Week in photographs #24

OOTD, well saturday

Magazine Freebies!

Sunshine, Party outfit, HQhair buys, Working out old school (oh gosh, my legs match the white of my Converse!)

Daisies, Manchester, Vegetarian pasta, Boots

My week has consisted of: shopping (yes, again, I know I have a problem), cooking, party pictures, sunshine, magazine freebies, waiting for uni results and watching rugby.

First, shopping, you can see my outfit from Saturday above. My shirt is from Topshop, cami from Primark, jeans from Dorothy Perkins, shoes from La Redoute and my bag is from Newlook. The weather in the UK has been gorgeous recently - blue skies and sunshine!

We went shopping to Manchester on Saturday and we went to Topshop (no sale section in store which was disappointing) and Primark (I spent far too much in that shop). The new Primark in Manchester is fantastic, so much bigger so you don't end up being trampled by everyone! I bought a few tops, sweaters and home wear. Hauls from Primark, Monki and Hqhair coming soon so stay tuned. Also magazine freebies this month have been amazing, most magazines in the UK have freebies in them this month - including Ciate nail polishes, Model co makeup, Rodial body products, the new Elemis primer and more!

Just a quick fitness update, after doing the Jillian Michaels 30 day shed for about 10 days myself and my sister feel a lot fitter and healthier - it is a great dvd and I definitely recommend it. We stuck to workout one for a week and now we are on workout two and loving the initial results! We have also been eating a lot more healthy food such as passata, samphire and vegetarian sausage linguine (love it). We also love Sofrito pasta too - if you would like to see more recipes, particularly healthy vegetarian recipes just leave a comment below.

Also I have re-designed my blog this week too - I love the way it looks! I took a little while and a couple of coffees but I am really pleased with it. If you would like an interactive header or an interactive info section then message me at: heathernixon4@gmail.com and I will see what I can do - only £5 for a header or info section and if you don't like the design you don't pay!

I hope everyone had a great week x

*Update* Apparently Google friend connect (GFC) is NOT going!

Read More

Magazine Freebies: July Editions

This month there have been some pretty amazing magazine freebies here in the UK! With most magazines having some kind of freebie included. 

I picked up Glamour magazine, as I usually do, and it contained a Model Co black eyeliner (which has a pencil sharpener on one end). There are a couple of lip glosses and a mascara I think as well to collect. I have heard of this brand but I have never bought anything from them. There were a couple of sachet samples in this magazine too. And it looks like next months Glamour freebies are going to be even better with some Balance Me body care products!

I also picked up Marie Claire as it has a mini Ciate Caviar nail polish duo included which is just amazing! The nail polish is called 'cookies and cream' which is a gorgeous nude taupe shade and the caviar beads are called 'shooting star' which are a mix of gold and pearl beads. I have tried the Ciate caviar duos before, I received a set for christmas and I like the effect but the longevity and wear is really poor but it was great for an evening. There were a couple of sachet samples too - there was a Loreal everriche shampoo sachet, a Garnier bb cream sample and a John frieda blonde sachet duo with these two magazines.

Also with Elle UK there is a free Rodial Brazilian Tan bottle in Dark, Light and Clear to choose from - there was only Dark and Clear when I looked so I will have to keep searching for the Light shade. With  Instyle there is a free Neals Yard moisturiser. And an exciting free with Red magazine is a free sample of the new Elemis pro radiance flash balm which I will have to get - with Red magazine next month there is going to be a REN skincare trio apparently, very exciting! And finally with Traveller magazine (never heard of it) there is a free Neom hand cream which again I will have to get my hands on!


I hope this post was useful and stay tuned for my week in photographs post later today! x

Read More

Review: Ciate Caviar Manicure

This is my review of the Ciate Caviar Manicure set, I received this set as christmas from a lovely auntie of mine. I have only used this set once but here is my review of the application, finish and longevity of this product. 

Natural lighting

The application process for this product was fairly simple if a bit messy. To start with you paint your nails with the normal polish provided in the set - I would suggest your do one nail at a time. I only wanted the effect on one nail so I applied a thick (ish) layer of polish to the one finger first. I then allowed it to dry slightly and I tipped the small multicoloured beads onto my nail. Make sure you have something underneath your nails to catch the breads so you can use the excess beads that come off. This bit can be really messy - even opening the lid of the bead can be messy so I would suggest you open it over a tray to catch the beads. After the beads have stuck, press very gently on the nail with the beads to push them further into the polish - do this very gently otherwise the beads will stick to your finger. While the finger with the beads was drying I painted the rest of my nails and I waited for the suggested 15-20 minutes. The normal polished applied really quite smoothly/nicely but it did need two coats really. 

Artificial Indoor lighting

The drying time for the effect is a bit longer than I wanted it to be, I had to sit for 20 minutes for it to dry so only do this if you have about 40 minutes to spare because getting everything ready, painting the nails, applying the beads, clearing up took me about 40/45 minutes in total for the first time. I did this nail effect for new years eve/day and everyone seemed to like it. Although as you can see the effect doesn't last long, after 12 hours quite a lot of the beads had come off one finger but the other finger was ok. The beads can be really annoying on the nails as they catch on things = especially your hair! 

Natural light

The after two days, the beads had nearly all come off from one finger and the other was half empty! The longevity of this nail effect is really poor in my opinion and the leaflet that can with my set said to only apply a topcoat to the tips of the nails - not all over for some reason. Overall, I like the effect, I think it is a fun set/idea but in practice it is not practical, it is slightly messy, the longevity isn't great and when the beads do fall off they leave a worn/messy pattern/look to the nails. 

Read More