Teal and Green Nails

Morning guys,

Just a quick nail of the day from me this morning. 

This is how my nails were painted over the weekend, as I was in the mood for something a little cheerful and bright since the sun was shining (albeit ever so briefly). I used a lovely apple green Sally Hansen polish in Grass Slipper on my thumbs and ring fingers, and a mid green-teal Rimmel 60 Seconds in Sky High on all the rest of my nails. Although the green was captured pretty accurately in these photos, the teal is much darker and more green based then the blue the photos show. It's a beautiful nail colour, and happens to be one of my firm favourite polishes; I'm currently on my second bottle, and the great thing is, it's so pocket friendly! It retails around £3.50, and is currently just £2.50 on ASOS here.

I bought the Sally Hansen nail polish from Fragrance Direct, where it's currently being sold for just £1.49 (!), which is a snip compared to it's RRP of £4.99. I only recently saw it on sale in Superdrug for £6.99!! You can find it on Fragrance Direct here, along with other colours. I must add they're brilliant nail polishes, that handle beautifully, dry super fast, and remain chip free for days. What's not to love?

I hope you all have a great day. What are you all up to?

L'Occitane Make Up Haul and Reviews

A couple of weeks ago, I tagged along to Bicester Village with my sister to escape the asylum for an hour or two, she's made it her mission to get me out of the house whenever I feel up to being out of bed for a little while.

Bicester Village is a well known outlet village situated in north Oxfordshire, and one of the best in the country with around 130 high-end and designer boutiques. Most of the brands are a little too expensive for my budget, but I always enjoy browsing, and taking in the atmosphere as it's so relaxed and pleasant. We're lucky to have it so close to home.

My Sister went to stock up on a few craft items from Cath Kidston, and I unexpectedly found myself coming home with some L'Occitane goodies.

I went in to L'Occitane, thinking perhaps I could treat myself to a hand lotion, or a shower gel, but the moment I stepped in the store my eyes were drawn to some beautiful make up. I didn't even know L'Occitane made make up- and I worked in a company who sold their products!

The make up was heavily discounted, and I caved and treated myself to the five make up items above; a mixture of eyeshadows, face powders, blushers, and/or highlighters. I spent less than £20 in total, for more than £65 worth of make up!

I'm going to quickly talk about each one, so my apologies for the very long post.

L'Occitane En Provence Pivoine Flora Duo Eyeshadow in Envolee Lilas- Teinte 4

First up is an Eyeshadow Duo in Envolee Lilas, which is just beautiful.

It comes packaged in a pretty box made from card obtained from sustainable forests. 

The product itself is displayed in a sturdy cardboard compact, which I personally think feels well made, and looks attractive and expensive. The design itself is very pretty.

I was pleased to find the duo came with a mirror, and a double-ended applicator brush, as it's convenient for applying it on the go.

This eyeshadow duo is just beautiful! One side is a rich purple, and the other a warm taupe; both are shimmery shadows that can be worn alone, together, or mixed to create a third shade. The taupe can be used to highlight, and the purple to define.

Both colours are lovely, and felt silky smooth on my skin, which the packaging says is because the eyeshadows have been enriched with softening peony extract. I haven't yet used these shadows on my face, so I can't say how good the staying power is, but I'm impressed with them so far and can't wait to use them properly.

This was £4.20, RRP £14.00. It can be bought online full price here.

L'Occitane Pivoine Flora Face Colour Cream Duo in Arabesque Apricot- Teinte 2

As with the eye shadow duo, the face colour duo comes in pretty card packaging, with guidelines about how to use the make up on the back.

The compact has also been made from sturdy cardboard, and has an elegant ballerina style design to the front.

This set has a decent sized mirror on the inside, but unfortunately it doesn't come with applicator brushes or sponges, which would have been helpful for using it out and about.

But don't let that discourage you from buying one of these for yourself!

The duo features two cream face colours, one a lovely warm apricot, and the other in a golden beige. They can be used as you desire to illuminate and warm the face. I bought this to use specifically on my cheeks, and I'm so very glad I did!

I use the apricot as blusher, which is perfect for my very fair skin tone. It really warms my complexion. And I find the golden beige compliments the apricot nicely as a highlighter. I'm impressed with how easily they glide on to the skin, and after using these a few times I can happily report that they last well all day. And if that wasn't enough, the make up carries a delicate peach (apricot?) scent. I can't fault this duo! I hope to go back and pick up a couple for presents.

This one cost £4.20, RRP £14.00. It can be bought for full price online here.

The following three products I'm going to show you all come in small rectangular card boxes obtained from sustainable forests. The outer packaging is white and silver, which give the products a clean, expensive, chic appearance; the kind of packaging you'd expect to see from an upmarket brand in a boutique. The make up themselves are packaged in small circular cardboard pots. They look attractive, but I can't say how they'd hold up in a make up bag over time.

L'Occitane En Provence Fleur Cherie Face Colour Powder in Rose Falbala

This is a face colour powder duo, and the first product I was drawn to on entering L'Occitane's shop. One side is a dark, dusky purple, and the other a light rose pink, and they can be used wet or dry to create different intensities. The purple can be used to add definition, and the pink to brighten and highlight. They're enriched with softening orange blossom extract and this duo really is as soft as it's marketed to be.

I've used this duo a couple of times so far, and loved the results it gave. The pink was hard to photograph, but it's a shimmery pale pink, and really does illuminate the eyes when used on the lids and inner socket. The purple is a stunning two-tone, and looked striking paired with the pink. It's a great alternative to black for creating a smoky eye, too. They're both long-lasting, and remain in place for many hours without fading. I've fallen in love with this duo, and have to say I'm very impressed with it so far.

