Paws and Claws

Recently I ordered some nail transfers from Janchriste, a nail design shop I discovered through Zoella's blog.  I thought the little stickers looked so cute and at £1.80 a sheet they are a litle bargain!

I gave into my cat obsession and ordered two sheets of cat prints, but there are so many styles in the shop in various colours and designs.  They also sent me a few little extras to practice with so I knew how to apply them and not waste the ones I'd paid for, which I thought was really generous.

Janchriste Nail DesignsApplying the transfers is really easy once you get the hang of it and didn't take too long at all.

~ First apply a base of a pale colour, the paler the better, you can put the transfers straight on a non-painted nail too but I liked the look of the coloured background.  ~ Once the polish is completely dry cut around the image you want as close to the picture as possible.
~ Next peel off the paper backing, I found it easier to do this with tweezers to stop the sticker from rolling or stretching, and stick it onto the nail of choice!
~ A few coats of clear polish or topcoat and you are good to go!  I found two layers of clear polish was best and then topped it up a couple of days later to stop the transfer from lifting.

I really love these little transfers, they give such a unique look to your nails for a fraction of a professional manicure and make it easy to chop and change your mind.  I can't wait for Halloween to roll around so I can use my little black cats with a bright orange background!

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Autumn Loves ~ Boots

Each year as autumn approaches I get the urge to purchase a couple of winter essentials to keep me going through the harsher months, in particular cosy coats and chunky, functional boots.

This year my desire for boots got the better of me early (in my defense I did need a new pair!). My old boots have sat woefully in the wardrobe with the soles hanging on by a thread for the past six months, thanks to one to many cycle to and from uni up Welsh Valleys in countless storms, they really had given up.

My New Loves!

As sad as I will be to part with my old faithfuls I am far too excited to wear my gorgeous new pair and am already planning my winter outfits (too soon?!).  After a hunt round the high street I found a pair which were not only practical, with a nice thick sole, grip and fleecy lining for snow and ice (I am ever hopeful!) and a good bit of style to boot!

These lovelies are from Primark and cost £25, a fair price for a good pair of winter boots in my opinion, and I can't wait to wear them.  I've been experimenting with folding the tops down to reveal sections of the lining and to cut the leg off in different places and I think I like them best when they're rolled down.  Primark had a bunch of other styles and I can see myself heading back there to pick up another pair, funds permitting!

Now I've just got to resist the urge of the winter coats, I've got my eye on a gorgeous leather one in Topshop, I'll have to see if I can save up for that one!

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Deal Addiction

Free Body Shop hand Cream - See Below for Details!

Recently I seem to have developed a bit of an addiction...to deal websites!  Every day I find myself logging onto wowcher, vouchercodes, groupon and more just to see if there are any deals I might want and might be of any use to me.

It hasn't yet got to the point where I'm buying things purely because they're on offer, but I feel it may begin to happen soon!  For example, this evening I'm having dinner at Zizzi's, why? for a nice evening? for good food? because I love the way it's decorated? nope because I have a voucher for 50% off food and it runs out today.  That is my sole motivation of going out to dinner tonight (don't tell the boy, he thinks its a romantic evening!)

My little obsession with these deals doesn't seem to be disappearing anytime soon, especially as today I found a voucher for free hand cream at the body shop.  If you fancy a freebee as well (and lets face it who wouldn't) you can download your voucher from Voucher Codes before the 29th.

Let me know if you get your free hand cream and if you're as addicted as I am to these sites, I hope I'm not the only one!

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About Time ~ Review

About Time

Once in a while a film comes along that makes you smile, laugh, cry and warms your heart, sometimes all at the same time.  The rare gems are films to be treasured, watched over and over and enjoyed more each time.

'About Time' was definitely one of those films.  The film was written and directed by Richard Curtis who also wrote 'Love Actually' and 'Notting Hill', and 'About Time' is definitely written and shot in a similar style.  But I think most of the comparisons are drawn purely from the fact the film is British, set in London, features Bill Nighy and has the feel-good-factor of a good rom-com.

