Halloween nail art using old gloopy varnishes.

So when a nail varnish is past it's prime do you just throw it away? or maybe try and salvage the gloopyness with some varnish remover acetone? well stop! gloopy nail varnishes are actually very useful when doing nail art, as the thick texture makes it easier to control where it goes on your nail. If anyone remembers those spider pens where you could lift and almost drag the ink? Its kinda the same as that. I went for a pumpkin accent thumb nail. I used a new perfectly fine colour for my base, a slightly thicker orange nail varnish which made it easy to get a round shape free hand, then a very gloopy black for the features.  Anyway here is the best bit, the pictures!  It was my first attempt and I also went and smudged them (damn my impatient-ness!) but you get the idea.

Meg x

the best aroma for you?

So the shorter days and cosier nights are creeping upon us. There's something about this time of year that just screams "time to get the candles out!". I for one am a candle fiend. I have little tea lights that I put around my bath when I feel like a luxurious soak. A sweet coconut scented candle jar, to fill my room with the cosiest home-ly scent if I am having an evening in or, if I want to give the best first impression to visitors. We even have vanilla scented tea lights in our kitchen to banish those cooking smells! Most importantly though is the annual Christmas candle that my family will light without fail, as the wax burns down it shows you how many days left until Christmas! 

Not only do scented candles (and incense sticks!) smell divine but different aromas also have different properties. Want a smell to wake yourself up? comfort you? or even get rid of nausea? then read on my lovelies...

Lavender: This is known for it's relaxation properties, so perfect if you are suffering from some extra stress, and will also aid a restful and peaceful sleep. It has also been said that smelling this will help relieve headaches.  

Lemon: This zingy scent is perfect for waking you up and refreshing your mind. It has antiseptic properties and is said to help get your thoughts in order and help with concentration.

Lemongrass: An uplifting scent, used as an anti depressant to help get you into a happy mood. Also when used in oil form and popped into a bath it will help relieve tired and over-worked muscles. 

Orange: Much like lemongrass with it's invigorating scent and mood lifting properties. It will also sooth out energies around you as well as giving you a boost yourself.

Bergamot:  Used for anxiety, hysteria, depression and fear with it's relaxing warm spiced-fruit scent.

Myrrh: You see this scent a lot in incense sticks. It's very earthy and rustic aroma can be used as a tonic and stimulant. It is sometimes seen in perfumes where it is said to provoke a sense of ambition in the wearer.

Ginger: Can combat loneliness and depression, energises the spirit and is also commonly used for nausea. 

Peppermint: This scent claims to clarify your senses and get your concentration back on track.

Pine: This scent is said to help banish negative energies and feelings around you, use this to feel happier and calmer.

Rose: Commonly seen as as the flower of love, but is also the scent of love. Said to bring harmony to your life and aid you in love.

Vanilla: Brings happiness and helps you recharge your batteries by filling the air with energy. It is also said to bring good fortune..

Eucalyptus: Known for it's healing properties, both when you are physically sore or mentally hurt. Use this to ease your mind and banish those aches and pains!

Candles are never hard to find; next, homebase and yankee candle (if you are feeling flash) all have a range of scents.

Meg x

What goes around comes around

So unless you have been hiding under a fashion rock you will be aware that peplums have been everywhere lately, but did you know that this is not the first time?

Modern peplum's started popping up on our radar around the 1940's....

 the perfect shape for adding or defining curves!  However, peplum's go even further back than that, to ancient Greek times!

...yes, they are (male?) statues wearing the oh so-popular-in-the-2000's, peplum. So really you can embrace new trends by simply rummaging around in your mums/nans wardbrobe, brilliant, right?! and the next blast from the past that is set to be big? 60's retro, geometric prints and longer cuts are going to be all the rage. It's been cropping up on celebs and fahionista's alike, head down to next and check out some of their printed wares.

Meg x

Dahlia Halloween competition

It may be a Halloween competition but that skirt is so darn adorable I'll be wearing it all year round!! enter here 

Meg x

Halloween inspiration on tumblr

Whether you want to throw a freaky kick-ass party, be the scariest belle of the ball or simply just have a few decorations for the trick or treating holiday here is some inspiration for you...

So wish I had a pet to dress up!!

You can also head to your local next to get some last minute frightening deals!

Free personalised natural skin care sample set.

Do you ever think "what am I actually putting on my skin?" I try to read the ingredients listed in my favourite face wash or moisturiser and will only understand around 2 words. That's why I was very intrigued when I heard of  Angela Langford's range of natural skincare, filled with organic goodness and natural lovlies to help with all your skin woes. The best bit?  you can try out a sample skin care routine for free ( you have to pay p+p). 

