Sunday 16 December 2012

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

Thursday 22 November 2012

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 repurchased 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

Sunday 18 November 2012

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

Wednesday 14 November 2012

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

Thursday 1 November 2012

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

Thursday 25 October 2012

Challenge Week 3: Inspired by Reddit!

Once again, I'm behind. I've become useless at this blogging thing, and I'm sad because I miss it! Anyway, this weeks (last weeks...) theme is Inspired by Reddit.

It took me while to think of a design for this week, but eventually I decided that I'd like to try water marbling again- something I know I NEVER would have tried if it were not for the lovely RedditLaqueristas and the 52 week challenge forcing my to attempt it.

The colour choice was fairly easy; the Reddit colour scheme is blue and orange- so I picked the two closest matches (Models Own Fuzzy Peach and Primark Cornflower) and used those. I got a bit impatient with the water marbling (I didn't use a base colour, the thumb came out bubbly, and then I spilled water all over my table...) so I alternated a bit with an upvote arrow nail, and a downvote arrow nail :)








And here are my 3 polishes- I cannot recommend the nail art pens enough, SO useful! :)

Models Own Fuzzy Peach,  Nail Art Pen in Black, Primark Cornflower. 


Are there any websites that inspire you? (I considered doing a combination of Reddit, blogger and twitter- my 3 most visited websites! but I couldn't think of a way to make it work!)



                                                                                                             xGretalRabbitx

Monday 15 October 2012

Challenge Week 2: Blue!

I guess I'm sort of a week behind again, but I hope I can catch up properly next weekend, and I did take some pictures yesterday, so I should have a haul post (possibly two, I've bought a LOT that I've not yet shared with you) sometime this week too :) I'm so happy to be blogging a bit more regularly (though perhaps not as regularly as I;d like.)

Anyway, week 2 is a simple colour theme- blue! I was excited by this week as blue is my favourite colour, and thanks to pinterest (I'm addicted again) I had the perfect inspiration- this awesome design and tutorial by Nailed It, and I'm very glad I did, the liney/gradient effect is pretty cool and would work so well in other colours and textures- another great technique to know!







  

I used No7 Minty Fresh as a base, then I used a medium length brush to paint the longer stripes in No7 Stand Back over the top 1/3 to 2/3 of the nail and then Models own Aqua Violet right on the tips :)




Do have tutorials and designs that you 'need' to do? I have a whole list!




                                                                                                             xGretalRabbitx

Tuesday 9 October 2012

Challenge Week 1: Taping!

It feels so odd to be typing 'week 1' again, but I'm excited for the new set of challenges this year :) The first week is a nice easy one- taping!

I picked out a silvery lilac colour scheme- with Revlon Girly as a base, and Barry M Silver and Lilac Foil taped over :) (here's my little taping tutorial from last year, if you're interested)








Although the pictures are not the best quality (I hate the poor lighting- by the time I get home from work it's basically dark and I really need to buy a light box!) I hope you can tell how well it turned out- the colours go pretty well together, and I'm really happy with the taping design I've done. Once again I find myself wondering why I don't use taping more often! :)

When was the last time you tried taping?



                                                                                                         xGretalRabbitx