Festival Nails – Feat. Nails Inc Limited Edition Jubilee Crystal Cap Polish

As I mentioned in my last post I recently went to V Festival and I since I have minimal makeup and messy hair I really wanted some stand out nails. I spotted this Nails Inc polish in John Lewis just before the festival weekend and I just had to get it.

This Nails Inc polish is one of the limited edition crystal cap nail polishes. The crystal cap was the first thing which caught my eye as the bottle is gorgeous! As the polish is a Jubilee limited edition to celebrate the Queens Diamond Jubilee the polish itself takes inspiration from the Great British Union Jack flag with red, white and blue glitter particles. 

Unlike most glitter polishes this one was easy to apply with smooth application. I did find that I had to do 2 coats to get a full coverage on my nails as the polish the glitter in is quite liquidy. I loved the effect the glitter had on my nails, especially in the sun and actually received quite a few compliments over the weekend! I cannot comment on how long the polish lasts as I had to remove it after 4 days due to work, however, it was nice and easy to remove with minimal scrubbing of the nails with nail polish remover!

This polish retails for £15, slightly on the expensive side, but I absolutely love it and it was worth every penny. I’ve never tried Nails Inc polishes before but I’m so impressed with this one and I’ll be on the look out to add to my collection! Do you have a favourite Nails Inc polish?

Festival Essentials

As I have just returned V Festival where I spent the last weekend and this was my fifth year on the trot camping there, I thought I would do a post of all my festival beauty essentials!

Washing

Most festivals do offer shower facilities, however, I don’t personally like to use them as they aren’t the cleanest places on the earth. Since you’re guaranteed to get cover in some form of liquid from beer to the lovely people who decide to throw wee, not washing is really not an option.

My solution? BABY WIPES! You can get your hands on these whether they supply baby goods so supermarkets, boots, etc and they aren’t expensive either. You can use these morning and night to freshen up and get rid of that typical festival smell! I swear by these...especially when I came home the first time and got told I didn’t smell as bad as they expected. LOVELY! I also take the usual deodorant and body spray to freshen up during the day.

Hair

Like I mentioned with the washing situation I don’t really like to use the showers, so when it comes to my hair it’s tricky. I tend to wash my hair either the night or the morning I am setting off to leave so that it’s fresh for that day and the next. Dry shampoo is always a must to give your hair a quick clean and hairspray to keep your hair frizz free as I feel it is so much easier to go au-natural with your hair because you never know what the weathers going to be like. Last year I did notice that there was a booth just out the camp where you could pay to use GHD’s (something like £3 for 5 minutes) so if not going natural is an option there is also that possibility. I also buy a cheap bottle of water or two (I found 2 litres of water for 17p at Tesco) to rinse my hair out on the 2^nd or 3^rd morning where it has got sticky or just feels gross.

Face

Minimal makeup is the easiest way forward at festivals so you don’t have to lug your whole makeup bag around with you. This year I took my Garnier BB Cream, Colourstay Powder  to set the BB cream a little, L’Oreal True Match concealer, Nars Laguna Bronzer, Maybelline Illegal Length Lashes waterproof mascara and a my favourite Revlon Lip Butter in Sugar Frosting. This can easily be topped up during the day and will give you a fresh look when you’re spending nearly 12 hours a day walking around and watching the acts!

In terms of removing my makeup and skin care I still have the miniatures that I took on holiday left over to use this weekend too! This includes simple face wipes, a miniature Clinique toner, and a small tube of Nivea moisturiser.

Another must I found this weekend that I was glad I took was sun cream. This year on the Saturday the temperature was over 30*C , although it felt more like 100*C, and still in the high 20’s on the Sunday. Slapping on the factor 50 was definitely a good idea and didn’t get burnt as badly as some people I saw!  Also taking after sun for the evening to help soothe any burns or moisturising in general is a good idea!

I had an amazing weekend and hoping to get tickets again for next year! I’ve got festival blues atm :(

Did any of you go to V Festival or been to/going to any festivals this summer?

Olympic Inspired Nails – Feat. Barry M

Well the London 2012 Olympic games have come to an end. I have to admit, as I live about 20 minutes away from Stratford, I was not looking forward to all the hassle that was going to come along with the games. HOWEVER, I actually enjoyed and watched the games more than I ever have before and now that it’s over I’m missing it already! After watching the closing ceremony last night I am feeling even more patriotic than ever so I decided to paint my nails this week with a Team GB theme. 

My nail polishes of choice were from my good old faithful Barry M collection. The polishes I am using are from a year and a half or so ago, back when Barry M polishes didn’t have names, so I’ll attach the numbers to the colours and you might be able to find the specific shades if you want to!

(Excuse the disgusting state of my fingers)

I used a dark navy blue (291) on both my thumbs and middle fingers, red (262) on my index and little fingers and, instead of the traditional white, I decided to use a glittery gold (289) on my ring fingers to represent the amazing 29 gold medals Team GB won these games! 

Wenlock one of the london 2012 mascots :)

Well done to all the countries and athletes that took part in the London 2012 games! Now to look forward to the Paralympics! What was your favourite part about the London 2012 Olympics?

