I absolutely adore red nail polishes, it is the epitome of classic! I wanted to have some fun with my polishes so I have decided to paint my tips with deep red paint. I am still using my Leighton Denny red polish as it has never failed to please me. Lastly, a top coat shine to seal the nails off from chipping.
So everyone has been raving about this awesome sold out mini mani month advent calender from Ciate. It’s a fab idea and the perfect gift for any girls who adore a bit of paint on their nails.
I didn’t manage to get hold of one but one of my best friends Natasha Vora managed to get hold of one; a gift from her mother through QVC. I was so intrigued about it I decided to take a trip down to her place and see what it is all about. The bottles are so sweet, and the messages behind every door are quotes from influential designers and icons.
Ciate have thrown in couple of surprises where you won’t receive a polish, perhaps a delicate bow bracelet or a piece of nail art. The set retails at £42 abd for what you receive, it is well worth it.
I have heard amazing things about Moroccan Roots but have never got around to using it. Maybe perhaps, I never gave it a chance to get to know what it’s all about. Kindly, my sister Isabella from Rockin’ That Gem gave me this to try out and whilst reading what it is for, I was very surprised by its multi-functional purposes! It is basically an all in one hair, body, beauty, nail care!! I might as well throw my lotions, conditioners, cuticle oils in the bin if this Moroccan oil does the trick. So, I have decided to give it all a test to see if it is what it claims to be.
Nail Care – It is claimed to strengthen nails as well as conditioning the cuticles. I had a very long day of nail shooting not so long ago, of which I had 6 nail wraps applied and removed by acetone each time. I am sure it had weaken my nails and doesn’t feel as strong as it use to be. I have been applying the Argan oil on my cuticles and gently rubbed it on my nails. To my surprise, it has strengthened, moisturised and restored the natural shine for healthier looking nails naturally after a week of use.
Moisturising – It is rich in Omega 6 and Vitamin E which has proven to hydrate the skin. It can be used as a daily moisturiser which is perfect, as this cold weather has been drying out my skin quite easily, especially my legs. Once again, the oil has left my skin feeling soft, smooth and intensely moisturised whilst maintaining my summer tan (I like to think so!)
I am so glad I have had a chance to sample the Argan oil, it is scent free and easy to apply with a squeezy pipette whilst chilling at home with my warm fluffy socks from Joules. Have you tried Argan oil before? Here is their Facebook Page for more information Here.
Thank you Kit from StyleSlicker for taking the shots for me.
2013 has been so good to me. Looking back at all my Flickr photos I have uploaded for my blog, I can’t but help feel proud of myself for reviving my blog. I actually had a blog since 2010, but never really dived into it until my big sister encouraged me (well nagged more like). I have learnt the art of nail wraps, posing my hands elegantly and not clawing! I am so chuffed to be able to share my hobby in nail wraps and polishes from different brands across the city. For 2014, I hope to continue with my amateur hand modelling (for myself and my sister’s blog) and get these fingers looking graceful infront of the camera. Above are my nostalgic moments of 2013. Also, I wish to share my love for food I have had in London, plenty of hightlights from Flat Iron to Atariya Sushi, from authentic Turkish meal to scoring desserts!
I am generally not the vain type I promise, but to finish off as thank you for your loyalty and support on my blog, here are my 2013 #Selfie moments from my Instagram from dead long hair to accidental short hair; and from wavey to straight hair.
Winter is looming, the weather sounds crazy here in the heart of London. Having an awful Christmas break suffering from the office viral plague of the flu, being in bed all week is just what I had in mind to celebrate Christmas! I have been wearing a very unattractive nurse/face mask to stop my family from catching it. After being ridiculed and feeling better 6 DAYS LATER, all I could do was play around with my makeup hoping I can go out for New Year’s Eve. New Year, New Me, New Makeup, much BIGGER makeup bag! So whats in my Marc by Marc Jacobs cosmetic bag for 2014?
Jane Iredale press powder concealer and Mac Kabuki brush!! I am on my 7th Jane Iredale press powder, it is insanely amazing! My colour is Latte and have been using this religiously.
