Summer Nail Polish Shades

Admittedly, I never really stop wearing summery nail varnish shades.  I add in the odd deep red shade during the winter and a bit of sparkle around Christmas but that's about it - I love bright nails with the odd pastel shade thrown in for good measure.  These are my top picks for the summer this year.

Where to go in Southsea

Last August, Rob and I moved to a little flat in Southsea (have a sneak peek at our flat here).  Since then we've spent all of our weekends exploring Portsmouth and finding the best places to spend our spare time.  It's a brilliant little place and we've fallen in love with it, if you've visiting this little part of England, here are our recommendations (and a few places we haven't tried yet!).

All About That Base

Over the last year or so I have fallen for base make up.  For years I stuck to the same foundation, concealer and powder regardless of what I was doing, where I was going or how I was feeling, but lately that's all changed.

DIY Scrapbooking

On my sixteenth birthday my aunt gave me a scrap book filled with photos of me with my family and friends.  It was small and only a few pages long, but I loved it.  It had a mixture of photos, cute background photos and adorable stickers and ribbons to decorate it.  Since then I've had the scrap booking bug.  

Current Beauty Favourites

Over the last few weeks I've found myself reaching for the same beauty bits over and over again - I just can't get enough of them!

Beauty Tips

Lately I've found so many brilliant beauty tips on pinterest, blog posts and the #bbloggers twitter chat.  Here are a few of my favourites:

• Pop your finger between your lips after applying lipstick to remove excess & to stop it ending up on your teeth
• If your gel eye liner or cream shadow has dried up, pop it in the microwave quickly for a few seconds to make is as good as new!
• Instead of buying a separate brow palette, check which brown shades of of eye shadow you have that might work for you (I love Faint from the Urban Decay Naked Basics palette)
• Check TK Maxx for high end products at a bargain price
• Put bobby pins in your hair with the bumps facing down to keep them in place for longer
• Make the most of loyalty cards to save points and eventually treat yourself for free
• Beauty freebies with magazines are a great way of trying a brand without committing to a full size product/purchase
• After you have applied your lipstick, hold a tissue over your lips and lightly dust translucent powder over the tissue to make it long lasting
• To make your eyes look brighter and more awake use nude eye liner in the waterline, curl your lashes and use a light shimmery eye shadow in the inner corner
• To make sure your perfume last all day apply it behind your ears, at the base of your throat, inside your wrist, inside your elbow and behind your knee
• Coconut oil has so many uses - buy some!

What are your best beauty tips?

NARS Red Square

All you have to do is scroll down this page to realise that the NARS velvet matte lip pencil in Red Square is an absolute beauty.  After reading endless amazing reviews of these pencils, specifically this shade, I couldn't resist adding this to my basket while making a Debenhams order.

How I Remove My Make-up

So often I talk about the make up I put on my face every day, but I never talk about how I remove it.  After switching products over and over again for years, I've finally found a few products that really work for my skin.

Clinique Chubby Stick Cheek Colour Balm

As an oily-skinned girl I can't help shying away from cream blusher/bronzer/highlighter.  Something about it makes me think my cheeks will end up as a greasy shiny mess.  A long time ago I gave the Topshop cream-to-powder blushers a shot, but that's where my creamy cheek experiences end until now.  I had a couple of pounds in Boots Advantage Card points to spend, and a lot of positive reviews of these twist-up blushers on my Bloglovin, so I bit the bullet.

Brand Focus: NARS

Like I assume most people reading this do, I adore NARS.  Their products are high quality, beautiful and talked about non-stop.  I've got a few (grubby) bits and pieces, but I'm always looking to add more to my little collection!

Favourite Lipsticks

Over the last few years I have gathered quite a few lipsticks in my stash.  They range all shades, brands, finishes and prices but I can't help having a few favourites that I just can't get enough of!

Kiss Cosmetics Volumetric Lust Mascara

The KISS Volumetric Lust* is a new mascara which will be available to buy for £9.00 from their website (here) on 11th of June.  It is advertised as a 'lightweight lengthening and volumising mascara' which gives a 'dramatic wide eyed look'.  The Kiss Cosmetics team kindly sent it to me to have a play about with before the release date.

Liz Earle Superskin Concentrate

Say hello to my little skin saviour.  After reading endless raves about various facial oils I decided to bite the bullet and brave putting oil on my oily skin.  I've loved every product I've tried from Liz Earle, so I thought this was the safest bet.  Six weeks later it's the best move I ever made.

Recently Repurchased

I do love to try out new beauty bits, and more often than not I aim to not repurchase things but there are a few products I can't help buying again and again.