Impress Nails: Review ♥

Hey beauties,

I was thinking of what better way to start posting again than with a good old review of a product I recently tried out. Throughout the summer I had gel nails with a white tip, so that I could paint them when I liked or go for the simple and classy french mani look for the rest of the time. Obviously as they started growing out they looked a mess and my plan was to just keep getting them done, until my last few pennies had to go on other holiday essentials like clothes and I couldn't afford. As my nails were in such terrible condition from being gelled and filed until they were almost non-existent, I needed something to glam them back up again, so I tried out Impress Nails.

I'd heard a lot about this brand on the internet and had wanted to try them at the start of summer but I couldn't because of my gel nails, so as a much cheaper alternative (£8.99 compared to £25 for new gels!) I got them for my holiday to Spain. I applied them the day that I left for the airport and they were SO easy to apply, all you have to do is choose the appropriate size, peel back a sticker and press on to the nail and voila! Beautiful nails! The ones I chose were in the colour 'Lovestruck' and were so cute and girly, perfect for a summer holiday, but Boots, where I bought them had so many different colours and styles it was actually quite hard to choose.

This is the photo I instagrammed from the airport! Impress Nails - Lovestruck - £8.99

In terms of staying power, this is where I had a few problems...because of my gel nails, some of my nails ended up quite uneven on the surface, with quite big ridges in them so sadly the nails didn't stick very well to those. I think it was one thumb and one index finger that had the biggest problem and came a bit loose. The rest of the nails stuck so well though and when it came to taking them off after losing a couple, they were quite tough to get off, even after travelling all day and washing my hands numerous times. So overall, I was really impressed with the staying power to say it's just a sticky back and no glue is required. It was only my nails which made them loose, nothing to do with the product itself.

I'd definitely buy these nails again, and I'm patiently waiting for my nails to grow properly and the ridges to grow out, I'm thinking the rich, red colour 'Tweetheart' for the autumn and winter months!

What do you think of this speedy manicure? Have you ever tried Impress Nails?

Love

x

We're Going Through Changes ♥

Hello lovelies,

I've been a bit of a naughty blogger lately and haven't posted in aaageees! But, I have got a few excuses...1) I now work full time, and my body has found it hard to adjust to the early mornings so I've been absolutely shattered every night, so firstly, not much shopping for new goodies to talk about, and also not much energy to even write or take pictures.. 2) I've been hating on my blog design for a while so I guess I've been avoiding it at the same time. I've changed things up a bit now though and I'm feeling the love for my blog and writing new posts again, so watch this space...I'll be back to normal very soon! I feel a shopping spree coming on...

(I do still exist...)

Love

x

How to: Dip Dye Denim Shorts

Hey lovelies,

So with my holiday coming up (the one that I'm now actually on) I decided to get a bit creative and taking some inspiration from Kirsty at Bows and Belles and her dip dye denim shirt post, I decided to re-vamp my old and unused denim shorts. They were pretty plain, dark denim and I never wore them so I had nothing to lose if it didn't work. I did it all for free as I just used what I had at home and have to buy anything so it was a really cheap and easy process which only took a couple of hours.

Firstly I cut my shorts as the hems were originally rolled up, so I unpicked the stitching and snipped away until they were at the length I wanted. I then folded the shorts in half and put a clip coat hanger on the shorts at the top so that they were level all the way across the bottoms.

I then filled a sink bowl with two bottles of Domestos bleach ( I did try one but it wasn't enough for how high I wanted the dye to go) and placed the shorts in the bowl so that just under half was immersed in the bleach.

I left them soaking and went back to check on them every 15 minutes or so to check their progress. Altogether it took about 1 hour 50 minutes to get them the white shade I wanted at the bottom. After about 1 hour-ish, it went a light blue which did look nice but I wanted it a bit lighter so left it.

As soon as they were white enough, I placed them in another bowl in the sink and ran cold water all over them before putting them in a bowl of cold water and white vinegar. I used a whole bottle of this to stop the bleach dying and running and then I put them in the washing machine for two washes.

Once they were dry I cut them up a bit more and using a nail buffer I rubbed over where I had cut to give it a bit more of a ragged-y look and hey presto, brand new looking shorts that are much more fashionable than they previously were and for free as all of the bits I needed were already at home.

The finished result...

What do you think of my new shorts? Is this something you'll try at home?

Love 

x

Revlon Just Bitten Lip Stains ♥

Hey beauts,

I've been wanting to post this for ages but never got around to taking the pictures. The other week I accidentally fell into Boots and accidentally bought two Revlon Lipstains because I have zero will power and they were screaming out to me to buy them in all of their £2 off goodness. I wanted a coral-y orange colour to make a nice change from all my pink lipsticks so I chose Flame, but not wanting to be left out, Passion also persuaded me to buy it and I got that too. These are my first lipstains as my collection consists of mostly lipsticks and tinted lipbalms.

