someone.Housed inside this faux flower pot are four mini polishes perfect for spring.

I love absolutely every single polish in this set and love the fact that they are minis

I never actually finish a whole nail polish, do you?

Each polish has a suitable name and a slight glimmer.

Although I am not usually a fan of frost or shimmer in nail polishes I surprisingly enjoyed all four. 

When the sun hits them you have summer at your fingertips!

'I Lilly Love You' 

This sparkly pink has large iridescent foil glitter and small iridescent glitter particles in it.

It catches the sunlight beautifully and looks great over any colour nail polish, 

especially pink. My only problem is that the larger glitter particles are sometimes too large.

 

'Be a Dahlia Won't You'

Has to be my favourite out of all four, it is a beautiful fuchsia pink with definite blue glitter particles.

It has such a dashing blue undertone, it would be such a perfect lip colour.

It looks great with or without a tan and would be great at winter as well as summer.

The pictures do not do this justice, I will be buying the full size version, I urge you to swatch this :)

 

'Come to Poppy'

Has to be my now go to coral shade, it is a warm coral with golden shimmer particles.

It looks great in the sunshine and really does brighten up my day. 

At first glance it seemed quite Granny-ish and I'm sure alot of people would agree with this,

although paired well with jewellery and clothing turns into a lovely shade!

'Play the Peonies'

Has to be my least favourite shade out of all four, it is an iridescent light milky pink almost white shade, considering my own skin without a tan is near this description it does not look so good on me!

Although after recently swatching the Kim Kardashian shades for OPI 

- I have found it to be rather similar although not as opaque.

I have found alot of people enjoying this shade during the spring, so once I have applied a tad of St.Moritz I shall test it out!

Over all I found all four shades to apply nicely, streak free and quick drying.

The coral and the pink shades were opaque after 2 coats

The white and the glitter opaque after 3 coats.

Unfortunately with all glitter/shimmer polishes they are rather difficult to remove.

Although I promise these are worth it!

You can purchase the minis set from here for £9.99 which is a bargain 

- considering the full size bottles are £13.50 each!

Have you tired the 'Nice Stems' collection or own any from the range?

Love,

Belle.x

Pink on the Lips of your Lover

Hello Beautiful Beauties, I hope you're all Blooming well.

Today I have got a beautiful new collection to share with you.

No.7 for Boots have launched a lovely spring collection to get you in the mood for the warmer months to come. They have named it 'Vital Brights'.

Very apt if you ask me, bright colours are really what I am after to ready me for spring and summer.

The packaging of the whole range is beautiful and has 'Vital Brights' written all over it, the flowers which adorn the paper and plastic packaging are just so pretty and so spring!

The colours chosen for the pretty flowers are perfect for spring 

(not too coral and not too pink, for me that would border more on a summer collection)

 

The box has a handy little sticker on the top lid with the name of the product with it's colour co-ordinating background. Very handy for if you wanted to store it in it's box standing side by side like alot of people do with their beauty products.

 

 The product that draw me in the most was one of the two lipsticks in this collection, 

springly named 'Blooming Pink'

I love the packaging of the lipstick, a sturdy white squared plastic casing.

It stands out so well in my handbag, makeup bag and storage box amongst my other lipsticks.

 

To me the gold casing that is revealed when removal of the lid makes it classy,

and the white outer casing makes it feel timeless.

The lipstick itself is a stong mid pink. 

It leans lilac in bullet form and has a clear blue undertone.

I feel that the lipstick translates more as a gloss on the lips rather than a lipstick,

however you can build it up to an opaque finish with two or three swipes if you wish to have a bolder shade appearance.

Blooming Pink once applied leaves a sheer pink gloss to the lips and has a slight vanilla scent which is almost undecetable once applied.

Here I am sporting 'Blooming Pink' on a lovely warm spring day yesterday :)

you can purchase this beautiful shade along with the second shade 'Blossoming Pink' and the rest of the spring range at a Boots store or online at Boots. 

(unfortunatley online they have the shades mixed up?!)

The lipstick retails at £10, at the moment there are lots of £5 off vouchers floating around for No.7 so if you have one of those this lipstick will be a mere £5!

Love,

Belle.x