Striped nails tutorial

Experimenting with nail polish the other day, I soon realised that you could draw on top of your nail polish with almost anything (pens, crayons, etc) if the surface of the nail was tacky enough - think of the possibilities! But alas, how to make them tacky enough? The answer came to me the next day: hairspray. The result of all of this was these, beautiful, striped nails :)

You will need:

- White nail polish

- Hairspray

- Liquid eyeliner (your preferred colour)

- Top coat

1. Paint your nails twice with the white nail polish to make sure it's even.

2. Lightly spritz all your nails with hairspray to make them tacky.

3. Draw lines up your nails with the liquid eyeliner. Wait for it to dry.

4. Topcoat :)

Voila! Beautiful nails in under 20 minutes!

the POREfessional & BADgal lash mascara reviews

As some of you may know, July 2012's issue of GLAMOUR magazine had 3 very wonderful gifts...
- Benefit 'a little bit BADGAL'
- Benefit 'the POREfessional'
- Benefit 'that GAL'

Each issue came with one of the three listed above: sadly I could not get my hands on some 'that GAL', but I did get a hold of the other two... £2 for each issue - can't complain!

the POREfessional

'PRO BALM TO MINIMIZE THE APPEARANCE OF PORES'

'Apply this silky, oil free formula to minimize the appearance of pores & fine lines for smoother-than-smooth skin.
To use under make-up: Apply to moisturized skin to help make-up stay put. Focus on problem areas and blend with fingertips.
To use over make-up: Pat on lightly over make-up and blend.'  
 The consistency of this pore-reducing cream is incredibly silky, as said. It's a silicone based product with a shelf life of 12 months. It does exactly what it says on the label - visibly reduces pores and helps make-up stay on longer. It definitely works miracles with helping your eye make-up stay on. Blends incredibly easy (even when using just your fingers!!), not sticky at all, doesn't leave residue, one shade compliments all skin tones - overall, a great product! 4.5/5

Retails for £23.50 for 0.75 fl. oz or 220ML


BADgal lash mascara

'FOR EXTRA FULL LASHES, COAT BOTH SIDES OF THE UPPER AND LOWER LASHES, THEN FLUTTER AWAY!'

'Sexy, sultry, pure unadulterated black mascara for full, voluminous lashes. It's as BAD as you want to be! Famously big, bodacious brush coats lashes with our super black formula.'

 
 Prior to this mascara I would only buy mascaras with plastic wands because for me, they worked better. I didn't know this wand had bristles, and maybe if I did, I wouldn't have bought it.
But I'm glad it does, because although I can't see myself ditching plastic wands completely, I can see myself buying a lot more mascaras with bristle wands! It's a great mascara! It grabs all your lashes and thickens them out enormously! It is quite an investment for a mascara but I do think that in the main, it's well worth it! 4.5/5
Retails for £16.50 for 8.5g Net wt 0.3 oz 

Have you tried any of these products or anything else by Benefit? Leave it in the comments and include what you liked about it! :)

Wonderstruck - Taylor Swift

Since February 2011 I have been anticipating smelling Taylor Swift's first fragrance. 'Wonderstruck' was announced the name of her fragrance mid-2011, which is a word used in her song 'Enchanted' (Speak Now). She talks about how scents can bring back memories and how she hopes her perfume will do just that.

Wonderstruck was released in Australia and the USA in October 2011, a various countries around the world in the months that came shortly after and the official release date for the UK was 25th July 2012. 

If you are Taylor Swift fan and have Twitter, then you may be following the Wonderstruck Team (@Wonderstruck). They often tweet release dates for the perfume and how to get free samples of it delivered to you (I have entered my address multiple times for the free sample and I have never received a thing). 

So I guess it was just by chance that I refreshed my Twitter timeline before hitting the sack one night and I noticed that a Twitter account dedicated to Taylor Swift had tweeted saying that The Perfume Shop was selling Wonderstruck already, even though it was only the 23rd July!


I quickly got my mom's credit card (The Perfume Shop doesn't accept PayPal) and pre-ordered a bottle, even getting the next day delivery service! They shipped it that night and it arrived to me at 9:00AM, even though it'd been 9:00PM when I'd ordered it! For an extra £5.50, you can't complain at all! It even came with the free bag designed by Taylor herself!

The packaging is adorable. It comes in a no-nonsense box without all the excess space with whimsical designs and arabic-style swirls all over it. Faintly scribbled all over the back are Taylor-esque words such as 'Captivating' and 'Enchanting', but they are quite hard to make out. On the top of the box is a golden '13' sticker, as 13 is her lucky number.