Secondly, I have used Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb for 8 years now, I like to think it is my scent and my close friends can definitely sniff me out with this perfume.
Investing in great brushes is a must, but doesn’t mean you need to buy the most expensive ones! I love the Mac brushes, mid price range and it will do what it needs to do. Don’t casually buy online, visit an actual store to get the best advices from the lovely Mac girls (don’t be intimidated). Also, with eye pencils, it is so easy to carry on using a blunt pencil, get those pencil sharpeners and define those lovely eyes, a blunt brush will just make you look slightly smudged on the face and a bit gothic.
The Vivienne Westwood brooch pin is a sweet little addition in my makeup bag. Why? When I want to go out and I am out of bling when wearing a shirt/blouse, I like to add a little focus piece and pin this little treasure between the collar. It turns all my day working outfits, to a chic little number for the evening.
Crazy sales over this festive period have brought us bargains, but a big hole in our bank which we all dare to check. Out with the old stuff and in with the new season. Ever since my MCM First Lady aqua blue shoulder bag, I have been obsessed with this colour. I am so glad to see this colour back for Resort Collection through Valentino, Saint Laurent, DKNY. Clearly, I have spent too much over Christmas, but I have seen some lovely pieces in my favourite shade.
This Proenza Schouler wallet caught my eye with its little chain and mirror to pose as a mini clutch. Perfect for day and night, setting you back to £560. This seems like a price of a handbag instead, but this handy little thing is more than just a wallet, this so called wallet on a chain is definitely multi-functional which features a mirror too which I haven’t seen in other mini chain bags. Convinced yet? Well for me, I am not too sure. But it sure is damn beautiful!
Other designers have taken different angles of blue for Resort and here I have selected my favourites of the bunch. Alexander Wang in exotic snakeskin, mmmm. This is the iconic Prisma collection at RRP of £315. I love the punchy blue and the feel of snakeskin definitely brings me a smile to my face. Kate Spade with her stripey white on turquoise is definitely the most fun piece of all. Even though it’s cold, windy and wet; this colour makes me think of sun, sea and beach..£130..perfect! The third piece is the classic, simple lock envelope wallet by Mulberry. This super soft leather wallet is timeless and refreshes your very own Mulberry handbag.
Valentino Rockstud zip round wallet is my favourite this season. Despite loving all things rock stud, this colour is beaming with style! Wear it as a clutch will definitely turn heads and it is the one piece of accessory I would love to have in my handbag. It also comes in a range of eye popping colours ( Pink, Orange) at £400 RRP. What’s on your wishlist this season?
May xx
**All Images taken from the Selfridges.co.uk website.
For a few years, I have been a hand prop for my sister Kit from Style Slicker. We exchange favours at times, I help her and she helps me. Over the years I have learnt the art of being an amateur hand model and clawing is the ultimate blogger no no!! The second no! no! is holding the bottle!! What’s wrong with holding the bottle and clawing? Well according to the established bloggers and beauty brands, they consider them as (quote) “hideous”, “wannabe”, and “cheap”. I personally think it’s OK to hold the bottle if you are doing a quickie casual snap, but if you want to tell a story and sell the review; I agree that photos of the hands requires ‘taste’.
I guess I have been blessed with slender elegant hands by getting away with washing up as a teenager. I love blogging about nail varnishes and also perhaps it is easier to take pictures of your hands without requiring a second person to take pictures for you.
