Sally Hansen | DRY KWIK | Nail colour dryer

I paint my nails at least 3 times a week & being the most impatient person ever, this is a daunting thing for me to do as its very time consuming. I have eyed this nail polish up a few times now but only just decided to give it a go. Priced around £1.99 in B&M Stores it was pretty much a bargain.

I used this over a pink polish and set a timer, under a minute I had perfectly dry nails! How amazing!
The only disappointment I had with this product is that it left my fingers feeling greasy & oily but I don't mind as long as my nails are dry in no time.

I seriously recommend this product to anyone who hates waiting for their nails to dry or to anyone who doesn't have this in their nail polish collection

Have you tried this product? what do you think?

Photo a day | Day 2 | Something that makes me happy

Day 2 of my photo challenge and I have decided to do a post on things that make me happy. I couldn't really post one photo as there are many things that make me happy.

First & foremost is family, my amazing father who's recently passed away, my beautiful mother & my lovely boyfriend ( I don't know how he puts up with me ha ha!)

Secondly the sky, I just love gazing into the sky it makes me feel soo much better, think I'm a little obsessed!
Makeup - My only hobbie which I get a big kick out off
My little tweety pie - How adorable is my little birdy! I love him to bits,he always puts a smile on my face
last but not least flowers! Flowers are so pretty I could stare at them all day :)

Photo a day | Day 1 | Self portrait

Having had the most stressful 3 months of my life, I can now finally get back into routine and everyday life. I decided to do a photo a day challenge but randomly picking a topic for each day!

I have begun with  self portrait & get the embarrassing posing photos out the way ;)
I'm Laura, 21 years old & have an obsession with makeup, nice to meet you!

Diets, sunsets & pretty things

Few little snaps over the past 10 days!

Bronzed Godess | Summer Tans

One thing I absolutely love about summer is the fact I can bronze away without looking like a idiot! Here are a few of my favourite tans that I have religiously used over the last year. After trying a bazillion ones I have settled on these. 

Garnier Body Summer body Tan - I got this in superdrug on sale for around £2, brilliant for the size of the bottle but since then I see it has gone up to around £7 :( I love this, it smells like fresh fruit & leaves my skin feeling lovely and soft. As this is a build up tan I use this everyday after my showers & baths, very hydrating!

ST. Moriz tanning mousse - Good old ST. Moriz eh! Trusty cheap tan which I have sworn by for years. I love this tan, I use it mostly the night before and leave it to develop overnight. The next day after a shower I have the most prettiest glow! I just keep topping it up every 3 days for a darker tan.

XEN - Tan - I first bought this tan around 4 years ago, after hearing the amazing reviews I had a cheeky go myself. I have used this make the longest and I think I will use it for many more years, it's fabulous!

Rimmel Sun Shimmer - I used to use this when I was 14, probably abused it the amount of bottles I went through. I did have my moments with this tan (pouring down rain and a streaky tan is not a good look) But this is great for a quick tan on a night out if I'm feeling very lazy!

What Tan's do you use? Any of the above?

Budget Wednesday | They're Real Benefit Mascara Dupe

After hearing how good the Benefit mascara was, I couldn't wit to get my hands on the best beauty product on the market. First of all the packaging is lovely and the brush is usually what i go for. The only thing that put me off about the product was the price. Having a budget and getting good bargains is usually my type of thing, the thought of splashing out over £20 for a mascara was quite sickening.

At first I did not even like this mascara, I thought it was clumpy and made my eyes sore. After a million attempts of trying it I finally started getting the result I hoped for. Although I loved this product, the thought of running out and paying the expense annoyed me.

Looking through Superdrug I was eyeing up a cheap mascara for everyday use, something That I would'nt care about using up. I came across this NYC High definition mascara, price around £3 I was more than happy to purchase Having used this for a few months I am totally in love with the finish it provides, Its completely similar to the benefit's they're real mascara which is a huge bonus! Not only do they give the exact same finish, you will be saving yourself a whooping £18!!

Let me tell you – these dupe products are identical to the name brands for half the price! What more could you want?