The bottle is purple with golden writing emblazoned onto it, also with thousands of tiny purple sparkles. It looks like a hard colour in person but when you hold it up to the light it turns translucent. The cap is also gold and has lots of little patterns and symbols on, again, a golden 13. In the bigger sizes, a charm bracelet comes with the bottle.

At certain angles or when light shines on the bottle, it flashes all different colours like spilled petrol. It's quite something, next to your everyday perfume.


Now for how it smells, the most important part!


To me, it smells distinctly floral but also very fruity. If you let the scent develop it you can pick out hints of spices such as cinnamon, and also sugar and vanilla. The longer you let it develop the more you can smell! (I'm sniffing it on my hand right now) it sort of smells earthy, like pine trees in the woods. It's such a great scent - definitely not too over powering! It's a soft smell, but with character. I know I'll be repurchasing this for sure! Thank-you Taylor!

OOTN: Ally's 15th

 Hello you beautiful lot.

First and foremost, I am so so sorry for neglecting my little blog like I have been doing with the petty excuse that my camera is still dying and I've had nothing really to blog about :(

But as it's the summer holidays now, I've made a pact that I will try and blog most days. Hopefully there will be a lot more posts this summer and I hope you enjoy them. Feel free to leave comments, I've just received my first and almost had a heart attack. I hope you've had a lovely day.


My lovely friend Ally turned 15 at the end of June and to celebrate she hosted a giant house party, and even though it did get crashed by two random guys in our year, it was a lot of fun. Thank-you Ally!

Beautiful birthday girl singing

In order for this blog post to be even remotely interesting for you, I decided to do an Outfit Of The Night (OOTN) if you hadn't picked that up from the title :)

Black dress

Dress - George @ Asda
Belt - New Look
Black knee high socks (that you can't even see!) - Primark
Suede wedges - Primark

Ellis and I trying to be all Instagram taking pictures of party poppers

So all in all it wasn't a very flash outfit, and if you're wondering why people were wearing masks it was a masquerade ball, I just don't own a mask. So I'll pop in a few more pictures of that evening and hope that you laugh at them, because I had more than I should have to drink and found it all very hilarious myself. 

Charlie, Alison and Ellis with a twitch

Noah, Danny, Lily and I

Josh and I

Josh and Ben living it up as bartenders

Charlie and I

Alison at 4am. She'd kill me if she knew this was on my blog hahah.

I challenged Noah to a game of Chubby Bunny with mini marshmallows. He got 60, I got 80 boooooyah!

20 Questions About Me

Hello my lovelies! So, the few readers I have may have noticed the lack of blog posts... or not hahah. You see, I have so many things to blog about right now from Benefit reviews to DIY hair cuts, but alas, my camera has run out of batteries, and at this very moment in time I do not have the correct batteries to replace the old ones with. So for now I'll just still to a very textual blog post with maybe the odd picture from the past... or however many I may be able to dig up!


1. Do you have a middle name?
Yes, my middle name is Louise. Which is an extreeeemely common middle name for girls born in 1996-1998, but quite a rare first name.


2. What is your favourite subject?
I really don't enjoy school much and my overall enjoyment of a lesson will depend on who I'm sat with... so my favourite subject is either Music or Chemistry because I'm sat by some hilarious people and the teacher is ace.


3. What is your favourite drink?
Every time I am at a restaurant I will usually just have a lemonade, but whenever I went to the Toby & Carvery (haven't been for almost 2 years since the one near me caught fire) I would order either 'Pomegranate & Spice' or 'Lemon & Ginger' drink. They were lush!


4. What is your favourite song at the moment?
My all time favourite song is 'Should've Said No' by Taylor Swift, but my other favourite of the week is probably 'Both Of Us' by Taylor Swift and B.o.B because it's something completely different to Taylor's usual style and the music video was released on Friday so FANGURRRRL!


5. What would you name your kids?
I lovelovelove the name 'Shelby' for a girl. I think it's awesome and I love it love it love it.  So yeah my daughter will most likely be called Shelby. I also think 'Maximillion' for a boy is an awesome name.


6. Do you participate in any sports?
I don't openly participate in any sports, but I love volleyball and play it whenever I can, and at the moment I play curricular short tennis.


7. Favourite book?
The Calypso Chronicles by Tyne O'Connell - practically a chick flick in a book!


8. Favourite colour?
My favourite colour is purple but I am also fond or coral and turquoise :)


9. Favourite animal?
Definitely a dog. Here's my dog, Sky

10. Favourite perfume?
At the moment it's Midnight Fantasy by Britney Spears but I'm looking forward to Wonderstruck by Taylor Swift.