Also, think about the overall composition, wear some rings and not just focus in on the nail colour. We as girls love jewellery so it’s always nice to see our hands accessorized. Simple is clean, but you don’t want to be too repetitive, post after post. After writing about this, it has put me into perspective and how I should move on to create more exciting nail posts for the future. Thank you readers, I would love to hear your thoughts. Please hit the Facebook Like button, I would sincerely appreciate the follow Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Lots of Love, May xx
So I ended the year with a nasty flu and spent my new year infront of the telly. Payday came early in December which meant I had tp suffer abit for January, eek! I had to cut back on spend and start saving!! Boring I know but bringing home cooked meals to work for lunch would mean I would save myself £25 a week..definitely worth it considering travelcards have gone up in prices! Also, to my surprise, I went to the gym for the first time everrr as a “bring a guest for free” on Fridays at Fitness First which is fantastic!! I don’t have to pay every Friday (unless my friend who is a member doesn’t go) and be motivated to get fit witg my team of friends that spurs my motivation to work out and to actually enjoy it!! However I am still not keen on paying monthly gym membership so I am going to take advantage of the free Friday visits for now. If you know someone who is a member of Fitness First…definitely jump on their Friday guest pass!!! If not, LA Fitness has a free 3 visit trial which is what I needed since I want another gym session before Friday.
I have also been following My Healthy Dish Instagrammer and she has been very inspiring with easy to make smoothies and healthy eating ideas. So I dug out my juicer; a birthday gift for me many years ago and here is my attempt of an easy Strawberry and banana smoothie:
The ingredients are very very simple as you can see! Blended it altogether and wallah! However, one criticsm I would make is that I have to really blend it for a while otherwise, the texture can be a little lumpy. I guess that’s a note for me next time! As this is my first time, I hope My Healthy Dish approves Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
I love my new diary from Boden! It is difficult to find the perfect size, shape, width, page length etc and this one perfectly fits in my petite little handbag. I enjoy my nail posts and this diary helps me keep in check with special dates and which colours I should be applying each month.
I can not wait for Valentines Day, I have slipped in the Incoco Cupid Arrow nail polish applique nail art on the page of February 14th, just as a reminder!
Usually on Valentine’s Day, girls love to apply red or pink..or both. I like to keep it fun and playful with this nail art from Incoco. Can’t wait for my Valentine’s Day blog post which will feature this playful nail art. What colour or nail art will you be applying?
I manage to get myself the new Nails Inc Nail Polish Diary for 2014 which comes with 12 shades, one for every month, January to December! The set is worth over £138 and I can see deals going for £31 online (Asos)!! Some of which are completely sold out. I am super excited with these colours and it is hard to contain myself to wear the colour for the month. The Mauvre colour for August caught my eye; it is the leather effect polish! My instinct is telling me to wear it now and guess what…I did!
Look how gorgeous this colour is and it is so easy to apply. You can also see the leather effect almost instantly and once it had dried, I applied to Nails Inc top coat to seal the leather effect. This will help my polish to last and not chip so easily.
What do you think? I absolutely love it! The downside? I got so excited I didn’t realise I dropped the bottle on the floor and what I have left is half a bottle as i scrubbed my carpet with varnish remover Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. thank goodness I have old fashioned-patterned carpet to camouflage the stain!!
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone on behalf of Nail World! Today, I have chosen Incoco’s Cupid’s Arrow nail art applique, isn’t it adorable? I must admit…I bought these a year a go and have been waiting for this day to apply! Luckily, Incoco still sell this nail art today on their website. I have done many post on Incoco’s nail art polishes on my blog and I must say this is by far my cutest pattern!
Even when the days are cold, wet and windy here in London, we do love the atmosphere around Valentine’s day…where all the singletons come together for drinks..and to remind ourselves we are single and proud for another year. Luckily, Valentine’s day lands on a Friday and in work terms..I will be tapping away on my laptop with my newly manicured nails and topping up Burberry Body every 4 hours Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Happy Monday everyone! I know everyone is dreading that Monday feeling to get out of bed and drag your bum to work! I thought I’d brighten up my day with a new coat by Nails inc from My Nail Polish Diary called St Martin’s Lane. It’s a beautiful deep plum colour; the perfect shade to not come across too girly or scream look at me. The colour is bold enough to say “rock chick”. Luckily, the set came with a top coat to stop my varnish from chipping and give it a nice clean finish. Because the plum colour is intense; it does require 2 coats; otherwise you will see brush stroke marks (my mistake as I didn’t realise). Unfortunately, nowhere seems to sell this colour on its own but you can get it in a set with 3 others colours called the Nails inc Autumn Winter Collection for £25. So here is the colour; I totally love it and would definitely have this back in my polish queue!