When you sign up at Angela Langford you can fill out a skin questionnaire and also add you're own comments, so you know the products you receive have been compiled with your personal skin type and problems completely in mind. Along with your 3 mini samples you also get a detailed letter welcoming you to the site and explaining not only why those particular products were chosen for you, but also a very detailed description of all their ingredients and what properties they have. I received  "Sweet cheeks" cleanser, "Tone up" toner, and "Balancing act" moisturiser. I have used them about 4x now (being quite stingy with how much I use) and I am definitely enjoying it, they do each have a very strong 'botanicall-y' smell (toner is my least fave for sure) but it is not a smell that I hate, it smells natural but strong so some people may not agree with it. I suggest you go check it out, especially if you are interested in natural skin care.

Meg x

A cheap primer alternative?

So when in Boots the other day I discovered this face gel/cream hybrid. Now I have never been massively into primers, but when I saw the description on the box I noticed it was basically everything that a primer claims to do, apart from it doesn't state to improve the longevity of your make up.

 I thought surely the fact that it has every other quality of a high end primer means that it will work pretty much the same way? so anyway at 4.99 a pop plus the fact there is a 3 for 2 across loads of skin/face care in boots atm I thought why not give it a go!

Now I am not a user of primer aside from a small tester of Benefits Porefessional, which I haven't fallen head over heels for like so many others (maybe because I don't use enough at any one time, I'm trying to eke out the bit I have left) so I cant compare this product to a myriad of other primers. However I can say that my skin definitely felt smoother after application and looked better somehow. I didn't notice a drastic reduction in shiny-ness but my skin did look dewy rather than oily. I can also happily point out that although it doesn't specifically say it on the box, the lasting power of my make up was definitely amped up. Also cannot forget the fact that the whole Botanics range is packed with fab plant extracts.

 Overall I really like this product and when you think that it could be free if you take advantage of the boots 3 for 2 offer then you can't say no!

Meg x

50p GOSH eyeshadows!

Normally the clearance section in Superdrug is filled with sorry looking products that have either smashed, lost their tops, are half empty, or all of the above! So I wasn't expecting much when I glanced at it whilst queing up, until I spotted these beauts at 50p each!

Blue is set to be big trend this A/W and this trio make for the perfect sultry smokey blue eye. They are so pigmented and aside from the black which has a bit more of a gritty feeling they are super soft. I definitely won't ignore the clearance bin from now on!

Meg x

what was in my Raspberrygrape goodybag!

So recently I was lucky enough to win a competition that Raspberrygrape were holding where I had to find a  raspberry on their site. I won a goodie bag and just look at the cute things that were in it!...(not the skull bracelet I just can't get that off)

The bracelets are lovely and fastened in a way that means you can make them bigger or smaller, so you can take them on and off a when you wish. The ring is so cute and dainty, yet it feels kinda grungey? I wear it on my pink with almost anything :) I highly recommend you go check out the Raspberrygrape store now!

Meg x

Win some Lita's

you know that time when everyone went head over heels for Jeffrey Campbell litas and faux-litas alike? what? It's still happening? good thing you can win a pair c/o glamorous then isn't it! just click here to try your luck :)

Meg x

3 for2? Aww go on then!

 So yet again I have been tempted by another 3 for 2 deal, this time on Revlon products in Superdrug. I have a very limited experience with Revlon, owning just one other product by them, a face powder which I am not over fond of. However, there have been many a time where one product has let me down but the rest of a brand has been immense so I thought I would give them a shot! 

I originally went in to repurchase my current foundation, as my Rimmel wake me up is on its last legs, but got tempted and sidetracked by Revlon's colour stay foundation. They were out of the combination skin type so I went for the normal/dry, and so far I love it. It feels less heavier than my Rimmel foundation but still gives a good medium coverage, just a bit of concealer on those pesky eye bags and I am good to go. The only downfall with this is it hasn't got a pump applicator, you literally just pour it out of the bottle (like some mac foundations) which I find quite annoying. Now I can't say I have tested its 24h claim but it does last me a long day of lectures at uni which is all I ask for.

Photo ready cream blush in 'Pinched', I had a huge coral moment last year and literally could not get enough of the orange hue, unfortunately my feelings have now changed. I put it down to my new hair colour, can't quite pull of coral with red hair. however I do love the formulation of this blush, dewy and creamy plus easily buildable. I just dust some pinky blusher over the top to give me my desired colour and also give it extra staying power.

Nail varnish in Darling, I love the colour of this, even if it is more suited to summer rather than winter. Though unfortunately that's where my like for it stops, I found the brush particularly hard to work with, and the formula streaky and drying to a nearly matte finish, I either want matte or shiny, not somewhere in between!