11. Favourite holiday?
Italy May-June 2011 with my school.

12. Have you graduated high school?
I have 175 days left of high school, so no :(


13. Have you ever been out of the country?
Many a time :)


14. Do you speak another language?
A wee bit of Spanish and smidgen of French.


15. How many siblings do you have?
I have an 11 year old brother called Matt who will be joining my high school in September. God help me.


16. What is your favourite store?
Ones that have good sales.


17. Favourite food?
Pancakes.


18. Favourite movie?
Titanic, but I also love everything with Leo Di'Caprio in.


19. Favourite TV show?
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation


20. What kind of phone do you have?
Alcatel... urrrr forgot the numbers hehe

Sleek Eyeshadow Pallets

As a proud owner of two Sleek pallets I feel it is my duty to spread the word of how utterly fabulous these pallets are! Not only do you get 12 shadows for the gorgeous price of £6.50, but they are the most beautifully pigmented colours imaginable! Sounds too good to be true, right? 


My first Sleek eyeshadow pallet was the 'Storm' pallet and I was inspired to buy it from CosmeticsCharlotte72 off YouTube. It comes with 3 matte shades and 9 shimmer ones. It's quite a natural pallet (not nude) but has some brighter colours to add depth. I personally love to blend all the colours on the top row - they look gorgeous and compliment each other so well!

Sleek Eyeshadow Pallet - Storm

My second Sleek eyeshadow pallet was an inspired buy because of Georgiagoesglam also off YouTube, after she won my Sleek eyeshadow pallet giveaway and asked for the 'Oh So Special' pallet. I thought it looked gorgeous and I had to buy it for myself also!

This pallet is about 50/50 matte to shimmer, and it mainly in muted, pastel colours. I especially love the first colour (top row) which is a very pale pink-cream and the last colour (top row) which is a sparkling deep purple. As I have hazel eyes it looks great in the crease and adds tonnes of depth to my eyes!

Sleek Eyeshadow Pallet - Oh So Special

So really for £6.50 you can't go wrong. Check out the Sleek website at  http://www.sleekmakeup.com/ for more of there products. I'd love to know in the comments if you have tried any others as I have only tried their eyeshadows. 

Here are a few photos I took of their packaging. It's sturdy, compact, and doesn't break open :)

Thanks for taking your time to read this!

Rach

A week in the life of me... kinda!

Hello everybody! (Yes by everybody I mean the 2 people that follow my blog that I only just realised about and I am psyched!!!)


As I don't have anything of real importance prepared that I can blog about, this is really just an update blog and how my week has been.


Monday: First day back at school after half term, and heck, did it kill getting up that early?! Yes! Got a few comments on my new Ombre which was ace! Doesn't it just brighten up your day immensely when people say nice things about you? Especially your hair! I take great pride in my hair and I thought it was really nice of them to say it.


Tuesday: Oh goodness... writing this is proving how bad my memory is! I can barely remember Tuesday! I think I had Spanish... which is basically a lesson mimicking my Spanish teacher's Scottish accent. Something funny was my friend (who always has her phone out in Spanish) pretended to have her phone out and stacked up a Mira textbook to make it ultra obvious, and when Logan (our teacher) came over and goes "Jess, put yer phoon awey!" she suddenly throws the book in the air and yells "It's a calculator mate!". Come on, it was tres tres hilarious. Even Logez was laughing. She even said "Haaaa Haaa Jess, very funny, you should be on staaaayge you make me laugh." In other words, she just got owned. 
Also, singing class (or choir if you're going to be really cynical) was sick. We're doing an Abba medley for the Fusion concert on 19th July. It will be ace.


Wednesday: Wednesday I started to get really ill with a cold :( but everyone wanted me to be doing the acoustics for their part at the Fusion concert. At the moment I don't have any sets of my own, but I'm supplying the music for two and vocals for one, possibly two. I'll hopefully get some recordings of them or something. I'm playing Jessie J - Price Tag and Wetsuit - The Kooks. 


Thursday: Had a food fight at lunch and hit someone because they insulted Leo Di'Caprio. That is the way I rollllllll.


Friday: Stayed in bed for the morning because I hadn't done any of my Geography coursework and I hate IGCSE so I decided to skip that and roll in at lunch. It was funny, telling everyone I'd been stuck on the Ukranian border hahah. Chemistry last and kicked the switch on some kid's computer when he kept spitting over me as he talked. Like come on dude, I want to know what you're saying not the flipping weather.


And I think that brings us to here :) that's nice. 


