Im moving!

Moving to - http://fairylightsandcozynights.blogspot.co.uk

Eyes Lips Face Contouring & Bronzing Powder in St. Lucia

I haven't bought anything from ELF for a little while, but last time I did I purchased the Contouring & Bronzing Powder in the shade St. Lucia and somehow it got tucked away in my makeup collection and never used! I found it the other day and as the weather is warming up (a little bit!) I thought I would try it out, needless to say I am in love with it! My Nars Laguna will always be a staple in my makeup collection, but this is just a fantastic product. It's so pigmented and, it's great to have a bronzer and a blush duo, so if I'm travelling I have both in one and it's small and lightweight. The mirror is also a great addition as it's really large. I have been using this for the past few days and it gives a great "sun kissed" glow. You have to be slightly careful, as the bronzer is so pigmented it would be easy to over apply, so less is more. I found it slightly difficult to blend it can take a while to create a natural bronzed effect. The blush is a peachy pink with shimmer, it's lovely for everyday wear. The bronzer has shimmer too but it's hardly noticeable once it's applied.

The packaging is matte black, and feels sturdy for the price. At £3.95 you can't really complain, and this is a great dupe for the Nars bronzer and blusher duos. I will definitely be wearing this over Spring and Summer, although because you have to apply sparingly I don't ever see myself using this up! I will have to try a couple of the other duos too!

Have you used these ELF duos before? Which is your favourite?

Things That Money Can't Buy

Respect

Natural beauty

Manners

Common sense

A clear conscience

Purpose in life

Good friends

An open mind

Trust

A great idea

Honest politician

Peace of mind

Essie - Swing Velvet

I picked up Swing Velvet at Professional Beauty London 2015 (if you didn't see my haul, you can check it out here.) it wasn't a shade that I had ever seen before, or ever read a review on or seen on any blogs. I was instantly curious and it was so pretty I had to buy it. Usually I'm I don't like red nails on myself, I love them on others but this one just took my eye at the Essie stand. I would say it's a metallic plum red. In dull light it looks like a wine colour and in daylight it's just a gorgeous bright metallic red. It really does look like velvet! Unfortunately my camera doesn't pick up the metallic tone, but it's really beautiful. Swing Velvet is a shade that could be worn all year round but I can really imagine wearing this on a night out, it's so striking and just looks really posh! It applies like a dream due to the metallic, and is opaque in two coats but you could paint three just to be safe. I am so glad I found this polish, I can't wait to wear it.

Technic - Carnival

It's no news to you guys that I am a HUGE fan of Technic nail polishes. Carnival is one of my all time favourites. It's a great dupe for a couple of high end / hard to find shades out there, such as Deborah Lippmann's - Birthday and OPI's - Rainbow Connection. Which to be fair are lovely polishes but it does look the same as Carnival, same goes for Birthday. The glitters in Technic polishes I always find easy to apply, the brush picks them up nicely and they go onto the nail perfectly. For £1.25 you can't really complain!

I would describe Carnival as a clear based polish with multi sized hex glitters. I only ever use it as a top coat over other polishes, I don't think it would be opaque before 5/6 coats. As all glitter nail polishes are, this one is pretty difficult to remove. My trick is to remove what I can with nail polish remover and then use a nail file and buff off the rest gently that speeds up the process. For a cheap and cheerful glitter topcoat, look no further! You can buy Technic polishes from Bodycare stores in the UK or online here.

Have you used Technic nail polishes before? How do you find them? What are your favourite shades?

Essie - Aruba Blue

Aruba Blue is the first polish I am reviewing from my Professional Beauty London 2015 haul (If you didn't see the haul post you can find it here.) I really wanted to review this first as it was my favourite polish that I bought that day and I have already worn it for two weeks in a row! I would say Aruba Blue is a frosty sapphire blue with shimmers throughout, it's so beautiful to look at and really unique I don't own a blue shade like this one. It did take three coats to be completely opaque and give the effect I wanted but it's really lovely to apply I always find shimmery polishes really silky. Quite a few people mentioned that my nails looked nice or asking what the colour was on my nails, which doesn't happen all the time. The finish is slightly metallic, it looks amazing in natural light especially if the sun is shining. Aruba Blue is really bold, beautiful and eye-catching I am so glad I saw it at the show because I hadn't seen it before, it was a surprise buy I wasn't expecting to see anything like it. It will definitely be getting a lot more wear this year.