I would say that the pigmentation and the brightness of each are pretty good, although this could be because they are brand new, but I was quite impressed with how bold they are, as this is great for a night out as you can build it up to be even more intense if you like. The only problem I did find was that, although you don't have to apply a lot, they can go a little patchy so a few coats are sometimes needed, it just seems to depend on how much comes out each time.

As you would expect from a lipstain, the staying power is fantastic. I even tested it out (unintentionally) by eating fish and chips for my lunch, and it still looked as good after the meal as it did before which was amazing as you definitely don't get this with some lipsticks. I'm not entirely sure what the lip balm at the other end is for as it doesn't make much difference to the overall look, but I suppose for really dry lips it's a good addition as lip stains are quite drying at times. I have heard that they can dry out quite quickly so I'll have to keep my eye on that and see how I get on, I hope they don't though because I do love the colours.

Haha had to put this cheeky shot from the boyfriend taking the pictures. A mirror is deffo needed for precision, not as easy as lipstick!

 Flame...

Passion..

This one did apply easier and definitely looked less patchy.

I think for summer, Flame is my favourite as it's a gorgeous colour to brighten up day to day make up, and I think it would be the perfect transition from day to night make up, Passion is that shade of pink that will be cute all year round.

Have you tried the Revlon lip stains? What did you think of them?

x

Cabbage Soup Diet | Day 7

Hi guys,

I have to be honest, I got up yesterday and could not face the soup at all when I smelt it, so I binned it and decided to just finish a day early. The way it had made me feel the last couple of days were not worth it at all and I'd weighed myself and felt happy enough, one more day wouldn't have made much difference.

Instead I just stuck to fruit and then had chargrilled chicken and salad for dinner, so I stuck to healthy foods and counted my cals. Overall I lost 6lbs, which I'm really happy with. I'm not totally sure I'd do it again, definitely not in a hurry anyway, but I have enjoyed following the strict regime as it's really helped me avoid cheating and motivated me to continue just by counting down the days and reading what is/isn't good for you on certain days etc.

I would recommend it to people for a quick weight loss, maybe for an upcoming event or holiday but I would advise to take care. I'd also suggest to eat as much soup as you can to fill yourself up, as looking back I know I probably didn't have as much of that as I could have, but I was worried I'd run out and have to keep making more batches. If anyone is interested in following this diet, then good luck! In my opinion it does work, and i'll be interested to see what the following days/weeks are like, as I know after some quick diets you just put the weight back on really quickly. If anyone has any questions I'd be happy to answer them or give any advice on how I managed the 6 days or if anyone has any advice for me on how to improve if I do it again, I'd be happy to hear it :)

Love 

x

Cabbage Soup Diet | Day 6

Heyy beauts,

Today wasn't as good as the other days. I woke up feeling really sick and faint and my arms and legs felt so weak, it was clearly the result of not having eaten properly/enough for the week. As I was at my friends I had to have something before I left so I had an orange as a little sugar boost because I had to drive home, and when I got home I ignored the soup because there's no way I could have had that at 10 am so I had one weetabix and a tiny bit of milk as I needed to go and get my eyebrows done and needed energy for that. I've been shattered all day and although the weetabix really helped give me an energy boost, I have been so tired, I've been napping so much this week!

My dinner today was Steak and vegetables and I could have had up to three steaks if I'd wanted! I could never eat that much so I just stuck to one and some green vegetables and although I couldn't finish it all it was nice to eat a real meal. I was supposed to have my soup at least once today but I didn't feel up for it at all so I just had some fruit for my lunch. I obviously didn't really stick to today's rules apart from having the steak and veg, but I think the whole diet finally took it's tole on me and I just did not want to eat it again. I'll probably have the soup again tomorrow and my dinner is brown rice and veg, so I will eat that. I haven't been unhealthy today so I'm not too fussed about not sticking to the rules but I could have sold my own arm for some bread or a doughnut. Only one day left and then I can eat what I want again, although I definitely won't be running to all the sweet things I'm craving, I'll still be good...promise.

Love

x

Cabbage Soup Diet | Day 5

Heyy guys,

Today was my 'Beef and Tomatoes' day, so I am allowed to eat up to 6 tomatoes, and up to 20 ounces of beef (whaaat) I would never be able to eat that much! I just got some sliced beef and cut up some tomatoes for it and had that for breakfast (yummy). It was nice to eat meat though and the tomatoes made a nice change too. These next two days are supposed to be introducing meat back into my diet again and it spices things up a bit, so it's not so bad.

I have been feeling pretty tired for the last few days though and I've been napping everyday, I don't have much energy to do much in the day either, probably due to the fact that I'm really not eating much at all but I am feeling better in myself. Drinking so much water is pretty hard though, because I'm just not often that thirsty so that's a bit of a chore but it's good for me so I can't really complain about that. Getting a bit hungry now so obviously my my soup is calling me... Looking forward to tomorrow - I get to eat steak and vegetables (and my soup at least once) so it'll be like a proper meal finally! :D

In other news...I dip dyed some old denim shorts yesterday so look forward to a post on that soon!

Love 

x