Challenge Week 6: Inspired by a Game!

This is a new theme in the 52 week challenge, and although there are a lot of games I love (my family love board games and card games) I couldn't decide what I'd like to do. I wasn't until I discovered an online version of UNO that I decided.

I have awesome memories of playing UNO with my Granda, we'd visit my Granny and Granda every Sunday for dinner, and while the other adults chatted and did boring things, my Granda would always sit on the carpet with me and play (what felt like) hundreds of rounds until dinner was ready :)

So yes, UNO nails it is:

I had a lot of fun painting these, and making my sister play UNO with me once I'd taken out all of the cards for inspiration and taking pictures :)

I used a base colour of green, yellow, red and blue for the coloured card nails, and black for the 'wild card' nail- then I added the white shape over the top with white polish and a tiny nail art brush- and on the very top, the coloured numbers (also with the tiny brush)

Barry M Spring Green and Pale Yellow, 17 Risky Red, Models Own Feeling Blue, e.l.f. Black and Models Own Snow White

I actually painted these nails quite a while ago now, and putting this post together has made me realise how much I really miss it!

When was the last time you painted your nails?


                                                                                                                         xGretalRabbitx

Looking Back... and Looking Forward...

I know it's now the 20th of January, but I have been ill and incredibly busy at work (I'll get to that) But it has been another whole year and I thought I should mark it by sharing the high-points of it, and my hopes for 2013 :)


So last year was a very busy and exciting one for me, In 2012 I:

• celebrated a full year of blogging
• got a new job
• became a fully qualified Brownie leader
• moved out of my dads house
• built A LOT of furniture for our apartment
• started planning my Brownie pack holiday licence
• bought a lot of new make up and nail polish!

Once again my Lush lip scrub dupe post was my most popular- almost 1/4 of my total page views (thank you Pinterest) but my nail polish swatches took over as the 2nd most popular- and that post needs some serious updating now! :)

I know I have somewhat neglected my blog in recent months, and I know I keep saying that I want to change that- but I'm sure you can appreciate that life gets in the way; work has been really busy, I keep getting colds and I've far too much time being unproductive in front of the TV... I've also missed reading all of your blogs- I've not checked my GoogleReader in about a month! :(

And that's where my resolutions come in:

1) Eat healthily- as I mentioned in last years resolutions post, this was really hard when I lived with my family, there would always been junk food in the house- and my will power is not that strong. Now I'm living on my own I have just refused to buy rubbish food. Plus I've decided to go on a gluten free diet (one of my housemates is totally gluten free, and living with her made me think a lot more about what I was eating, and how bad I feel when I eat gluten!) which is already making me feel SO much better :)

2) Catch up with blog reading!

3) Exercise more, yes another thing I added last year, but again, this resolution is already going well. I'm  walking to and from work every day now- it's only a bout 10/15 minutes each way, but it's a lot better than nothing! And my housemates have an Xbox Kinect with Dance Central (so much fun) and we all have several work out videos that make exercise fun- so that is a lot easier too!

4) Blog more! It is my new years resolution to post twice a week- one 52 week challenge post (which I know I am stupidly behind on, but I want to carry on!) and another post about whatever else. I know it will be hard to keep up with, but I am determined to at least try.

5) Stick to my budget. Now that I'm paying rent and bills and all that boring stuff, I have a budget and I must stick to it. Don't worry, I've budgeted for beauty buys :p

6) Keep doing well at work. I had my 6 month review just before Christmas and I'm thrilled with the feedback. My supervisor has chosen me (over several people who have been working with him for over a year) to take over some of his current tasks- saying he could trust me more than anyone in the department to get the work done accurately and on time (I put together the daily figures for our department, and get them sent off to the 3 company directors we deal with) So yeah, it's quite a bit of extra work, and I have been working late and feeling more stressed; but I'm really loving the challenge, and I hope it continues.

7) Read new books. I've read a lot more books since I got my Kindle, but I have this bad habit of slipping back into books I've read 10 times already (I'm currently reading HP Deathly Hallows again, I've literally read it probably 15 times...) it's such a cosy feeling to read a book again and again, but I know I should read more. I have a GoodReads account now, so my 'to read shelf' helps me stay on track a little better.

Well I think that's enough for me this year. What are your new years resolutions? Have you stuck to them so far?

 

                                                                                                     xGretalRabbitx

I'm not dead! (Just busy!!!)- a bit of a ramble...

Hi all! I know it has been a ridiculous amount of time since I've posted anything here- as I've mentioned before I've just moved house- so I've been really really busy getting everything sorted, but I have 10 days off work over Christmas (thank goodness!) I think I'll finally have some more time to put together more blog posts. I know I say it every time I'm away from posting, but I really do miss blogging- it's my little slice of creativity. Plus I'm really far behind on the 52 week challenge- and my nails have been completely naked for weeks :( I miss painting my nails!

