Festive Nails No.5 - Candy Cane

17 'Knockout Red' (freebie in an old GWP), white nail art pen from Rio Professional Nail Art Kit and Barry M All in One as a topcoat.

I love this festive look and I've had lots of compliments from people, friends, co-workers, shop workers and random girls behind me in Asda, talking to each other about how cool my nails are, haha!

Pretty quick and easy to do, though I struggled to do the stripes quite so neat on my right hand, as left handed is not easy for a 'Righty'.

These have lasted 4 days but have now started to chip, mainly the right hand - the one that will not be easy to re-do. The left hand is all good, bar 1 nail. Doh. I'm currently debating whether to attempt to re-do this look for tonight, leave as is for the night, or just remove and do plain festive coloured nails...

 Tonight, I'm going to my favourite pub, for the monthly DJ night. I can't wait! The last 2 were crazy-fun, so tonight will be brilliant, especially as it's Christmas time, so everyone will be more merry than usual and lots of awesome folk will be out.

Yesterday, I drove to Cardiff...yes, 3 whole hours drive there and 3/4 hours back in horrendous conditions, on my own, for Kids in Glass Houses Christmas Party gig. I've missed every year and decided to go this year, as they added a Saturday Matinee show. I planned to get the train but due to weather, getting to Cardiff via train was not happening. I had bought my gig ticket, £13.75 but luckily not booked train. I did consider bailing and losing out on the £13.75 but didn't want to miss the gig. So, I spent over £40 petrol and most of my Saturday driving!

Well worth it though, the gig was amazing, as always.

I fit in a little look round Cardiff's St. David's Shopping Centre after the gig, before heading home.

During the drive home, I realised I hadn't had any sugar the whole day, after hitting an energy slump, so I made a service station stop and got a Costa Black Forest Hot Chocolate, which was oh so yummy and did the job.

Today, I've done a little Christmas shopping and some chilling.

Now, it's about time to have a drink, blast the tunes and start getting ready for tonight :)

(I've been the sober one all weekend, when everyone else has been drunk, so tonight is my turn!)

Happy days!

xXx

Festive Nails No.4 - Barry M LE Christmas Glitter

Barry M Cosmetics Limited Edition 'Christmas Glitter' Nail Paint

- free when you spend £6 or more on any other Barry M products in Superdrug! GO GETCHA SOME!

When I first heard about this polish, I was so excited and couldn't wait for it's release. Then, I couldn't find any, horror.

This Christmas, Barry M have brought out 4 Limited Edition nail paints - 2 in Superdrug and 2 in Boots. This one is available in Superdrug, along with 'Christmas Blue', while Boots have 'Christmas Pink' (which I have also picked up) and 'Christmas Gold'. All are available as freebies (1 per customer), when spending £6 or more on any other Barry M products. I picked up a lipstick for my friend and an eyeliner for my mum, both for Christmas, then got myself the nail polish FREE :) The eyeliner I got for mum is the Bold Waterproof Eyeliner in 'Black', as I swear by the stuff and mum is always asking "What eyeliner do you use?". It's great!

I love this polish, just 1 coat used over 17 'Garnet' (mentioned in my last Festive Nail post).

And I love the cute coloured metallic lids, because simple things...

I've now removed this nail polish, ready for my next nail look. I'm thinking I'll have a day off festive nails and do some cute fimo, even though it's getting late now. Shower time with Lush and Soap & Glory, then I may have some fimo fun and watch a DVD. What DVD though? Decisions.

Oh yeah, I'm currently listening to Kids in Glass Houses 'Secret Santa', for the 5th (maybe 6th or 7th...) time tonight - I'm cool.

If you haven't heard it yet, give it a listen. It's such an uplifting Christmas song and not the usually cringey bs. Watch the video too, it'll make you smile and feel all Christmassy ;-) Last night's Radio 1 Review Show was totally taken over on Twitter by KIGH fans tweeting like crazy for Secret Santa to be played, as Aled was on the show. So much love for this song and band. They don't get the recognition they deserve.

xXx

Festive Nails No.3 - Christmas Gold and Red

Combined nail post tonight. I didn't feel it was worth separate posts for these. I will attempt something more exciting soon!