Weekly favourites... yes?
Album: A Ticket For Everyone [Live] - Busted
I know, I know, I know. Busted? They split up years ago, right? Yep. But I have always been a hardcore Busted fan even though they were well before my time and have most of their albums on my iTunes. I realised I hadn't listened to one of their live albums that much and decided to give it a whiz - I LOVELOVELOVE IT. There's something about live albums, don't you think? 


Song: She Wants To Be Me - Busted (A Ticket For Everyone [Live])
As said before, I love Busted. My favourite line is probably the entire chorus... lets see if this'll sway you:
"She looks like/Does like/Sounds like me
She's stealing/My identity/And I'm begging you!


Somebody notice me/Somebody notice
We need a way out/What have I gotta do 
To make you see/My girlfriend is
A wannabe/And she wants to be me"




Beauty product: Blue Rose - NYC (Lipstick)
It's been the lipstick I've worn everyday this week to school, just toned down a tad. It makes a nice change to my usual red-orange which looks tres tres smart. Hahah I'm not smart at all (in appearance)!!


Book: Twilight - Stephanie Meyer
I'm reading this book again after many many years. It's such a sick book! (My new favourite word is 'sick' hahah). I recommend it if you haven't read it in years or not at all! Seriously, the last time I read it I was 11 or 12! 


So right now I'm flicking through a cooking book about cookies and considering making the churros. Opinions? (Lol jkz no one will comment but oh well!).
Also marvelling at my iPod case which is available from taylorswift.com/store 


Thank-you for watching, hope you had a brilliant week!

Rach 

NYC Ultra Last Lipstick

Alohaaa (feeling like Louise after reading her blog all day haha!)! First and foremost I'd like to apologize for being absent for the past week :( Technical difficulties and lack of things to post combined m'fraid. But now I'm back so yayyyy

On Saturday I decided to go into Superdrug, because as opposed to Boots where the staff is always staring at you as if you're about to steal all the products and smash all the testers... I can shop in a relaxed and peaceful way. Also, the aisles are much wider in Superdrug and people aren't tripping over each other. 


That was when I found these little gems. 

NYC Ultra Last Lipsticks in Air Kiss (left) and Blue Rose (right). I initially went looking at the NYC rail (I think that's what it's called?) because Annaskiwibeauty off of YouTube wore Blue Rose in one of her videos and I loved it so much I had to ask her what it was. Anna is positively lovely. When I used to do YouTube we would inbox several times a week and give each other shout outs in our videos. She is so kind and sweet. Thanks Anna!

Firstly I'm going to talk about the consistency of these lippies: They are sooooo unbelievably creamy and moisturising! (Although I would recommend a lip balm before to prep the lips anyway haha)
The colours are incredibly pigmented. 'Air Kiss' (right) is a muted red with pinkish undertones and 'Blue Rose' (right) is a bright/deep pink with blue undertones. Both look gorgeous and can be worn thinly across the lips for a school look, layered up for going out or as you like. They are so versatile.

This little photograph is just to focus on the simplicity yet sophisticated packaging. In my opinion anyway. Matte black with silver NYC written on one side and a clear cover. This makes it easier to grab the colour you want rather than sorting through your whole lipstick section.

Air Kiss

Blue Rose

Swatches

I really recommend you going down to an NYC stall (I believe they only stock in Superdrug) and purchasing a couple of these lipsticks. They retail for £1.49 and currently there is a 3 for 2 sale on all NYC products! The nail polish you can see on my swatch is NYC Eastern Village.


Thank-you for reading and please leave a comment on any NYC products that you have tried!

Rach x

TAG: 13 Hair Questions

Okay I have fully accepted the fact that I am going to fail my modular 3 Science exam tomorrow due to lack of revision... but I'd rather make a blog post! Feel free to do this TAG, and leave a comment below saying you have! 

1) Do you wear hair extensions? Feather extensions :)
2) What is your hair color? Fair brown/blonde with ombred tips and feathers.
3) What is your natural hair color? Fair brown/blonde
4) Do you dye your hair yourself? Yes
5) What haircut do you ask for at the hairdressers? I don't go to the hairdressers, I cut my own hair. To dead end it I put it in a rope braid and snip off all of the sticky out bits and then level out the tips and trim them. For my fringe I just cut straight down like a block fringe then sweep it to the side :)
6) Are you a natural blonde? Ish. Haha
7) Is your hair naturally straight? Yes
8) What hair straightener do you use? I rarely straighten my hair but when I do I use one by BaByliss... not sure of the name sorry!
9) What hair curler do you use? BaByliss wrap around conical wand :)
10) What's your best heat-free hair style? I like to sleep with my hair in a rope braid bun on top of my head at night. In the morning it looks gorgeous.
11) How often do you wash your hair? Every 2-3 days I shampoo and condition.
12) Most popular hair style? Rope braid bun waves :)13) What hair care products do you use on your hair and how do you get it so silky smooth looking? Heat defence, leave-in conditioner, mousse and occasionally hairspray. To get it silky smooth definitely use leave-in conditioner :)


Hope you enjoyed this TAG and I'll leave pictures of my hair below! Thanks for reading!