I am definitely feeling purple this month, what is your nail shade of the day for you? Enjoy your Monday and the rest of the week, pay day is only tomorrow Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. well for me anyway.
Today I am wearing this lovely Ciate Mistress Red nail varnish. I did a spontaneous nail polish trade with the lovely and beautiful Temporary Secretary for this Ciate nail polish and I absolutely adore and red point pots! Also for the fact that I don’t personally own a Ciate nail polish! Not only did the nail polish arrive in a cute box, she has given so much thought into her packaging, bless her! I wasted no time to remove my hideous chipped nails, filed away, base coated my finger nails and wacked out the mistress red! This paint pot retails at £9 per bottle:
I love how bright this red is from this cute bottle! I will definitely be keeping my eyes out on some new colours from Ciate and collect the black bow bottles! I have blogged about 9 different brands (Chanel, Dior, Nails Inc, Sally Hansen, Mac, Leighton Denny etc) and I must say in terms of not chipping…it’s pretty up there with Nails Inc! What is your favourite polish brand? Is there a really good nail polish brand out there that we must try?
I have been using this Lancome Hypnose mascara for over 6 months now and I am impressed that this little thing hasn’t dried up! There’s plenty left in the bottle and still very smooth to apply (wet but dries very quickly). I have been on and off with this mascara, as I have a few lying around in my room..so whatever I find really! But every time I get back to Lancome, I have always preferred this result. It really sharpens my lashes without having to wear an eyeliner if I want to go for the subtle natural look.
What do you think? Even though this design was a seasonal thing last year; I am glad I have a piece of Alber Albaz in my beauty collection! Just like the prints on the mascara bottle…makes your lashes flutter.
Today I have been nominated by my best friend to participate in the #nomakeupselfie for Cancer Research UK and a simple text to 70099 is a £3 donation to the charity. What a great idea! Not only for the cause but for women alike who are slightly vulnerable behind the makeup. I admit, during my Harrods days I was very confident with all the makeup on and forgot about the true natural beauty we have. It took courage to strip back and care for my skin to keep it looking youthful, radiant and smooth looking. My daily routine is with the fabulous Advanced Night Repair from Estee Lauder. I have the 30ml bottle (£48) and is to be applied on clean skin before the moisturiser. It is perfect for all skin types with an easy to use pipette. You may think it is silly to start using anti-aging serums as I am only 25, but taking care of your skin while it is still youthful is key to healthier looking skin in the long run. As for today, I am delighted to be nominated to take my Selfie Sunday for the #nomakeupselfie challenge for charity. Here was my preparing last night to achieve my delighted #nomakeupselfie look.
Thank you Natasha Vora for nominating my for #nomakeupselfie for Cancer research UK and thanks to my sister Isabella from Rockin That Gem for taking the photos for me.
May xx
What I love about Lancome is that they always have a gift with purchase..and it is usually a generous one and knowing me, I love my freebies. I am so use to using makeup wipes, only because I love my quick fixes and I must admit, I am lazy and love to cut corners. However, makeup wipes do not remove all the dirt that is hidden skin deep and I can feel how rough my skin feels every time I remove my makeup. And so I gave in and gave these a go.
This is Lancome’s Bi-Facil makeup remover. It is very refreshing,and surprisingly, despite having no makeup on today and had a shower…I was surprised to see dirt still coming off and on to my cotton pad! What is great is that it is not harsh on my skin and dirt comes off just so easily. Application is simple and requires only 5 drops on the cotton pad. This currently retails at £21 for a 125ml bottle.
This is Lancome’s Galateis Douceur face cleansing fluid. The texture is light, airy, smooth as a pearl and smells good. All I needed were a few drops on the cotton pad and applied across the T line of my face and in circular motions. When I smelt a slight perfumation, I feared my skin my flare up..but luckily it was just a fresh feeling which left my skin feeling ridiculously smooth and supple instantly. Before using this, I got back from the gym and had a shower. I didn’t apply any moisturisers so my face was feeling dry and flaky. However, this cleanser really surprised me and I can’t stop stroking my face! My face feels so much more rejuvenated and I am so glad to have reviewed this. Have you tried the Lancome duo before? Or do you recommend better. Let me know what you think.