Gold - 17 Supreme Shine 'Sphinx'

I don't tend to wear light polishes, or golden ones but I went to see Stone Sour on Friday night and their new album is called 'House of Gold and Bones Part 1', soooo I took inspiration and painted my nails golden.

Red - 17 Fast Finish 'Garnet'

A gorgeous metallic red polish, which is very Christmassy.  I've since added a coat of Barry M's Limited Edition 'Christmas Glitter' polish, which I will blog about tomorrow.

One week to go until Christmas! How exciting? I am so so unprepared! As always. I have some present buying to do still, but I can't do this until I have money.

I'm even more excited now because I'M GOING TO SEE KIGH SATURDAY!!!! *Fangirl moment*. I decided it would be criminal to miss yet another of the annual KIGH Christmas Party shows, so I booked myself a ticket and I'm going to Cardiff to see them on Saturday :) Who cares if I only have £4.39 in my bank after buying my ticket, it's totally worth it! Thankfully I'll have been paid by Saturday.

I'm also awaiting the arrival of my Sleigher tee, from Aled's Who Are The Nines online store, which I am excited about (hoping it arrives in time!).

So much excitement at the moment!

xXx

Festive Nails No.2 - Ice Queen

Barry M Limited Edition Lilac Foil Effect and Limited Edition Silver Glitter

I love the cap on the LE Silver Glitter. I know, I sound sad but it is soooo pretty! When I first saw the polish, I wondered whether to get it, as it was ‘just a silver glitter’ and I have a couple already but it was worth it. It’s a great glitter, just 1 coat and it provides amazing coverage and it is full of glitter. You know how some glitter polishes can be a pain to apply or actually get any glitter out of them (without about 4 coats!)? Well, Barry M glitters are the opposite, just brilliant.

Have you tried either of these?

Tonight I went to see Stone Sour in Wolverhampton with my sister. It was amazing. Corey Taylor is God. Incase you didn’t know, he’s the lead singer of Slipknot too (not many people realise this and are shocked when they find out!).
Such a great night.

Tomorrow (well, in 7 hours and 45 minutes from now!), my local Cineworld’s ‘Movie for Juniors’ is Disney Pixar’s Brave, so (if I wake up in time), I am totally there! I’ve wanted to see Brave for ages and it’s only 90p (with my Cineworld 10% discount). I always check on what the weekly Movies for Juniors is, since watching Beauty & The Beast there back in the summer.

I may take a trip to Birmingham or somewhere for a city day out. I don’t have money to spend but I have £10 on Red Spotted Hanky to use, which I won on a Twitter giveaway that I didn’t even do anything for. I just got a tweet, how cool is that? So I may use that towards a train trip somewhere.

I also hope to fit in some hill climbing/walking, after last weekend’s fun lone adventure.

I like to keep myself busy!

Have a lovely weekend :)

xXx

Festive Nails No.1 - Glitter Plum

 

Nails Inc 'Plum' (free 2011 Diet Coke promotion) with 1 coat of NYX Precious Gems (NPS 139)

This will be the first in a small series of Christmas nail posts.

As a lover of nail art and nail paint, I decided I will do a blog post on each of the nail looks that I sport over the holiday period. I'll hopefully attempt some actual nail art designs during this time, there's so many I want to try, it's just having time and patience!

This first looks is very basic and quick to achieve, yet looks lovely and festive with a plummy-red, topped with sparkles.

I'd love to see your Christmas nails, send me your links :)

Are you all ready for Christmas?

- I'm totally unprepared, as always...

xXx

Batiste Paisley and Graffiti

They've done it again, Batiste have released yet more fabulous new dry shampoos to keep the countries hair smelling fresh and looking great!

I was recently sent Batiste’s 2 newest variants to try out, many thanks to Batiste for making me very happy.

Yes, I am a Batiste-aholic.

Both scents are very different, one edgy musky, one fruity floral. I couldn’t choose a favourite.

The cans are gorgeous, I really love that Batiste design their cans so pretty, a nice addition to a dressing table, bathroom, office or in your handbag. Eye-catching, as ever!

Once again, the same great quality, as expected from Batiste.