I paid £3.75 for it, RRP £12.50. It can be bought online full price here.

L'Occitane En Provence Face Colour Powder in Rose Dentelle

Rose Dentelle is a face powder containing softening orange blossom extracts which can be used  as a blusher or eyeshadow wet or dry. L'Occitane suggest using your fingers to dab it on to cheekbones and eyelids to brighten the face. The texture is very delicate, and it glides on easily. It's a pretty rose pink, and I think it makes a lovely blusher, but I'm not sure if I'd wear this shade on my eyelids. I've only worn it for testing purposes, so I'm unable to say how well it wears over the course of the day/night. We shall see!

It cost £3.75, RRP £12.50. It can be bought online full price here.

L'Occitane En Provence Fleur Cherie Face Colour Powder in Mousseline d'Argent

Mousseline d'Argent is another face colour powder containing softening orange blossom extracts for a silky touch. This one is a beautiful shimmery white powder with silver sparkles, which is perfect to high light various areas of the face such as eyes, cheekbones, and brow bones. It can also be worn wet or dry to create different looks and intensities. I've used this powder a couple of times, and it glides on beautifully, and really makes the eyes pop. It also does a great job at making me look a little more 'alive' and fresh-faced. Every girl should have one of these powders in her make up bag!

It was £3.75, RRP £12.50. It can be bought online full price here.

The kind sales assistant also popped a few freebies in to my bag; five samples and a cosmetics bag!

I've not tried any of these things yet, but I was excited to receive a few free samples. Who doesn't love free cosmetics to try?

So, I'm so pleased I discovered this make up range, and I'm very impressed with all of them so far. Make sure you check the range out if you get the opportunity. They're available full price on their website, so get on down to Bicester Village to pick some bargains up if you can! I know I certainly intend to go back for more!

If you made it this far from start to end, thanks for sticking with me until the end! I promise my next post won't be so long!

Sunday Favourites #27

Hey guys,

I hope you're all having a great weekend. I've got lots of lovely images to share with you this week, so I'm just going to dive right in, and quit all the small talk. Enjoy...

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Pastel ombre nails.

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Gorgeous teal and purple patterned, textured nails.

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Pretty collars.

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I like to wear my best outfits every day!

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I adore this hair tutorial for 'Fabric Maiden Braids' from the blog A Beautiful Mess. I actually attempted this look myself at three in the morning on Friday night, and again yesterday afternoon with ribbon instead of a hair scarf. I'm going to keep practising until I get my hair to look this good... pigs might fly before I manage it, though!

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I love Dita's leopard top.

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This is perfect.

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As is this outfit!

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And Miss Indie's floral red outfit is so pretty.

I seem to be loving red themed outfits this week, or at least that's what the last three photos tell me.

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You're rad! And so is this.

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Style. It speaks volumes.

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I love these intricate tattoos.

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And this treble clef tattoo is amazing! Such an original take on the ol' musical notes.

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This image appears to show a man at the top of one of the World Trade Center towers on the morning of 9/11 just before one of the planes hit. If this image is genuine, then this is both an incredible image, and so, so heart-breaking. This image was linked to a 9/11 Wikipedia page, so I don't know the story behind it- how it was found, or if the man miraculously made it out alive... Does anybody know?

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Now if this isn't an amazing, note-worthy photo, then I don't know what is. It shows professional kayaker Pedro Olivia incredibly taking on the turbulent sea surrounding active volcano Kilauea in southern Hawaii. His team kayaked alongside molten lava which was flowing down from the spewing volcano. I'd love to experience something like this, but I know I'd also be terrified!

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How adorable is this slender loris baby, falling asleep as he gets a check up from the vet? Look at those little fingers! This little guy just makes me think of the animated film, Madagascar. "Stop him! He's carrying scissors and hand cream!"

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This Labrador has been a surrogate Mum to more than thirty animals of different species, including a porcupine, a hippo, and these gorgeous tiger cubs. You can read more about it here.

I also found another post about animals adopting babies of a different species here. The image of a hen keeping a puppy warm is pretty cute, as is the tiger with a piglet.

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Can I adopt this dog? Plllease? The cuddles would be amazing.

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This couch pit looks so comfy!

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I love this colourful kitchen filled with Rice kitchenware.

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This made me giggle.

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Never be ashamed of something you like or believe in.

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This makes a good point.

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This is so true. I can't believe the things I used to bitch and moan about in the past; it's only now my life is on hiatus that I've realised what an idiot I was bitching about unimportant little things that didn't matter or weren't the end of the world.

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And this bit of text makes a lot of sense to me, and is pretty much how I feel about life / the last year and a half. I'll be reflecting on this for some time, I'm sure.

And a few other great things I've read and seen this week:

// There's a great little article here about 15 Plus Size Bloggers Redefining Body Image.

// 5 golden retrievers, trained comfort-dogs, took to Boston after the recent bombing tragedies to provide people with a little comfort. 

// This wedding story about a father with Parkinson's being able to escort his daughter down the aisle, side by side in wheelchairs, really tugged at my heart strings.

// This video of ferrets playing in a bucket of Styrofoam peanuts is so cute!

// This photo of a close up of a butterfly's wing is pretty amazing! 

// Can you make it through this post without your brain melting? Mine was fried by the end!

Which image from this week's Serendipity Sunday was your favourite?