24 things before 24

I saw a rather wonderful thing this morning in the blogosphere - Ella Masters mentioned her list of 24 things she wanted to do before she turned 24. It has things on it like visiting other people, attending specific events, making some lifestyle changes, and so on.
I think this is a wonderful idea! I believe it's a really important part of living a happy and fulfilled life - think about what you really want to achieve or experience, and then set a deadline for yourself. It's not about beating yourself up about what you haven't yet achieved, or if you didn't make your deadline, I think it's more about loving your life, and filling your free time with things that really make you happy. For me, that involves not watching much television. The internet has far more.intelligent and interesting things to say.
Anyway, with no further ado, here is my list of 24 things I wish to achieve in the rest of the year before I turn 24.
1. Pass my driving test.
2. Visit my friend in Florida.
3. Go on a road trip.
4. Stop hoarding so much crap I don't need.
5. Run a marathon.
6. Win an arm wrestle against a boy.
7. Repaint my bedroom.
8. Get a pay rise.
9. Read all 7 Harry Potter books in French.
10. Buy a sofa.
11. Learn how to dance on pointe.
12. Sell something I've made myself.
13. Visit my auntie down south.
14. Visit my uncle who's less south.
15. See Scotland and England play in the 6 Nations at Twickenham.
16. Get some winter sun.
17. Go to a gig.
18. See a full length ballet.
19. Find the perfect toothbrush holder.
20. Do some street style posts on the blog.
21. Get a professional massage.
22. Swim in the sea.
23. Go to an air show.
24. Get a DSLR.

Do you have any ambitions for this year of your life? I'd love to hear about them!

Hiccup helps - A Cure for the Common Cold

Guys, I don't know if you have noticed, but it's July. Not surprised if you didn't realise though. If you are anywhere in the UK, like me, you are probably suffering from trench foot, and you've caught a nasty cold. Bleugh.

But fear not! Dear Reader, I bring you the remedy for the common cold.

Cast of characters - a chopping board, a sharp knife, a teaspoon, a lemon, hot water, sugar, and a mug that makes you happy.

Cut the lemon in half.

Squeeze the lemon halves into the mug. Don't worry too much about seed and stuff. Or use a sieve if it bothers you. Or a juicer thingy.

Add some sugar. No really. Lemon is bitter. Two teaspoon still leaves this very sharp (which is how I like mine), but go for four unless you're trying to cut it out. You could also try honey, but that's a lot more effort, and you might not have it on hand anyway.

Fill up the mug with hot water.

Sip slowly curled up in your pajamas with a blanket and a good book/awesome telly/favourite magazine.

Make sure you get an early night as well, and you'll likely feel right as rain in the morning.

Of course, you've probably heard of hot lemon and honey before. Or a hot toddy (add a measure of whisky to the above). But making it yourself with a fresh lemon is definitely better than any lemsip. You could also use orange, lime or any other citrus fruit, but lemons taste really good, plus they have loads of vitamin C and zinc (the zinc is really important) - even more than oranges.

Love and sneezes

P.S. If you slice a wee bit the bottoms off those empty lemon halves, you can use them as tea light holders (pop them on a plate) and everything will smell lovely when they warm up :)

Pretty in Platforms

It was my birthday recently! Woo! To celebrate I went out for dinner and some drinks with a whole bunch of friends. I wasn't really planning to do much on the day of my birthday, as I have a big part on a boat planned for this weekend (watch this space for the photos after!).
For the occasion, I treated my self to a lovely new dress and some shoes to match.

The dress was from a shop in Edinburgh called Cookie, and was made by Eucalyptus. I can't find it in their collections but it's a lot like the Aya dress in a different print. The shoes are from Primark - they were the only ones I could find in the right shade of purple! The flowers in my hair I spotted whilst looking for shoes in H&M - so pleased they were the perfect shade

Here are some other photos from the night :)

We went to Le Mouton Noir, the Indigo Yard and Bacaro, all of which I can thoroughly recommend and will be visiting again as soon as possible.

Anyone else been out anywhere fun recently?

Love and kisses

That's Neat, That's Neat, That's Neat, That's Neat...

You guys know how I love to do my nails! Well I was in Superdrug the other day picking up a new eyeliner, and saw this wee black Dot & Flick Nail Art polish, from Andrea Fulerton. I was never sold with nail art pens, but this little squeezy bottle looked a good bet, and it was only £2.99! It has a long thin brush for painting lines and flicks and swoopy things, and then a dotting tool under the cap for doing spots and flowers and leopard print.

I also got my paws on some yellow sparkly polish from Missguided, which is free with this month's Cosmo. I love it in yellow and I'm tempted to buy the magazine again just to get the orange one too!

I decided to have a go at doing some tiger nails, spotted on instagram from Gem Fatale, and I followed the tutorial up on company.co.uk.