Our apartment was completely unfurnished we've built a LOT of IKEA furniture in the past 3 weeks- pretty much all of the furniture we have is actually IKEA (we spent about £2000!) but everything is built and were settled now- here's a little sneak peek of my new make up and nail polish storage- I'm hoping to share my new system with you all soon.

Beautiful Helmers :)

And our cute little Christmas tree!

Unfortunately our oven is a little rubbish (we think the thermostat is broken- it burns literally everything, even when it's supposedly on 50C...) so baking may be rather difficult :( (thankfully I already made my Christmas cake and pudding at Dads house) but I have a couple of recipes that I've not posted yet- so  I can still share some recipes with you! Amy and I will be making a gingerbread house this year too (we're hoping for a more structurally sound one this year)

Well I think that is about I have to ramble about. I hope you are all getting excited about Christmas (I know am, surprise surprise!!!)



                                                                                                          xGretalRabbitx

A Collective Haul (part 2)

So here is part 2- time for all of my skin and haircare related purchases :) (Click here for part 1- make up and nail polish!)

Firstly, I went a bit mad with a Body Shop order- there was a 50% off code, and I basically couldn't help myself! I really love their shower gels, and I took the opportunity to stock up a little!

The Body Shop body wash/shower gels in Cocoa Butter, Spiced Pumpkin, Chocomania, Coconut and Shea Butter. 

The spiced pumpkin and chocomania smell particularly amazing (the chocolate one smells JUST like melted chocolate, it's delicious!) but I love them all- unlike many other shower products the scents are fairly natural (as in true to the real scent, not necessarily chemical free) and have a very small amount of SLS, along with some lovely moisturising ingredients, so they make my skin happy too :)


I also stocked up on some shampoo and conditioner, Boots had an autumn 3for2 offer, and I repurchsed 2 tubes of Loreal EverStrong shampoo, as well as a full-size Aussie 3 minute miracle (for long hair)- I love both of these products so much!

Once again I found myself out of moisturiser, and totally unsure of what to buy- for almost everything else I have found a product that works really well for me that I want to repurchase over and over again, but I've not found a moisturiser I love yet. In the end I picked up this one, and I do rather like it- it's fairly cheap and cheerful, though again, I'm not sure I'd repurchase.

And finally, to lip products- I've been a bit of a lipbalm junkie again, I have 3 new lovelies to show you (but with good reason, because my lips are SO dry at the moment! I hate winter! I think I actually have eczema on lips :( )

 First of all, included in my Body Shop order was this delicious Mango Lip Butter- it smells really yummy (a lot like fresh mango) and works really well too :)

I spotted these in Boots and simply HAD to get one, I love the EOS lip balm- the shape is just so cool- and I really enjoy minty lip balms! £4.99 is a bit on the higher side for me, but I used some Birthday money and I think it was worth it as I really like the formula too.

And lastly, the one flavour of Carmex I was yet to try is the strawberry tube, I saw it on sale in Superdrug and couldn't resist :) It really smells like something edible (but not fresh strawberries!) but I can't put my finger on it... perhaps tinned strawberries in syrup...?

Have you been buying much recently?



                                                                                                                 xGretalRabbitx

A Collective Haul (Part 1)

Isn't it absurd that I've not written a non-nail art post in months... I'm sorry! I bought a new lamp at IKEA this weekend (along with a tonne of other stuff  for my new flat that I may show you at some other time- once I've built it...) which is brilliant for taking pictures at night, so fingers crossed I can get more posts up and more regularly :)

So over the past couple of months I've bought rather a lot of bits and pieces; I've had Birthday money, a Body Shop sale, and some other random bargains!

First up (because it's what I -unsurprisingly- have most of...) is nail polish! Barry M came out with 2 new collections of polish- the Gelly Hi-Shine and yet more beautiful Glitters. A while back they had a buy-3 get 1 free deal, and I got the Croc Effect and 'Web effect' (which unfortunately turned out to be rubbish :( ) - and best of all I spent my Birthday money on them, so technically these are gifts!

Barry M Polishes! Gellys in Grapefruit, Watermelon and Blackberry, Orange 'Web Effect',
Glitters in Rose Quartz, Amethyst and Pink Sapphire, and Burgundy Croc Effect

No7 have revamped their bottles- they're no longer really tall and thin, and the neck of the bottle is much nicer- yay! I got these two with Boots £5 off No7 vouchers. The Models Own looks SO much nicer in real life- with purple, blue and green duo-chrome effect.

No7 Celestial and So Neat, Models Own Hayley's Comet and George 3D Glitter

A close up of Hayley's Comet- the picture doesn't show it's true beauty :)

I found this lovely polish in the pound shop- I simply could not resist it; I've been wanting to try out Sally Hansen polishes for a while (as I love their base and top coats) and this is grey- so it's perfect for £1!