Even with my Raspberry Rebel hair and now my faded 'aumtumnal' hair, this has worked a treat, leaving no powdery white/grey hair, impressive!

Batiste Paisley and Graffiti are available from all good pharmacists, including Boots and Superdrug, RRP £2.99 (200ml).

Batiste also have a super-cute mini kit out for Christmas, that would make a great gift, stocking filler or just a little self-treat. I must pick up one of these from Boots!

I would also like to take a moment to congratulate Batiste on their recent award winnings, well done!

Have you tried Batiste?

Have you read my recent review of the Limited Edition Hershesons Batiste?

xXx

Disclaimer: Products sent for me to review by Batiste. I am a huge fan of Batiste, a Batiste-aholic, infact. I can’t recommend them enough! You can find many other posts about Batiste on my blog.

OOTD: Sunshine

 

  

 

 

 

T-shirt: KIGH via Ebay (£2.18!)| Leggings: Tesco| Denim shirt: Primark via my sister| Platform trainers: Vintage from when I was 11 years old!| Bag: Tarina Tarantino

Yes, I decided to be crazy and wear the Spice Girl trainers that I have stored away for the past 14 years!

Today I've had a chilled out day. Woke up, had some yummy Quorn stew and dumplings, then had a little drive to Ironbridge. My sister took her CV in to the amazing little place that is Queenie's Cupcakery and we had a little browse around the lovely gift boutiques of Ironbridge.

The River Severn is flooding at the moment, so it's quite strange both on the drive there and when walking along the Wharfage, as the river is so high to the roads and paths! Scary.

I'm now doing a little more chilling, listening to music, before getting ready for what looks to be a very exciting night tonight!

I'm off to my favourite place in town, The Yorkshire House. Tonight, The Ministry Consumes Pasties are doing their monthly DJ set, which is always great fun. I've booked the day off work tomorrow, so I can really enjoy myself tonight and have *cough cough* a few Jack Daniel's and Diet Cokes...

...and then throw some crazy shapes with my partner in drunken fun, Sally.

The Bird is The Word aka Surfin' Bird by The Trashmen (made famous by Peter Griffin of Family Guy) will forever make me laugh of memories of our last MCP night together :)

I can't wait for tonight!!

xXx

Frontcover Cosmetics Dark Arts Nail Kit

A while back, I attended (and blogged about) Frontcover Cosmetics AW12 launch party.

After the event, I was contacted by Lekha of Gloss Communications, on behalf of Frontcover and informed that I would be sent one of the new kits to try out and review. Very exciting.

I was happy when I discovered that I had been sent the Dark Arts nail kit. This was definitely the most popular kit of all the new collection and went down a storm at the launch. And as a lover of nail art, this kit is perfect for me!

Inside The Box 

4 Nail Polishes

1 Clear Top Coat
3 Sets of Bespoke Printed Nail Stickers
1 Nail Art Brush
 4 NEW Nail Decoration in Pots
NEW Dotting Tool
Orange Stick
Scissors
Mini Tweezers
Nail File
Nail Art Glue

As always, Frontcover’s kits are high quality, with detailed how-to’s, tips and photos to demonstrate what you can create using the products in the kits. A great gift for any beauty fan (or as a little self-treat!).

With nail art being a big thing this year (even outselling lipstick as the no.1 recessionary purchase!), this kit has everything a girl needs to keep on trend.

Here's my attempt at one of the looks from the kit, V-Point.

And here are the Laser Cut Leather nail wraps that I had done at the launch.

There are so many other kits from the AW12 collection that I would love to try, Kissogram being one of the top ones for me, being a lover of lipstick.

RRP £25. Available online, or on QVC TV (on certain occasions when the lovely ladies of Frontcover are on there). No longer available in Boots.

Past collections are also available on the Frontcover website and if you buy this Dark Arts kit, you will now get a free Rainbow of Colours kit (worth £16). OFFER ENDS WEDNESDAY 21^ST NOVEMBER.

Are you a Frontcover fan?

Have you tried Frontcover’s kits?

xXx

Disclaimer: Product kindly sent to me by Frontcover Cosmetics to review, following the launch event that I attended in London. I love nail art!