Have you tried any of these mascaras?

Juice Detox Day 3

Finally on my third day of a liquid diet, I have learnt how to control my hunger and temptations woohooo!

Although I would love to have a slice of pizza, I am defiantly sticking to eating healthy after this detox, it has gave me that little boost as I can see great results within the 3 days, I even want to carry this on for an extra 2. This morning I had a early breakfast as I was heading out, so decided to make a juice based on what I had left over from the past 2 days. 

                                                         Recipe 1 | Breakfast : Fruit Juice

                                                                   1 Cup of strawberries

                                                                             1 kiwi

                                                                           1 banana

                                                                     Handful of spinach

                                                          2 scoops of 0% fat natural yogurt 

                                                                Half cup of orange juice 

This was actually very tasty, not as filling as the previous juices but I could have drank more than a pint!

For lunch I had the same soup as yesterday: 

Recipe 2 | Lunch : Curry Vegetable Soup

1 Onion

1 Sweet Potato

1 Carrot 

Handful of peas 

1 Yellow chili 

1 Red chili 

Tsp Ginger 

4 Cloves Of Garlic 

Fennel

Curry Powder 

Basil 

3 cherry tomatoes

Salt / Pepper

So far I have lost 5 pounds in weight & feel more energetic than usual. My mood has been slightly down but I suppose it's down to not having much food ;) I am defiantly going to stick to having juices for breakfast, I feel less bloated and better within myself. This is such a great detox too do and I will be doing this at least once a month!

Has anybody tried this detox? How is it going for you? 

Juice Detox Day 2

Today is my second day of juicing and fasting. So far I feel great, not as hungry as I usually am and I feel completely less bloated than usual. I am loving this detox so far, Maybe this is the one I have been searching for my whole life. 

I had a late breakfast this morning, decided to make a juice with a concoction of fruit I had left. I fancied something a little different, something more tasty. 

Recipe 1 | Breakfast : Fruit Juice

1 Cup of strawberries 

1 Kiwi

1 Small banana

1 Mango

Hand full of spinach 

Half glass of orange juice 

This has to be my favourite one so far. The fruit works very well together creating a glass of goodness! For Lunch I decided on another soup. I really fancied a soup again, something different but just as filling as the last one. 

Recipe 2 | Lunch : Curry Vegetable Soup

1 Onion

1 Sweet Potato

1 Carrot 

Handful of peas 

1 Yellow chili 

1 Red chili 

Tsp Ginger 

4 Cloves Of Garlic 

Fennel

Curry Powder 

Basil 

3 cherry tomatoes

Salt / Pepper

Boil & Simmer for 30 Minutes and blend away.

Loose the weight | Juice Detox Day 1

Lately I have been on a super big health kick, after trying numerous diets in the past I have hardly settled on one that has worked for me.
This week my boyfriend recommended the juice detox diet, He was starting it himself so I thought I would give it ago and join him, even though my will power is dreadful. This diet contains various fruit & Vegetable juices and fat free soups so basically a liquid diet.

So Today is Day 1 for me. I begun having a pint of water with lemon and a juice for breakfast. Up to now I don't feel hungry and feel quite satisfied. I am not an expert on diets or nutrition but for me, so far so good.

Recipe 1 | Breakfast : Fruit Juice
1 cup of strawberries
1 cup of pineapple
1 peach
Half Cucumber

Blend all into a blender and serve with ice. This is such a tasty juice and very filling.

Recipe 2 | Lunch : Spicy Vegetable soup
1 Carrot
half sweet potato
half onion
1 red chili ( including seeds)
2 full garlic cloves
1 celery
2 red peppers
1 fat free stock cube
tsp ginger | tsp chili sauce
basil leaves / salt / pepper
pinch sugar
tsp fat free tomato purée

Boil & Simmer for 30 Minutes and blend away.

So far this is all I have ate today, On this detox I would advise to still drink as much water as possible, can't give up the goodness!
Has anyone tried the juicing/liquid detox diet? How did you find it?