If you haven't seen the trailer the film centres around a Tim, who finds out when he turns 21 that the men in his family can travel in time and are able to go back and change what they have done in the past.  Cue re-done dates, fixed family problems and several hitches along the way.

This film really touched my heart and made me think about the way I perceive the world around me, without making it overtly obvious.  Both me and the boyfriend came out of the cinema with smiles on our faces and a warm, fuzzy feeling (I also managed to have half my make-up down my face but less said about that the better!)

If you have a few hours to spare this week I would highly recommend you take yourself down to the cinema and see this film, it will make your week!

Let me know what you thought of the film bellow, did you love it as much as I did?

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The New Forest

This week I had a lovely couple of days away with the boyfriend as a mini holiday.  With both of us having limited funds for a holiday this year we decided to see what was on offer on deal websites and book us a bargain!

I found a great deal with Red Letter Days for a two night stay at Bartley Lodge in the New Forest, we booked it and off we went!

Bartley Lodge Hotel

The New Forest is such a beautiful place and the hotel sits just on the edge of it.  It's quite near to the motorway but  you still felt like you were in the middle of nowhere, bliss!

The hotel was lovely and looked like an old house, the rooms were a little old fashioned (and for some strange reason our double bed had two single mattresses of different heights on it instead of one double one) but it was really comfortable and a lovely place to stay.

Casually up a tree

We went for walks through the forest, had gorgeous breakfasts and dinners and explored the little villages around the area.  It really is such a lovely part of the country to visit, I've loved it ever since we went camping as a family when I was small and was amazed by all the horses just roaming free.

On the journey home we also stopped off in Southampton for some lunch and bit of a look around.  It seemed a really nice place and had some good shopping too!  I especially loved the Go Rhinos exhibition, 40 individually designed and decorated rhinos scattered across the city, I made it my mission to see as many as possible but my favorite had to be the mirrored one.  It just looked so unique and you really got a sense of the rhino's skin through such an unexpected medium.

Mirrored Rhino, Dental Rhino & Flower Power Rhino - some of my faves

I wish we could have stayed longer, partly for the pool and sauna, but also for the peace and relaxed atmosphere.  Living in London it's nice to be able to take a few days away from all the noise and people and breathe some clean air.

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Domestic Goddess

I've somehow turned into a bit of a housewife/domestic goddess this weekend (nothing to do with my slight obsession with the Great British Bake Off I'm sure!) and did more than a little bit of baking.

Apple & Cinnamon Pie (took me forever to make all those leaves!)

I used a recipe from the hummingbird bakery cookbook for their classic apple pie and I think it's turned out pretty good!  It definitely tasted alright, not sure Paul and Mary would be too impressed (it had a bit of a soggy bottom!) but everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Anyone else loving the Bake Off as much as me? Who's your fave to win?

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Pre-Holiday Haul

Tomorrow I'm off on a little break to the New Forest, I can't wait to go somewhere peaceful and relaxing and just chill out for a few days.

I'm sure you all know the slight panic of not feeling quite holiday ready when you realize mid-pack that you don't have this or that and you absolutely have to take it with you!  Well that was me a couple of hours ago and so I rushed down the road to pick up all the little bits that I'd been meaning to pick up for ages but never quite remembered to do.

As tends to happen whenever I enter a pharmacy (or drug store as I think you might call them in the US) I got a little distracted by the make up and skincare stands and had a little splurge.  So to ease my guilt a little I thought I'd turn it into a blog post and show you a few of the things I picked up and am excited to try over the next few days and after I get back.

Soap&Glory 'Scrub Atomic'

August seems to have left my skin in a bit of a sorry state with multiple breakouts and extremes of combination skin.  I'm a little confused as to why my face has decided this is the time to throw a fit but nothing seems to be working too well at the mo, so I picked up the 'Scrub Atomic' daily face polish from Soap & Glory.  