Ever had that baffling feeling where you are looking for the best face exfoliator but at the same time, not too expensive and quick to apply? I decided to roam into Boots and came across Boots own brand tea tree and witch hazel exfoliator face wash! I picked it up and thought…great, however, I need something to exfoliate it with? I genuinely think that using my hands to rub it though my face wouldn’t do the trick and then I noticed the exfoliator pad all in one. It is like the makeup remover wipes which are easy to apply, especially if you want a quick easy job.
The circular pads are thin with 60 pads a pot. Despite the thin pad, it is packed with all the moisture and once applying and rubbing in a circular motion around the face, you can feel that exfoliating texture that’s rubbing off the dead skin as well as removing pores skin deep. Instantly, I can feel how refreshing my skin feels, as well as leaving my skin soft and flake free! Am I happy with the results? Definitely, I am glad I ran into Boots and costs only £4.99.
Finally, what is Witch Hazel?
I thought it is some fancy name for branding but it fact, it is a shrub with fragrant yellow flowers used for medicinal purposes such as bruises, swelling, psoriasis, prevent sweating on the face, treat insect bites, treatment for varicose veins and cracked skin. Clearly, witch hazel has a lot of purposes.
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This season is getting warmer and I am so happy to see the sun breaking through the clouds! Beautiful days like this means new wardrobe for the warmer weather and fresh new makeup colours. I thought I’d share my beauty favourites of this month:
Chanel waterproof Mascara, Burberry Sheer Powder, Urban Decay lip colour pencil, Smashbox rose blush, Leighton Denny polish, Nails Inc top coat, Creme De La Mar softening cream, Lancome La Vie Est Belle, Estee Lauder night repair serum.
I have picked out my favourite pieces that are pretty classic to me where I always seem to come back to every time. Creme De La Mar is ridiculously rich in moisture so even though it is a tiny pot, you only need a tiny amount! Even less than the amount on my finger (the picture above). Urban Decay lip gloss pencil is my favourite (which I also have in blood orange) which has a beautiful rosy pink shine and lasts for the whole day. For the warmer weather, I do love my classic shades and neutrals, it is all about the red, pink and nude.
What a lovely start to the day today and what better day to pop into Harrods and spend my rewards points! I felt like it is time to switch up my foundation and try something new and different and I have always been a fan of Shu Uemura just for the fact that the brand understands the need of those with yellow tone skin. I must admit, I think I have been wearing a shade darker and is time to brighten up this face of mine with Shu Uemura. Clearly I had no idea which colour palette is the correct one and funnily enough, my skin is a combo of pink and yellow, which meant that my colour is light beige. The lady recommended this new Shu Uemura lightbulb UV compact powder foundation No more to face caking and had this beautifully soft sheer powder giving me this touch up look (thank goodness to no spots and daily moisturising).
The press powder is thin and maximises coverage with an illuminating glow. My face appears brighter and smoother. The refill has a price tag £30 so it is rather steep but I am always out for what is best for my skin.
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It was very peaceful, a great place for a scenic stroll. The best time to go is during the weekdays, you feel like the whole garden is for yourself. On the weekends however; people like myself are there taking pictures and messing around trying to look all pretty with the backdrop. This is my second visit to the Pergola Gardens, and I can not wait to come here again in the summer. It is a public garden but tucked away; so you have to know Hampstead well enough to find it.
It was a rather chilly day and it was the perfect excuse to wear my beautiful rabbit fur gilet from Marc by Marc Jacobs; paired with Marc by Marc Jacobs silk top in rose pink. For another layer of warmth; Grey trench from Burberry London and Kurt Geiger Lexi stud wedge trainers.
I hope you get the chance to visit Hampstead, for a stroll, for some shopping and great food. There is a popular and well know crepe cart on the high street, it is so good you would normally queue for half an hour to grab your fresh crepe.
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