Pandora Charm Bracelet

Hello everyone,

This is mainly a "beauty" blog, but occasionally I find I want to post things that aren't technically beauty related and today is one of those days. It was my 19th birthday yesterday, and I recieved lots of lovely things from my family and friends and I'm very grateful for everything. I wanted to share with you today something which I really do love and I have done a post on it before (here) when I very first started my blog, and that is my Pandora charm bracelet. I got this from my parents last year on my 18th birthday, and I immediately fell in love with it and the whole concept around it. There's just something special about a unique piece of jewellery which is so personal to you.

This is in no way a "look what I've got" kind of post, I wanted to share because I absolutely love it :)

This is my Pandora bracelet as it is now. Each charm means something special to me, for example, the "18" charm has a very obvious meaning - my 18th birthday, and the textbook charm represents me getting my A level results and starting university.

For my birthday yesterday, my boyfriend bought me a new charm for my bracelet, and I absolutely adore it.

It is the dangling star charm which is made of sterling silver and 14 carat gold (!). I am absolutely in love with it, and it means so much to me that he went out and chose this for me personally. To me, it shows how well he knows me because this is definately one I would have picked out for myself :)

My boyfriend's mum also got me a really lovely charm, which was in the shape of a strawberry. It apparently reminded me of her as I am always eating strawberries haha!

I really don't like taking pictures of my bracelet as I feel it doesn't really do it justice, especially as these were taken with my iPhone, so they really aren't very good quality. I find that this jewellery is really well made - I've had this for over a year now and it still looks brand new. My mum also has a bracelet which she has had for around 3/4 years and her's is still as shiny as it was they day she got it :)

The Pandora website is www.pandora.net, and jewellery is available from Pandora shops and also selected jewellers with a "shop-in-shop" kind of concept (a list of retailers can be found on the Pandora website).

Have any of you got any Pandora jewellery?

xxx



Would You Rather? *TAG*

Hello everyone!

So, today is my BIRTHDAY! I can't believe I'm 19 already, it seems only yesterday I was turning 18. I have recieved lots of lovely stuff from my friends and family, some of which I will probably be writing about on my blog once I have had chance to try them etc. :)

So today, I fancied doing a tag post as I haven't done one for a while and I do enjoy doing them. I have had this one saved on my laptop for ages as I have been meaning to do it, so I can't actually remember where I found it! But anyway, here goes!

WOULD YOU RATHER...

1) Go out with messy hair and nice make-up, or nice hair and no make-up?

- Nice hair and no make-up! If I have greasy hair it makes me feel gross so I would definately rather have nice hair :)

2) Shave your eyebrows or have your eyelashes fall out?

- I think eyelashes falling out, at least you could wear false lashes!

3) Be forced to shop at only MAC or Sephora for the rest of your life?

- Now, I am not American, but I think I am right in thinking that Sephora is *kinda* like Boots? If so, then Sephora because there would be more choice.

4) Wear lipgloss/lipliner look, or 80's perm?

- Ah, neither! But I think lipgloss and liner :(

5) Leave the house with an obvious foundation line or overdone blush?

- Overdone blush without a doubt. I cannot stand a visible foundation line!

6) Wear MC Hammer pants or biker shorts in public?

- MC Hammer! Is it wrong I think these pants are cool?!

7) Have a bad (orange) spray tan, or really weird tan lines that can't be covered?

- Odd tan lines, tan lines don't actually bother me that much but I would hate to be orange :P

8) Have a bad haircut or a bad hair colour?

- Bad hair colour cause then you'd just dye over it again ;)

9) Have YouTube or Twitter taken away forever?

- Oh no! I can't decide! Erm.. Twitter. I watch too many YouTube videos :)

10) Give up using make-up brushes or mascara?

- Brushes, I can always apply with fingers :)

I tag anyone who wants to do this :)

x

Products I've Changed My Mind About

Hello everyone!

I really enjoy reading these types of posts, so I thought I'd do my own. There's only 3 products that are on here because most of the stuff I buy, I look into to decide if I really want/need it. These 3 are all products that I originally liked, and all 3 of them have their own reviews which I will link in this post. However, after using these for a longer period of time, I have changed my mind about them. Just to be clear, I don't think these are bad products generally, they just don't work for me - some of you may love them, and that's fine, after all, I loved them when I first found them!