I love love love soap and glory products and seeing as Boots had the range on an offer I thought I'd give this a go.  I'll definitely do a post on it in a few weeks to let you know if it's improved my face at all and if it's worth it.

Soap&Glory 'Off Your Face'

I also picked up the Soap & Glory 'Off Your Face' face wipes in the offer to give them a try.  Face wipes are such a handy thing to take away instead of taking a full cleansing set for just a couple of days (and I liked the packaging!) but hopefully they'll do my face some good too.

Rimmel 'Stay Matte' Pressed Powder

 I've been looking for a new powder for a little while now and have heard Tanya Burr recommend Rimmel's 'Stay Matte' Pressed Powder a few times in her videos, so I thought I'd try it out for myself.  I chose the transparent powder so that it wouldn't add a cakey look to my foundation and would just help to set it and keep shine at bay.

Rimmel 'Wake Me Up' Concealer

The last make up thing I got was the Rimmel 'Wake Me Up' concealer.  I've tried the 'Wake Me Up' foundation before and found it a little orangey for my skin, even in the lightest shade, but I've heard such good things about the concealer that I thought I should give it a go.  Swatching it next to the foundation in the shop it definitely seems to be a lighter colour so fingers crossed!

I'll test these all out on my holiday and let you know if any of them work  miracles!  I hope you all have a lovely relaxing week and if any of you are back to school/college/uni this week that it all goes well :)

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Lee Stafford ~ Hair Growth Review

Over the last year or so I've had real fun experimenting with my hair, I think I've now been every colour of the rainbow, and I've loved it!  However...this has come with some consequences, mostly that my hair turned dry and brittle and then started to break off near to the root.  This left me with an interesting (to say the least!) hair style of very short layers on top and longer hair underneath, kinda like a mullet...it wasn't a good look!

For the last six months I've been trying out the Lee Stafford hair growth range to see if it could make any difference to my poor hair.  The set is made up of a shampoo, conditioner and a hair mask which are 'a protein based complex to fertilize your follicles, creating a healthy environment on the scalp to help hair grow faster and reach its maximum potential length.'  

The system is supposed to increase the blood flow to your scalp making the hair grow faster as well as conditioning it to stop split ends etc. breaking off the hair from the tip.

Lee Stafford Hair Growth System

In terms of price these products definitely aren't cheap, £6.99 each for the shampoo and conditioner and £7.99 for the mask and they're all only 200 ml per container (pricey!).  I managed to get my set on a 3 for 2 offer at Boots so keep an eye out for a deal!

 After trying them out I'm not so sure I agree with the claims they make on the bottles.  I haven't seen my hair grow any faster at all.  My roots seem to grow back in at the same speed as they always have, and my hair is still shoulder length.  I wasn't expecting to hop out of the shower with waist length hair after one use but I thought it might have grown a little more than usual with all this 'Pro-Growth complex'.

However, the label also says it will give your hair 'strength from within' and in that respect it hasn't all been a waste of time and money.  

As I said before my hair was in awful condition.  If you've ever over bleached your hair you'll understand what I mean when I say it was like chewing gum.  It was brittle when dry, snapping off every time I even looked at a hair brush, and stretched a mile whenever it got wet before snapping off again, so not a good look!

Since I've been using the Lee Stafford set my hair is in much better condition.  The hair mask in particular has made a huge difference to the feel and strength of my hair and the days I washed my hair with out using it you could definitely tell the difference. I think the gentleness of the shampoo and conditioner, coupled with the deep conditioning, has also really helped.  My hair is no longer breaking off and those short little layers are starting to look like they're part of a style (thank god!)

I doubt I'll be purchasing these again, unless I go on another hair colouring spree, but I have enjoyed my little bit of luxury while it's lasted.  I'd say if you're looking for products to help your hair grow then don't waste your money, but if you've given your hair a bit of a hard time recently and are in need of some drastic help I'd give these a try.

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