Meg x

HnM sale

And the award for the most difficult tops to photograph goes to *drum roll*... these 2 steals which I picked up from the HnM sale;

The white peplum (very on trend) top which i picked up for 12 quid is definitely a fave. I managed to nab the last one in the store! It is definitely more of a summer top as it is completely sheer and lightweight, bit maybe with some clever layering I can pull it off whilst still showing the gorgeous lace panelling detail. It is a bit tight over my boobies but maybe that can be my weight loss motivation! (we've all got that one item of clothing that we say will one day fit us don't we guys?) The yellow vest top is just your standard long vest with added studs to add a bit of pizzaz. I thought it would be a nice addition to just brighten up my winter wardrobe.

Are there any other sales on at the mo that I should take advantage of?

Meg x

Body Modification: My experience

Now I should start of by saying that I do not consider myself an expert in any way shape or form, none of what I say should be taken as fact, it is purely my experiences and thoughts on the subject. If you want information or are considering a body modification such as a piercing or tattoo then please talk to a professional and never try to do it by yourself ( I say this from a lot of experience!).  I do not have a vast amount of body mods however it is something that I love to look at and learn about, and I do plan on getting more. I also want to show you a picture of the cutest plugs that I owned, one is rose quarts and in the other the white part glows under uv light!

So here is the mods I have and a little info about them from my personal experience:

Ears

I have 6 piercings in my ears, rather lopsidedly as I have 5 in one and 1 in the other. 

first holes: I got these done when I was quite young in claires accesories ( I swear everyone got their ears pierced here?) these healed up without any problem. and i very rarely have jewellery in them now however they have stay open.

Second hole: I have a second hole just on my right ear, I got this done at a market stall during a visit to Manchester ( big mistake) I was quite young at the time and didn't think about the consequences, luckily it healed with no real problems but is in a wonky place in comparison to my first holes, going to a professional piercing place would have stopped this from happening. 

Third hole: Again this is just on one ear and again this was a piercing which I was less than clever about, this time having a few drinks and letting a friend have his wicked way with my ear. This one did cause me some problems and took a long while to heal and once again was wonky.

Cartilage piercing: This is at the top of my ear, I got it done professionally which meant it healed quickly and also is placed nicely within a half moon (just a nice way of saying there's a bit missing) in my ear.

Tragus piercing: Again this was done professionally. It hurt a lot less than I had been made to think,It was worse afterwards when I would accidentally lay my head down on that side when I slept (ouch!). I once had a mishap where my piercing  (I had a labret, a stud type piercing) fell out of my tragus and actually into my ear! I was terrified it was just going to keep on falling untill it got to my brain ( I know I overthink things) so immediately grabbed the boyfriend and got him to carefully get it out with tweezers, not the most romantic thing! other than that I have had no problems, some people complain about their tragus growing out but I have had mine for over 2 years now and it is fine.

Ear stretching: I stretched one ear, slowly over time using proper equipment, to 14mm. Someone once told me that if I stretch my ear past 8 it will never go back to normal. However I have had my plug out for about a year now and it is fully healed and to the size of a normal piercing hole once more. Though do be wary that once you get to a certain point your ears will not shrink back, you need to be fully aware and committed if you choose to go to large sizes.

Belly 

I got my belly button pierced when I was around 16 years old, It was done professionally in a shop and in 3 years there has been slight movement of the piercing growing out but that stopped around a year ago and it has since been fine. Now I don't exactly prance around with my belly out, and really no one actually see's this piercing which some people may find pointless but I don't care. I get piercings for me, not other people. So I'm the only one who needs to know about them really.

Nose

I got my nose pierced professionally with a stud (the starter stud is always massive) and as soon as I could changed it to a ring. I never had any problems and it healed fairly quickly (unlike my poor mum, her's completely rejected) The only one gripe I have with this piercing is that over the years of changing my jewellery I have gone from thicker piercings to smaller ones, leaving me with a slight scar where my piercing has closed up to accommodate the smaller jewellery

Tattoo

This is another dodgy one (surprise surprise) and was the result of too many drinks and an over zealous friend with indian ink and a needle. Once again I was very lucky that this did not get infected though now of course I am stuck with a less than perfect tattoo on my foot (and so is my friend). I do love tattoos and think they are my favourite form of body modification, Again though they need so much thought as they are on you for the rest of your life. I do plan on getting tattoos in the future ( done properly in a shop!)

If you want to see lovely pictures of all body modifications the check out this awesome blog by chloe on tumblr here. 

Meg x