Do you like Aruba Blue? What are your favourite Essie shades?

It's Never Too Late To.....

Ive been having a think lately, I wonder if everything in the past turned out the way it did because the present is exactly how it is supposed to be? And everything I do and say everyday affects what happens in the future....I don't often deep think, but I have been wondering what I would change about the past if I could. There are lots of things I wish I had never said or did, and lots of decisions and situations I would have made and handled differently. But most of all I thought, it's never too late to change the future. This time last year I wasn't doing my dream job. I didn't have the healthiest relationships with others, myself or food. And there are plenty of things that it's never to late to do.....

Start over 

Chase your dreams 

Create healthy relationships 

Change your ways 

Be positive

Make a difference

Forgive

Learn something new

Say I'm sorry

Be inspired

Put the past in the past

I have been working on all of these things for the past year and honestly I'm not all the way the person I want to be, or where I want to be in life yet. But my relationships are strong than ever, I am career obsessed and I strive everyday to be better than I was the day before. I have created and I'm still in the process of creating a healthy relationship with food, which makes me feel loads better about myself and my body. Being positive as much as possible, saying I'm sorry and meaning it and forgiving those who upset or stress me out. My life is going in the right direction and these things have helped me, knowing it's not too late to change your life especially if you are unhappy. I'm not saying for one second that any of you lovelies are unhappy, just that it's never too late do the things, say things and change the things you want to.

Is there anything you think it's never too late for?

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine - Elderberry

Elderberry was released with six other shades into the Barry M Gelly Hi Shine polishes last summer I picked this polish up about a month ago, I have been trying it out with some nail art designs and it's a really lovely shade. It's a greyish toned blue creme, it kind of reminds me of a stormy sky. It's really lovely for Spring. Elderberry is completely opaque with two coats which is great, I love the consistency it's slightly thicker than a normal polish as are all of the Hi Shine Gelly polishes but they apply really nicely. 

I think this shade would suit just about everyone, I will definitely be wearing this the next couple of months. It's really difficult for me to pick what colour to paint my nails, I love painting other peoples (which is kind of great because it's my job!) but when I get home late at night the last thing I want to do is paint my own. And because I don't have a lot of time to repaint them it has to be on for at least a week, with my acrylics that's fine because nothing chips on those but it just means I am really selective with what shades I paint. When I do paint Elderberry I may include some nail art on my nails, some little daisies or something I think they would look so cute with this cornflower blue.

What is your favourite Barry M Gelly Hi Shine shade?

February Favourites

I had a really wonderful February. As always the months fly by so fast, it's hard to take time out to really think and evaluate everything that is happening. I started healthy eating this month, I am not great with diets etc I knew I had to change my eating habits so I a, trying out Slimming World EE. It's going really well and I feel better already. Hence the picture of the toast above (my favourite breakfast!) which I can still eat.....sparingly. I hope you all had a lovely Valentines Day, I definitely was spoiled. My boyfriend took my to Birmingham Sealife Centre (I love sea life!) apart from it being super busy it was an awesome day out. I was then treated to a three course meal in a really quaint country pub just a couple of miles out from where I live, it was quiet and there weren't tons of other couples doing the same thing which was nice. Later in the month I went to Professional Beauty London and had an awesome day, and bought loads of new nail polishes! You can check out my haul post here. 

Song - Mark Ronson Uptown Funk. I have been dancing around in my bedroom to this song, singing it in the shower absolutely obsessed. It has a great old school James Brown tone and I can't get enough! I also LOVED Ed Sheeran's cover of Christina Aguilera's Dirty in the Live Lounge last week you can find it here.

Blog - I have been loving Sophie's blog A Private Life Of A Girl which you can find here. She is so creative and inspiring with her blog posts, she has her own jewellery brand is just an all round amazing blogger. Her posts are so interesting to read especially if you have your own business, they are really helpful. Also her photography is lovely.

Drink - Not going to lie, coffee has been a lifesaver for me this month. Nescafe Espresso is my new fave coffee, it strong and sweet just how I like it!

Food - Obviously toast..... but I have also been loving pomegranates I have them everyday for breakfast they are a super fruit so are really good for you. I also made pineapple fried rice which sounds awful but it's so yummy.

Nail Polish - I have to say my new OPI polish from Professional Beauty London, from the new Hawaii collection called This Color's Making Waves it's just beautiful.