My week #1 | New month New start

//Cute little caterpillar in the garden//Pims and sunshine//Healthy eating starting with grapes//£1 neon nail polish//My beautiful necklace from my dad//Yummy oatcakes with light cheese spread and fruit//under £10 box sets, bargain//lovely picnic in robin hoods Sherwood forest

Disappointing Makeup Products #2

Collection 2000 lasting perfection foundation - I first tried this foundation before the concealer became popular and I did actually like the consistency and colour of the foundation but lately I have noticed a change in the formula. This foundation has now become patchy, quite dry & lasts around a hour. This could be lovely on somebody else but I am really disappointed in this product, considering It could have been one of the best ones from the drugstore.

L'Oreal Paris Lumi Magique foundation - Having heard good reviews about this foundation, I thought I'd see what the big fuss was about. I honestly hated this foundation, everything about it felt wrong. It made my skin very oily (even though I have dry skin). I constantly looked shiny and my skin itched every time I wore it. It even broke me out in spots and blemishes every time I used it, I was desperate for it to be a good foundation so I tested it a few times just to be sure I wasn't having a bad skin day. Highly Annoyed and feel like it was a complete waste of money. 

Revlon nail polish 004 Blue Lagoon - How beautiful is the colour of this nail polish? Just a shame the constancy is horrible. This would have been one of my favourite colours to wear this summer. Everytime I have tried this polish it takes around half hour to dry, chips within a day & looks very messy if you don't apply it carefully  This would be perfect for someone who has time to do their nails rather than for someone who leads a busy life. This is defiantly not a go too polish for me.

Clinique face powder & brush - Looking for a new face powder and being persuaded by makeup artists on the beauty counter, I was excited to try my new powder. When I have used it over my foundation I have never felt like I have been wearing so much makeup in my life. It felt to heavy on my skin and it certainly didn't match my skin tone. I'm still desperate to use this powder as I feel it would be too much of a waste not to use. Has anybody tried this and have any tips? Id love to know.

Maybelline dream glow instant bronzing makeup - I adore my bronzer's & love having the bronzed healthy look to my skin. This caught my eye when I was looking through the fake tan section, having tried this on the back of my hand it looked quite pretty, so I made a little purchase. I don't like the smell of this product nor do I like the colour on my skin tone. I thought this would have been a lovely product for the summer & for holidays but It just didn't work for me. 

Special Effects | DIY | Eye wound

Hey everyone,  Hope your all okay. today I have a little makeup tutorial for you, Not your average makeup but something a little different, Hope you enjoy :)

Firstly make sure under your eye is clean ready for the latex

Using a old brush, Apply liquid latex under your eye. This is a strong pungent smell so the fumes could sting your eyes a little, If you feel like it's too strong, close your eyes while the liquid dries, then the smell will disappear. 

Next add a few layers of the latex, I have used around 3 layers and left each one to dry before applying the next coat. 

Once your latex has dried it will look similar to this. Use a matte powder over the top to make it less shiny and too stay in place. You can also add a little foundation to blend into the skin, This makes it more effective. 

As you can see the latex looks blended into the skin. Once all is dried, use tweezers or your nails to peal the top edge of the latex whilst using powder on the skin. 

When you have pealed back some of the 'skin' Add a red lipstick onto the skin, Here I used MAC Russian Red. You can use any face paint or lipstick to create this effect. 

Add some dark purple & black lipstick to the red, this will give the illusion of cut skin. You can also use various dark eyeshadows to create this look too. 

With your ring finger, Blend the colours together. Make sure your edges look blending into the skin to make it more of a real effect. 

Next is the fun part, The fake blood. Use a old brush and apply fake blood onto the 'cut'. With your tweezers peal the rest of the latex to give the illusion of torn skin. 

This is what the final result will look like and its super simple

You can mess about with the latex to make it bigger and bolder.

Finishing the look off with some dark shadows, give the eye a slightly bruised look. I used a blending brush for all of the shadows but you can use any.


Hope you enjoyed this pic-torial I have plenty of more coming soon :)

http://vonpixii.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/special-effects-scar-tutorial.html - Learn how to do a Special Effects Scar