Sally Hansen Dorien Grey

No for some make up bits :) There was an e.l.f. sale (50% off) a while ago, and I took the opportunity to stock up on some essentials, and try out a couple of new things.

e.l.f Eyelid Primers in Champagne and Sheer, a Concealer Brush, an Eyeshadow Brush (these are awesome, I decided I needed two!) and a Shimmer Eyeliner Pencil in Plum Passion.

Studio Cream Eyeliner in Coffee (my current one is finally starting to dry out!), Studio Eyeshadow in Sand Dollar and  Studio Eyebrow  kit in  Light

I also spent some of my Birthday money on make up in Boots; I spotted a sale section with a bunch of Cargo products.

The Case

Cargo Cheek Activator, and the contents of the mini case. 

I've never tried them before, but I liked the look of this little collection (I knew, if nothing else, that the case would be useful!) and I love it- the OneBase certainly does not suit my skin tone, but the lipgloss and lip and eye pencils are great, and -most of all- I really love the Cheek Activator; it's a cream blush in a tube that blends out to become a lovely, natural (ish) flushed/rosey colour. I liked it so much I went back and picked up the full-sized tube for just £5.50! :)

And finally, I repurchased the lovely Collection concealer- mine is running, but it has lasted really well :)

I was planning to post this haul in 1 post, but I think it's too long- I'll post part 2 (with all my skincare, haircare and lip care products!) asap :)


What have you been buying recently?



                                                                                          xGretalRabbitx

Challenge week 5: Orange!

I think this must be some kind of horrible record for lateness, I painted my nails on Halloween- 2 weeks ago- and am now only just getting to post them. Once again I have been stupidly busy; my friends and I have  just paid a deposit on an apartment, and we're waiting to move in! I've had an awful cold, and I've had family over for the past two weekends. It's been busy and I'm really looking forward to moving and settling into our lovely new apartment (I'll have to post an updated make up and nail polish storage when I'm all set up :) ) and hopefully have more time for blogging!

Anyway, crazy late Halloween nails... Like last years Halloween attempt I couldn't think of just one thing to do, so I did each nail different :)

I used a bright orange as a base on two nails, black on my middle finger, and two shades of white on my thumb and little finger :) Then I added a glittery pumpkin (which reminds me more of Cinderella than Halloween...) a cobweb, orangey gradient (was supposed to be crackle, but it didn't work :( ) a glittery stripe, (which reminds me of Beetlejuice) and a cute little ghost- my favourite :) It was all very simple- the stripers were brilliant- and I enjoy glitter in any colour!

Left: Wet 'n' Wild Orange Creme, nail art pens in green, orange glitter and black.
Right: Models Own Snow White, Revlon Aloof, e.l.f. Black and Avon Sahara

I know I'm super-late, but did you do anything for Halloween? I went to Brownies and we played traditional games- apple bobbing was a hit (a lot of the girls got soaked...)

                                                                                                                xGretalRabbitx

Challenge Week 4: Gradient or Ombre.

Hi again, it's been a bit of a crazy week for me, my friend and I are planning to move into a flat together, and this week has been full of trawling estate agents websites, apartment viewings, and some serious planning sessions- we're super super excited about it (we both currently live with our respective parents, and it's getting us down) but I will be glad when we find a place and settle, as I'm finding it rather stressful!

Anyway, what that ramble was trying to say it that, I am, once again, very sorry that I've been neglecting my blog; it's so frustrating for me! And as I am, once again, behind on the challenge (I MUST catch up!) I am still on gradient nails :)

As I did an ombre not too long ago, I decided to do a gradient nail, and realised that I've never actually done a full glitter gradient NOTD- my sister has, and I've done an accent nail, and I felt that needed to change!

The colour choice was rather easy; I was excited to try out my new Barry M Gelly polish (I have more, I really need to get my haul post up to show you all!) and seeing as it is such a Barbie-ish shade, I felt that glitter was the only way to go. Specifically, super-holographic glitter!!!

I started off with the Barry M Gelly 'Grapefruit' polish as a base, then added a layer of China Glaze Fairy Dust over the top 2/3 of my nail, and a second coat over the top 1/2. I then used Models Own Juicy Jules on the top 1/3, then another layer on the top 1/4- I'm not sure it shows perfectly in the pictures, but in real life you can tell that the glitter gets more dense further up the nail- so holographic and awesome! I love it so much!

SO MUCH GLITTER!!!!
Barry M Gelly in Grapefruit, China Glaze Fairy Dust and Models Own Juicy Jules

Are you a glitter freak like me? (I'm so glad it's nearly Christmas, glitter is WAY more socially acceptable!)

                                                                                                                   xGretalRabbitx