Makeup Products -  My UD Naked Basics palette has been a staple this month I have used it quite a bit, along with the  Bourgeois bronzing primer I absolutely adore this product!

Randoms - I have been loving my Body Shop cocoa butter products that I got from Oli for Christmas, they smell soon good! I have just started watching the TV series Sons Of Anarchy, I'm up to season 2 at the moment and loving it, it's dramatic and slightly violent at times but there are some great stories plus Charlie Hunnam is so easy on the eye!

What were your favourite things in February?

Professional Beauty London 2015 Haul

I am a beauty show-aholic. I go to Olympia Beauty in October every year, and this year was my first time at Professional Beauty London. The difference between both shows is huge, to be honest I do prefer Olympia, but it was a great experience at PBL. I love being a nail technician, and these shows are just a little perk of being a professional as all of the products are discounted and I love seeing all of the newest nail polish collections, trends and equipment. So today I have a haul for you, as I bought quite a few polishes!

First up, I bought half of the China Glaze Road Trip 2015 Collection. There are 12 polishes in total, at the China Glaze stand they were selling packs of 6, so I picked the lighter colours as I think they suit my style better although the other 6 shades were lovely too. We use China Glaze in the salon I work in, but I hadn't purchased any for personal use before, these are my first ones so I can't wait to try them out, perfect for Spring. Boho Blues is a peri-winkle creme blue, Pinking Out The Window is a coralish pink creme, I Brake For Colour is a bright coral creme, Wanderlust is a pale lavender with a golden shimmer, Dashboard Dreamer is a light blue with pink and orange shimmer, and Pack Lightly is a peach shade with a golden shimmer. They are all beautiful shades that I can see myself using over and over again.

As always it was a must to go to the Essie stand. Essie are my favourite nail polish brand, and they weren't showing at Olympia last year so they were one of the main reasons I travelled to PBL this year. I picked 6 shades, and I am in love with them all! There were a couple that I wanted that I couldn't get my hands on, but I got a couple of colours I hadn't seen before, including Swing Velvet which is a deep luxurious shimmery red. Pink Diamond caught my eye especially for summer, it's a frosty baby pink pearl shade. I have been wanted a new true baby blue polish for a while so when I saw Borrowed & Blue I put it in my basket straight away. Topless & Barefoot which is a rosy beige neutral in colour, not one of those nudes that washes you out, it had a lovely tone. Tea & Crumpets is a shimmery pinky/peachy neutral I don't have anything like this in my collection I think I would look lovely over Topless & Barefoot. Lastly from Essie (My favourite buy!) Aruba Blue. I saw this shade an just fell in love it's absolutely stunning. It's a frosty shimmery sapphire blue.

I only bought one polish from the OPI stand, to be honest I was pretty disappointed with the stand itself. It was tiny, the selection of polishes was really small and I queued for 20 minutes to get into the stand, wheres at Olympia the stand is huge and there are tons of polishes. Anyway, I still managed to get an amazing shade, from the new Hawaii collection by OPI and seriously my pictures do not do this polish justice, it is absolutely beautiful. It's called This Color's Making Waves. It's a bright turquoise/electric blue duo chrome with gold and pink flecks of shimmer. It looks just like the sun reflecting off of the sea. 

Did you go to Professional Beauty London this year? If so what did you think of it / what did you buy?

My Tips For Staying Motivated

I would definitely say I am a highly motivated person. A total career junkie. This post is to share a few of my tips of how I stay motivated, mainly in my work life. These tips can be applied to pretty much any area of your life, just to paint you a little picture of why I may need motivating sometimes! I have been a qualified nail technician since last May, and whilst I build my client base (because it doesn't happen overnight!) I work another job too. So Monday through Friday mornings I am a receptionist for a recruitment consultant firm, then I go to the salon and work up to 9pm when required and I also work Saturdays. As you can imagine, evening appointments fill up quickly as a lot of ladies work until 5/6pm. So it's always a 6 day working week, and a lot of 12 hour days, which can be tiring. As much as I love being a nail technician, it's my dream career and I throw myself in 150%... sometimes I can become unmotivated, and feeling a bit lost and tired, so I put together a little list of things that help me.

Take it one day at a time - I try not to think to many days ahead, how many days left of the working week there are, but just the current day.

Surround yourself with positivity - My friends, family and boyfriend are all amazing and support and encourage me all the time.

Create a dream board - If I need inspiration then I go to Pinterest, create a board and fill it with tons of motivating quotes, nail ideas, tips etc.