Rach

Curlers: BaByliss Wrap Around Conical Wand

Put in rope braids over night

Naturally straight

TAG: Questions & Answers

So I wasn't officially tagged to do this but I saw it on one of Zoe's old blog posts so I decided to do it. Feel free to do it and say that I tagged you!

What is your current fashion obsession? Floral dresses/skirts, headbands and brogues.

What is your current makeup obsession? Miss Sporty - random, right? But I really do think that brand is a hidden gem!

What are you wearing today? Above the knee polka-dot-heart black skater dress from George.

Hair? Messy, bedhead.

Do you nap a lot? Not really, wish I did though :(

Why is today special? Last day before onslaught of exams?

What would you like to learn to do? Play the guitar like Grant Mickelson and Paul Sidoti.

What's for dinner today? Gammon I think?

What are you listening to right now? Nothing apart from the birds outside my window :)

What is your favorite weather? Warm enough for shorts and a cool breeze.

What's the last thing you bought? Purple plaid shirt from Primark for my best friend Sophie's 15th birthday.

What are your essentials when traveling? Toothbrush, pajamas, clean change of clothes, makeup, makeup wipes, hair products, ties and bobby pins... oh the list goes on!

What's your style? Some days I'm really all like cowgirl country and western style with old faded blue jeans, red plaid shirt and leather cowboy boots whereas other days I'm quite girly with a floral skirt, leather brogues and a cami - I'm such a combination!

What is your most challenging goal right now? Motivation to revise and write some good songs.

What do you think about the person who tagged you? (Zoe) Lovelovelove her blog and YouTube. I feel like she's my best friend (creepy!) the amount of stuff we have in common :)

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be? My grandparents house, they want me to buy it after they die but it'll cost loads :(

Favorite vacation spot? Would looove to go to Tennessee!

Name the things you cannot live without? Family (including Sky!), friends, Taylor Swift and my guitar. 

How was your childhood? Reading this question I'm thinking I'm still a child! I'm fourteen! But I kind of see my life so far as a series of 'Wish you could go back and tell yourself what you know now' moments.

What would you like to have in your hands right now? The cure for cancer, alzheimers and other terrible diseases. Also a winning lottery ticket and a recording contract would be nice ;)

What would you like to get rid of? Parts of my past, certain people I know and parts of my personality.

What are you most excited for? Half-term and Minehead with Rosie in July wooo!

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? Grandparents house <3

Which countries have you visited? Spain, Spanish Islands, Wales, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy :)

Hope you enjoyed the read! Also please feel free to say that thenashvilletiger tagged you to do this! 

Rach

Review: Skin Wisdom Body Shimmer Lotion + Rimmel SunShimmer

Howdy my lovelies! Yesterday I decided to crack open the fake tan, seeing as we are in a heatwave and I am the unfortunate owner of a pair of ghastly milk bottles! 


I decided to use two different fake tans: Skin Wisdom Body Shimmer Lotion and Rimmel SunShimmer. 

Skin Widsom

Rimmel

I love mild-sun-and-a-cool-breeze type weather, because it gives me an excuse to be so ridiculously, unlawfully pale, honestly, I don't think I've ever tanned in my life - no matter how much sun cream I spray myself stupid with and however high the spf, I'll either stay white as paper or burn like chicken in an unsupervised oven. It's grossly unfair. 

So these are the obscenties that I am forced to walk upon day in day out before the fake tan (please excuse the chipped nail varnish).
I rubbed in a generous amount of Skin Wisdom all over my legs and knees. It gave a nice peachy glow that had miniscule sparkles in it, making you look quite sun-kissed. In other words, it looked natural. 
I evenly sprayed on the Rimmel and carefully rubbed it in. The bottle said it was going to take 2-4 hours to begin to show.

Around my thigh area, is what my whole legs were like. The pictures don't do it justice. I found that the tans (together) wore off rather fast and I find them barely noticeable now :( but I also feel that the target audience for these are people with slightly more pigmented skin than me, heehee! 


Hope you enjoyed the read - I'd definitely recommend Skin Wisdom! It was super easy to use and I've decided it gave me the best results! Please let me know what your favourite fake bakes are ;)


Rach