They were easier than I thought they might be actually! I used a basecoat of clear polish, then two coats of yellow. One coat wasn't quite opaque enough, but two was great. I'd probably have gone for three if I'd had time, but I only had like half an hour before I had to go out! After that I just used the brush on my Dot & Flick to draw two diagonal lines, then filled in the gap. If you're having a go at this one, be careful to make sure you wipe the brush really properly, to make sure you get pointy triangles! I was a bit worried about painting my right hand - drawing with my left hand is not my strong point - but the design is so straight forward that I had no real problems. The only difficulty was with the top coat - the black was a little prone to smudging because it wasn't fully dry yet. However, by painting horizontally, and using a good blob of polish on each nail, I just about managed to get away with it.

So I'm sure these won't be the neatest tiger nails you see this summer, I hope you like them, and I definitely think you should give them a try :) I got loads of compliments on them, and they're fun for pretending to be fierce and growly...

Product Review - Loreal Infaillible Eyeliner

This product is en route to becoming the old favourite in my make up bag. It's black, it's soft, and I'm never hunting for a pencil sharpener. It's perfect for smokey, smudgey top liner, or just a quick sweep along your waterline. You can go for the all-out, full-circle rock chick, or you can draw and rub out and draw and rub out and draw and rub out until you get this season's perfect cat flick. It has a rubber on the end, which pulls out to reveal a wee sharpener as well, so you can always look sharp.

It's such a versatile product with great pigmenting, and for once, the name infaillible is pretty much true. I can put this on before going out for the evening and still look passable when I drag my sleepy self into work the next day. If only I could find a mascara that would treat me so well!
Literally the best eyeliner I have ever owned, and it retails for around a £5 in high street chemists. What's not to love?
Are there any products which you buy over and over and over again?

Bare-faced Cheek

I've had bare nails for the last few days. Not like me I know, but it's important, for keeping your nails healthy. Coating them in chemicals every day can obviously be damaging so its good to let them breathe some days as well.
If you're giving your nails a rest, be sure to file them smooth, keep them all the same length, scrub them clean, and maybe use a buffer for some extra shine in the evening. Natural nails can look just as pretty, fresh and fashionable as the latest shade of sky blue or watermelon. AND, they'll go with everything :)

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Bling Rings

I'm a bad person... But only a little bit.

After promising myself I wouldn't buy any more treats until next month, I just spent too much time looking at all the different jewellery over at shopdixi.com and ended up buying three new rings! It's been a while since I've done much ring wearing but I think I will now I have these!

This was the one which I initially couldn't resist. It's so sweet and it was only £1!! Like I said a couple of posts ago, I don't wear much gold tone jewellery but I think gold is great for the summer and this feels warm and fresh :)

And then I figured since I had to pay postage, I might as well order the starfish ring that first caught my eye. I chose the bronze one instead of the gold because I was worried it would be too blingy otherwise but this tone is just nice. It sits really nice on my finger and I love it as much in real life as I did in the pictures.

This one's a bit of a guilty pleasure - a big shiny lightening bolt :D I'm always looking for fashionable ways to flaunt my love of Harry Potter, and although this ring is too big for everyday wear, it will be an excellent statement piece - I can see it going well with a little black dress, some studded heels and black nail varnish.

Love and kisses

Shatter

It's been such a long time since I used my Barry M Nail Effects shatter. I'd forgotten how much I love it. Tones down strong colours, hides chips, easy to apply, hard to mess up. It's also fun with a tape manicure or just for an accent nail.
If you've forgotten about that shatter you got last year, or if you missed that bandwagon, well shame on you. This stuff still packs a punch :)
Love and hugs

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Things I Can't Buy Until Payday

1. alarm clock necklace from oliveclothing.com 2. gold starfish wrap ring from shopdixi.com 3. converse hi tops 4. uniqone all in one hair treatment

I have a really bad habit of wanting things that I can't afford. Well, to be fair, it's more about wanting more things than I can afford. I spend some spare pennies in the first week or two after payday, and then by week three I'm still seeing more things but have to exercise my self control and keep my bank card where it belongs! Having already picked out two dresses from Apricot (and a pair of leggings so I could get free delivery!), scouring some charity shops and getting a more-than-healthy dose of Primark (shorts and socks for Rockness and a new swimsuit, sans frills, for the gym), all my spare cash has been used up.

1. I saw this necklace this morning and it's just too cute! I've stopped wearing a watch in the last few months and I can never be bothered getting my phone out my pocket! I do know where all the clocks are around town but this will be handy for when there isn't one nearby.

2. I don't own a lot of rings, and certainly none in gold, but I quite like this one. It looks like a cuddle for your finger! Something a bit different. I've been doing my nails a bit more recently so it's nice to have the rest of my digits decorated too!

3. I'm desparate for new cons - all the pairs I already own have gone through the sole, so they suck right now. It may be the middle of summer but it's damp and miserable every single day and too warm for boots. I like these maroon ones. I have lots of red clothes, but the bright ones get grubby a little too fast.