#1. Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation

(Original Review here)



I first bought this because of the amount of hype it was getting in the blogging community. If you read my original review, I said that I wouldn't repurchase it due to the shimmer it has in it. However, I have been using this again because it was the only foundation I had to hand when I ran out of the Rimmel Cream Gel one I normally use. Having used it again, I can now see that the shimmer is not as noticeable in natural light as I originally thought it was, and it also helps to make you look more awake. I always liked the formula of this foundation, and that hasn't changed, but I have gotten used to the shimmer in it, and I can now see why so many people rave about this. I would purchase this again. :)

#2. Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover

(Original Review here)

I really liked this when I first bought it, and for a while after. I still do really like the concept, but I just feel this one is slightly too overpriced. I had a cheaper version ages and ages ago that I picked up from Home and Bargains for about 99p, which I really liked so I thought I'd try this more expensive one to see if I could see a dramatic difference. In all honesty, the only difference is that it smells nicer when you use it. The Bourjois one has a black sponge so you can't see the product build up in it, but you can tell when you try to remove your nail polish. If you have ever removed glitter polish with it, you will end up with glitter on your nails each time you use it after. Don't get me wrong the cheaper version obviously did this too, but at 99p compared to £4.99, it's a little easier to swallow. Also with this, it claims you don't need to use a cotton pad, but I found that this left a greasy residue all over my fingers, which is probably the oils within it to help look after your nails, but I hate the greasy feeling, and so had to wash my hands after every time I used this, which kind of defeated the point of it in my opinion.

#3. Dove Maximum Protection Deodorant

(Original Review here)

Ah, I'm so gutted this is in here. I LOVED this at first - it stopped sweat, there was no white marks and it kept you smelling fresh all day long. However, after using it for a few weeks, I think my body became immune to it or something (I don't know if this actually happens but I like to think so :P), and it just didn't stop me sweating anymore. This being said, if it works for you, then I am jealous. Yes, it's quite expensive for a deodorant, but it genuinely is good, as long as you're not like me and your body doesn't reject it :P. Obviously, I am no longer using this and I am back with my trusty Mitchum deodorant, which works perfectly fine for me still :)

I hope this was interesting to some people. I wanted to do a post, but I wasn't feeling a product review so I thought I'd do something a little different as I always enjoy reading these posts.

xx

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain

Hello everyone,

There's no doubt that you will have all heard of these, and most probably seen a review or six on them too. They are Revlon's newest release, and have been labelled a dupe (or rip-off) of Clinique's Chubby Sticks. I haven't tried the Clinique ones so this isn't a comparison post, it will only be a review of the Revlon Balm Stain.

The shade I have is 015 Cherish (it says Cherish Devotion on the bottom but on the website it just calls it Cherish - ah well, Cherish it is!), but there are roughly 10 shades to choose from (I don't know exactly because the Revlon UK website doesn't have these on yet - the US website shows 12 shades but I'm not sure if we have all of these in the UK). Revlon describe these as "a pampering balm fused with a lightweight lipstain.. it gives softer, smoother lips with the perfect flush of colour which lasts hour after hour".

Apologies for the smaller picture - it was taken using the front camera on my iPhone.

The stick itself reminds me a lot of them wax crayons you used to have as a kid haha! You can either apply straight to the lips like I did, or if you were a make-up artist for example you could use a seperate brush to make it more hygenic. It is very easy to apply, and the colour payoff is amazing. In the picture above I applied one 'coat' of the balmstain and my lips were already quite a vibrant shade of pink. I like the combination of a lipbalm and a stain because the only reason I never got along with lipstains was because of how dry they made my lips.

The colour stays on for around 4-5 hours on me, which I think is good for a lip product as I normally have to apply every 2-3 hours. The product is very moisturising, and when it wears off, it just fades rather than doing the annoying thing of going rather patchy.

Overall, I was really impressed with this. The colour payoff was really good and the colour lasted well on me as well. It kept my lips moisturised for hours and also the packaging and design of the product were useful for me too. I like how easy it was to apply and I will definately be purchasing some more shades!

These are available from Superdrug and Boots. At the minute, they are £5.99, but this is an introductory offer and I don't know how much longer this will be on for so if you want to try these, hurry before they go to full price! Full price will be £7.99.

Have any of you tried this shade? Or any other shade? What did you think?

xx

Newspaper Nails

Hello everyone!

This idea has been around for ages, and I've been wanting to try it for ages, but until recently, I thought you needed something called rubbing alcohol to do it, and I didn't want to buy something just to do this with. However, a friend of mine told me the other day that you can in fact use water to get the same effect, so this morning I had some time on my hands and attempted my very first newspaper nails manicure :)

They are far from perfect but I'm pretty happy with them for a first attempt :)

For those interested in how I did this, all you need is either a newspaper or a magazine (I used a magazine for these as I didn't have a newspaper to hand) and some water!