25 Questions Tag

Lazy Sunday afternoon

 Since my last tag post went down well I decided to do another one for you. This post is the 25 random questions tag, completely un-beauty related so you can get to know me better! 

1. Do you have any pets? 

Yes, a dog and a hamster. I would love a cat though.

2. Name 3 things that are physically close to you? 

Bottle of water, phone, camera.

3. What is the weather like right now? 

Overcast and getting a little bit chilly.

4. Do you drive, if so have you crashed? 

I do drive and *touchwood* I have never been involved in a crash.

5. What time did you wake up this morning? 

9:30AM, a nice lie in after two 6AM starts for work Friday and Saturday.

6. When was the last time you showered? 

This morning.

7. What was the last movie you saw? 

Batman: Dark Knight Rises.

8. What does your last text say? 

“I’m leaving now, see you soon xoxox”

9. What is your ring tone? 

I actually don’t know...I always have my phone on vibrate.

10. Have you ever been to a different country? 

I have indeed :)

11. Do you like sushi? 

I love sushi! Although I’m not very adventurous with it and always have the same things.

12. Where do you buy your groceries? 

Where ever I am to be honest, Waitrose, Tescos etc.

13. Have you ever taken medication to help you fall asleep faster? 

Never.

14. How many siblings do you have? 

One, a younger brother.

15. Do you have a desktop or a laptop? 

Laptop.

16. How old will you be turning on your next birthday? 

The big 2-1! Ahh exciting!

17. Do you where contacts or glasses? 

Glasses for reading and uni work.

18. Do you colour your hair? 

Occasionally, I don't usually go far from my natural colour so I don't need to constantly re-dye it.

19. Tell me something you are planning to do today? 

There's not much of the day left but I am planning on watching the Olympic Closing Ceremony.

20. When was the last time you cried? 

Erm I can’t remember.

21. What is your perfect pizza topping? 

Cheese, chicken and mixed roasted peppers mmm..

22. Which do you prefer hamburgers or cheeseburgers? 

Cheeseburgers anyday, soo healthy ;) 

23. Have you ever had an all-nighter? 

Yes, I don’t cope well after one though!

24. What is your eye colour? 

Dark brown

25. Can you taste the difference between Pepsi and Coke? 

I can, Pepsi is definitely nicer.

Now it’s your turn! Leave your answers to this tag below OR link me to your blog! :)

Korres Lip Butter – Pomegranate

I’m sure that the majority of you reading this have heard of Korres lip butters after their hype over the past two or three years. Although I’d heard so much about them I’d never got round to trying them out myself. Whilst shopping on holiday I came across a small collection of the lip butters in the Spanish department store El Corte Ingles. There were only three of them to choose from so the one I picked up was Pomegranate. 

£7

Pomegranate is deep pink corally colour verging on red and gives a sheer tint to the lips when applied. The lip butters contain a combination of shea butter and rice wax offering deep hydration for the lips. This is one of the main reasons for wanting to try out this product as I tend to have chapped lips and I can definitely say that my lips felt hydrated for a good few hours after using this product. Pomegranate also has a gorgeous fruity scent, which I could literally just sit and smell all day...if that was a normal thing to do, however it doesn’t linger once applied.

What I love about Korres products is that fact that they are made up of natural formulations and do not contain all those nasties which are bad for your skin like most products found at the drugstore! 

If any of you have tried any other Korres products and have any recommendations please comment and let me know! :)

Summer Holiday Nail Picks

I’m finally back from my two week summer holiday, hence the lack of posts recently, and couldn’t wait to get back into the blogging routine! :)

Since I’m not allowed to wear polish or false nails for work I took up the opportunity to try a few polishes and nails I had been saving for a while! After reading about Impress nails on fleurdeforce’s blog I went out and grabbed some for my holiday. The set comes with 10 different nail sizes for each hand. I have quite small nails so I was a little worried that there wouldn’t be sizes to fit as most false nail sets don’t, however, I was pleasantly surprised at the size range it contained! The thing I loved most about these nails is the simplicity of applying them.  In the past when attempting to apply false nails I usually get the glue all over my fingers, put on too much or not enough and it is always a complete disaster! To apply these nails you peel off the plastic from the back of the nail, press the nail onto yours and hold for around 30 seconds to a minute. You can file the nails down to the length you like but I don’t feel like they are incredibly long as they come. These nails lasted for 5 days for me until 1 or 2 started to peel off (they probably would’ve lasted longer if I didn’t get tonnes of sand underneath them!) 

£8.99 - Style, TGI Friday

After I had removed my Impress nails I changed my nails colour every 3 or 4 days. The polishes I took with me were the Max Effect mini nail polishes as I find they are both good quality and take up zero room in your suitcase! I also purchased a few of these polishes whilst on holiday as they were only €2.50, which when I worked this price out in pounds was equivalent to around £1.90 compared to the UK price of £3.99. BARGAIN :)

The three colours I choose were Diva Coral, Chilled Lilac and Mellow Yellow. All are my favourite colours for summer and I felt they really helped to show off my tan! (Added bonus for me as I don’t tan easily/don’t love lying in the sun!) As I mentioned they are all amazing quality giving opaque coverage after two coats and, although I changed them every few days, the polish had not chipped at all!

Diva Coral

Chilled Lilac

Mellow Yellow