4. This All-In-One hair mask from Uniqone is one of the better hair products I have tried out. It's like a leave in conditioner but it has all kinds of different benefits from your hair. I got the sample version in my Glossybox a few months ago and I absolutely loved it! I sprayed lots in before blow drying, and it made it so much easier to get my hair smooth and straight, without having to stop every two seconds to tease out a tangle.

I'm also in the market for a deep conditioning hair mask. I've just had a trim at the hair dresser but I'm still concerned about dry ends and heat damage - my fringe means I have to blow dry pretty much every time I wash my hair, which sucks, but I really like the style so I'm not giving up on it just yet. If anyone has any good recommendations, I would love to hear them!

Love and kisses

Dermablend Corrective Foundation Cream Stick - Review

My Glossybox arrived today! I haven't done many product reviews in the past but there have been a few things coming through in the last couple of months that I've really enjoyed using. Today's post is about something in this month's box, however. I'll go back and cover some other products in the next couple of weeks, I hope.

Anyway, today I am reviewing Dermablend's Corrective Foundation Cream Stick. It claims to camouflage minor to severe skin flaws, including dark circles, blemishes and excessive redness. I tend not to suffer from excessive redness except when I've had a glass of wine or two, and although I am dedicated to the cause, I have no wine in the house this evening so I couldn't test it for that. I do, however, have a big red spot on my chin. I know right, sexy. Just wait til you see it.

Now, I'm being a little bit brave here. I'm about to show you a photo of what I look like bare-faced. Well, it's not that brave, since I usually wake up too late to do more than sweep on some mascara. But anyway. Brace yourselves.

How you doin'?

So that's what I look like with no make up. Picture was taken in daylight, but it was on the reverse camera side of my phone. I'm sorry, I don't have great tools to work with. Maybe I should get a DSLR for my birthday... 

As you can see, my sexy spot is pretty visible. So I wapped out my new Dermablend stuff (wap is a technical term). I picked Porcelain, which was the lightest one, because I'm pretty pale. I used the tip of one finger to apply some of the cream to my spot, following the instructions for "moderate skin flaws", and I also dabbed some on a few other spots, and under my eyes, where I followed the instructions for pronounced dark circles, although I'm not too shadowy, just a bit baggy in that area. 

Come here often?

This was the result. That big spot is far less obvious, and the wee spots on the other side of my chin have also become a bit more discreet. The circles under my eyes are gone but I also look quite flat - partly due to the lighting as well I imagine. I was pretty impressed by the coverage I got on the big spot. And I probably could have done with a wee bit more on the other side, but over all, a little seems to go a pretty long way.

I then applied my normal foundation over the top on my cheeks and nose and the rest of my chin, which is how I would probably wear the make up on a day-to-day basis. Well not very day, but you know what I mean. 

As you can see, the redness of my spots is completely gone with the Dermablend concealer, much better than with my regular foundation (I use Loreal True Match in Golden Ivory, which I love). Obviously, the spot is still a bit of a bump, so it's not totally invisible, but it doesn't draw your attention in the same way - at least not in real life anyway! There's not a great deal of difference with the dark shadows, but like I said, those aren't a great problem for me in the first place.

I also wanted to know how long wearing the product is. I would have liked to wait the full 16 hours that the product recommended, but it's the evening and I'm lazy. I also touch my face a lot, so I thought it was probably unlikely that I would go 16 whole hours on any day without considering a retouch. Maybe if my make up was tattooed on I might give that a go.

Oh alright, if you insist, you can buy me a drink.

So here I am two hours later after a trip to the hair dresser. Lots of face-touching involved - all those tiny bits of hair! I also caught myself rubbing at the spot before I went out (I do that all the time, it's 'cause they're bumpy!) but resisted the urge to retouch the make up. This was a true to life experiment people!! Overall, it's not that bad, I have to say. I think it's still better than my usual foundation-only approach, and of course it's much better than the bare-faced look.

Overall, I would definitely recommend the product to someone looking to cover up the occasional annoying spot, like me. It covered the redness really well, and it's pretty hard wearing, which is important for fidgety face-touchers! The only think I didn't like was that the little blister packs can't be resealed. That's obviously not a problem if you decide to buy the full size product, but I hope to test it out a few more times before I decide whether or not to invest. I sealed it with selotape instead, because that's how I roll.

And since you're probably all dying to see it, now that I've mentioned it, here's my new haircut. And my kitchen. I'm channelling Cleopatra right now. Or Jessie J.

If you get Glossybox, did you get the concealer? I'd love to know how other people found it, especially if they've tested it for more than just two hours!

Love and hugs

*EDIT* People still occasionally seem to be reading this post, so I thought I'd better update. I wore the concealer on my chin every day for about a week because it was so good at covering that spot, I thought I'd keep going until it was gone. Unfortunately the weight of the product caused the rest of my chin to break out big style. This product gives great coverage, but I would say only to use it for a special occasion, rather than frequent, every day wear.