Firstly, paint your nails with your chosen base colour - mine is Strawberry Ice Cream from Barry M, and wait for them to dry completely, otherwise you will get bits of paper stuck to your nails! Then, soak the newspaper/magazine in a small bowl of water, then apply to the nail and put pressure on it for about 40 seconds. Carefully remove the paper, and you should be left with something like this :) Make sure you only apply your topcoat once the nail is completely dry otherwise the design will smudge.

As you can see in the pictures, the print from the newspaper will transfer to the skin around your nail, so you will need to use a cotton bud dipped in some nail polish remover to get rid of this.

I was amazed at how easy these are, and I also really like how they look. You can make so many colour combinations with it as well, but I think the print shows up better if you use a light colour for your base colour.

I hope this helped some people! What do you think of this design? Is it something you would wear?

xx

Collection 2000 Fix Me Up Make Up Fixer

Hello everyone!

Just to start with, I always get confused as to the proper name of Collection 2000?! I thought it was meant to be changing to just Collection but I believe this is a fairly new release and it says Collection 2000 on the bottle?! Ah, confused. I'll use Collection 2000 in this as that's what the product says :)Anyway, on to the product in hand.

Collection 2000 have recently brought out a primer (Primed and Ready) and a make up fixing spray called "Fix Me Up". I had actually been looking for a relatively cheap make up setting spray as I wanted to see if they worked, and so this came at a good time for me. I saw the stand in Superdrug and so I picked one up. I didn't get the primer as I'm still using the Revlon one I reviewed here.

Fix Me Up is described as "a weightless mist that adds radiance and keeps make up in place for longer". The packaging is quite nice in my opinion, it's a black bottle with hot pink writing with the instructions on one side. It may be tacky-ish for some but I like it :)

That picture is terrible, haha! This is supposed to be the side with the instructions on. Basically, it just tells you to hold the spray 20-30cm away from your face and apply 2-4 sprays.

The product has a slight scent to it when it first comes out of the bottle, which I know will put some people off as scented products often make people break out etc etc. It's not an unpleasant smell, but it's also not one that I am particularly fond of, but it's ok as it disappears after about 10 seconds of spraying it.

I was intreged to know if it actually helped to keep your make up in place for longer, and after using t for around a month now, I believe that it does. When I apply this, I generally get around 2-3 hours more wear out of my make up than when I don't use it, which is good. I know there are more expensive setting sprays out there which probably make it last even longer but my budget doesn't stretch that far haha!

Overall, I do like this and would probably repurchase it. The only downside really is the smell, but this was not too much of an issue for me. This is priced at £5.99 for 18ml from Boots and Superdrug.

Has anyone tried this?

xx  

Holiday NOTD

Hello everyone!

I wanted to do this post as my first one back because these were the nails I was sporting during my week away (well, for some of it anyway since sea water and pool water equal death for nail polish).

I decided on a blue kind of gradient style, it's not the most summery colour but I like each of these shades individually so I decided on blue :) This was what I ended up with:

From L-R:

Barry M 291 'Cobalt Blue'

Miss Sporty Clubbing Colours (it doesn't have a name on the bottle so I don't know what it is)

Barry M 306 'Blueberry Ice Cream'

17 Lasting Fix 'Heartbeat'

Barry M 317 'Blue Moon'

All of these nail polishes are available from Boots and Superdrug (the 17 polish from Boots only) and all cost under £3!

xx

I'm Back!

Helloo everyone!

Long time no blog (cheesy, I know)! I got back from my holiday yesterday - me and my boyfriend had an amazing time in Mallorca. We stayed in Palma Nova which is about a 10 minute walk from Magaluf, but a world away in terms of culture. I have to say we did venture into Magaluf one night but it really wasn't for us so we didn't stay for very long! I think that sort of thing is better suited to a group of friends rather than boyfriend and girlfriend!

This was just a quick post to say that I will hopefully be back to doing "proper" posts tomorrow, I have missed writing posts. I haven't been blogging properly for a while so I feel like I'm getting back into the swing of things now :)

xx

A Little Note!

Hello everyone!

I haven't posted for an absolute age, so I'm sorry about that! I go on holiday tomorrow so I've been super busy getting myself organised for that, and on top of that, my laptop has decided to have a funny turn. It should be fixed by the time I get back so we should be all back to normal :)

I'm writing this post on my iPhone, it will probably look horrible cos the font will be different etc but I can't work out how to change it :S. (I found it now :P)

So anyway, this was just to say that there won't be any posts for at least another week, but after that there should be regular posting :) I miss blogging a lot but I hate the blogger iPhone app so I don't want to be writing posts on here too often!

Hope you're all okay and have a good week!

Xx