100 Follower GIVEAWAY! NAKED basics palette by Urban Decay

Hello lovely bloggers!

I have an exciting post for today, i have decided to open my giveaway! I wasn't sure what to giveaway for a while, i wanted the prize to be something special for my first one :)

So, the prize to be won is -drum roll-


the NAKED basics palette by Urban Decay!  A beauty staple and raved about across the beauty community. It is a great staple, and very versatile.

Rules for the giveaway:

1. You must be following my blog, i will check to see whoever wins is following. 

2. Only one entry per person.

3. Giveaway ends on April 13th and winner will be selected randomly using rafflecopter.

When the winner is selected, i will message you and ask for your address so i can arrange posting the palette to you. 

Ways to up your chance of winning:

1. Follow me on BlogLovin as well.

2. Follow my twitter

3. Tweet about the giveaway (again, i will be checking tweets/mentions)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hope you enter my giveaway! Definitely excited to for my first one :)

Thank you to all those who have followed me, and got me this far <3 

NOTW: Stiletto nails in Barry M's 'Bright red'

Hello lovely bloggers,

I haven't done a nail post in SO long! 

I've been seeing stiletto nails absolutely everywhere recently. They seem to be all the rage. A

Although i originally did not like the pointed tips, they've really grown on me. So i decided to use artificial nails to create my own!

To create the actual stiletto/almond nail shape, i followed this youtube tutorial.  Its so simple to do, and looks just as good as having your nails professionally done! 

I painted the nails before i applied them though so they would remain neat, without smudges (i'm terrible when it comes to letting nail polish air dry on my actual nails). This is why they look so sleek/neat for a change!

The colour i used is an old favourite of mine. It's Barry M's nail polish in the colour 'Bright Red'. Its such a gorgeous post box red colour, and is by far my favourite tone of red to wear. Its so bright, yet still remains quite a classy colour to wear.  It also looks amazing with a tan!

opaque nails from ebay, found here 

Due to my terrible nail biting habit, i have literally no nails, so the only way i could actually do this look was to use artificial nails. The nails i used were from an ebay seller found here.  For 200 short/medium nails in the colour 'opaque', it only cost me £2.99 + 99p postage.  Pretty cheap! And the nails are great quality. BEcause they're all attached together, it makes it so easy to paint them before attaching them to your nails. They do come with their own nail glue but it isn't as good as this nail glue (1.99 for two bottles, and they last AGES).

I'm finding it hard to adjust to having long nails, but i love the way the look so i'm making myself get used to them!

Have you tried stiletto nails? What do you think of this nail style?

MAC Morange

Hello lovely people!

I've been looking for the perfect orange lipstick for a while now as i think that its such a gorgeous, flattering shade, especially with a tan.

I didn't have much luck with drugstore/high street brands as i could never find the bright shade that i wanted.  Then i saw shaaanxo from youtube wearing Mac Morange in one of her videos and it was gorgeous!

I ordered it from the Mac website, retailing at £14 (pricey i know).  Although i did have some problems with the delivery (i paid extra for saturday delivery and it only just arrived today), i'm in love!

it literally is the most flattering shade for my skin tone + eye colour! I can't wait till i'm back home in dubai next weekend to wear this when i get a tan!

The formula is amplified so the colour is bright and saturated, as well as creamy.  I think it definitely is my new favourite lipstick!

 What do you think?  orange lipstick, yes or no?
i personally love them!

The search for the perfect nude! MAC blankety + Velvet teddy

Hello lovely followers!
I've been on the hunt for the perfect nude lipstick now for SO long.  My problem is, i have very pigmented lips (from living in dubai for 23 years, the sun will get ya!) and a very warm complexion.

My skin is very yellow, and due to the pigmented lips, a lot of nudes make me look either sick or dead!

So i scoured the internet for hours, looking for the perfect wearable nude.  It took a while, but i found these two!

Unfortunately, they are MAC lipsticks so they retail at £14 each.  But i had £5 of points to spend (at debenhams) and instead they came to £23!

I know Debenhams is also having 10% off all beauty so currently their lipsticks are £12.60!

I decided on getting two different shades of nude.  Blankety and Velvet teddy (both mac, obviously)

First up: Blankety

Described by MAC as a 'soft pink beige',  it is literally my perfect nude lipstick. The finish of the lipstick is amplified so its quite pigmented, and almost a little drying (but that's because i have dry lips normally). It really is one of those 'your lips, but better' shades.  I'm in love!

Next up: Velvet teddy

This lipstick is a matte lipstick, described as a 'deep tone beige'.  This also is very much like my natural lip colour. The tone is deeper, with more of reddish tone as opposed to a pink tone like blankety. I really love this for more of a classier look :)

Here's swatches of the two :)

left: Velvet teddy   right: blankety

What's your perfect nude?

Hair update: a new twist!

Hello lovely followers,
Anyone who has been following my blog for a bit now are very aware that i cannot just leave my hair colour alone!  I jump from different colours all the time, whenever i get bored and just want an update!

my most recent change was adding a slight ombre to my hair. I'm aware that its 'out' of fashion recently, and I know everyone and their mother has had this hairstyle (including me previously) but i feel like its a really nice way to update your hair without going too drastic.  Its often quite flattering as well.

I used the L'oreal Wild Ombre box kit for light to dark brown hair.

image from superdrug.com

Although the kit says just to start from 2/3's of the way down and brush the bleach through, i ignored that. I recommend adding the bleach to the tips, waiting 10 minutes, then work the bleach a little further up, again, wait 10 minutes and work the bleach just above that. Continue with this technique until you reach where you want your ombre to stop. Working your way up from the bottom to the mid sections gives a really nice graduated effect, with much lighter tips, especially with the brush they provide in the kit! You could use any bleaching kit and a comb for the same effect :)

So, here's my new hair!

And can i just say, the quadruple weft extensions i'm wearing here from Crown and Glory extensions have been dyed brown twice, and then ombre-d, and they're still in amazing condition! I use heat on them all the time.  I definitely recommend checking their extensions out, look how shiny they are!