Ask yourself what you want and make realistic goals - I know what my ultimate career goals are and I remind myself of them everyday.

Reward yourself - For me a Costa hot chocolate is my treat but it could be anything. If I've worked a long few days and I need perking up that is my go to reward!

Believe in yourself - I know that my goals are achievable and, anyone who wants to succeed has to believe that they are good enough.

Recognize your progress - If I am having a not so great day, I remember the first french manicure I attempted, it looked like a three year old had done it! Now I get to brides and their bridesmaids when they come to the salon.

Vizualize accomplishing your goals - I love to daydream about my goals, where I want to be in the next few years and that helps motivate me to work harder everyday.

Be kind to yourself - You are only human, not a robot! Everyone needs to take time out now and again and have some relaxation time.

So those are a few of my little tips of how I stay motivated, what about you?

Revlon - Girly

I love Revlon nail polishes, but I haven't purchased any in a while which maybe something I will have to change next time I am hunting for new shades for my collection. Girly (I don't really like the name, it could have been more inventive...) is a jelly polish with a milky pink base and fuchsia, rosey gold and purple hex large and small glitters. I love that there are two different sized glitters in the polish, it definitely gives it another dimension. I have had Girly for quite a while, possibly 18 months or so and the consistency is still great, the glitters come out on the brush and apply easily. The polish itself is definitely perfect for any girly girls out there. My swatches are three coats, although I believe this is how it's supposed to look on its own, you could layer it over a bright barbie pink, or a subtle opaque baby pink and it would still look nice. 

 I think Revlon did a good job of embracing the milky glitter trend that you see in a lot of indie polishes over the past few years, but I won't say that this polish broke new ground, or that I'm particularly taken with it, but it is pretty and if I want an accent nail I would consider using it, especially in Spring. 

Do you like Girly? What are your favourite Revlon shades?

Models Own Sale Haul

How exciting are the Models Own 50% off sales??!! I tried my hardest not to go crazy and buy every polish on the website! I wrote a Models Own wishlist post a few days before the sale began which you can find here if you are interested. I didn't purchase everything from my wishlist, there were a few things that upon checking out, I deleted from my basket as sometimes (quite often!) I can be a panic buyer, which is not great for my bank balance. I only wanted to buy polishes I am actually going to use and love. I didn't end up purchasing Copacabana from the Discopants collection mainly because I don't need another neutral as I am eyeing up a couple from Essie which I want a little bit more. Also didn't get the Wonderland collection, I was going to but one of the polishes was out of stock and I wanted them all really so I thought I would wait and get them all together. 

However I did purchase the Polish For Tans collection and 5 shades from the Colour Chrome collection. The Polish for tans collection I had had my eye on these for a while and just for me to get a little more excited that winter will (hopefully) be over in a couple of months and I can start wearing brighter colours. I was also intrigued by the Colour Chrome collection, I don't really own a lot of metallic polishes reason being they aren't easy to apply, in my experience they can be streaky and you can see the brush marks on the nail, in the polish. Having said that, I still really wanted to try these so a review will be coming soon!

Shades in this haul... 

Polish For Tans - Flip Flop, Bikini, Beach Bag, Shades, Sunhat

Colour Chrome - Rose, Silver, Gold, Pink, Blue

Do you like Models Own? What are your favourite collections / shades?

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine - Dragonfruit

I absolutely love the Barry M Gelly Hi Shine polishes, for a high street nail polish I think they are brilliant. Today I am reviewing Dragonfruit, which is among my favourite summery Gelly Hi Shine shades alongside Greenery which I have reviewed here. Dragonfruit is a beautiful shade of pink, probably just slightly darker than a bubblegum colour. Also if you look really closely (you can barely tell from my pictures!) it's really subtle but there is a silver shimmer throughout the polish it looks lovely in the light/sun. Also I believe this is the only polish from the range to have a shimmer in it, correct me if I'm wrong! Dragon fruit is definitely a blue toned pink, which I love. Application is as always with the Gelly Hi Shines, perfect and easy to paint, with a smooth consistency. The only thing I would say is that this is one of the sheerest polishes from this range and took three coats to become opaque where most of them is two, and sometimes even just one coat. But because the shade is so pretty I really didn't mind, it's a perfect summer pink and would look amazing with a tan. There has been a lot of controversy in the blogging world about wether these polishes dry quickly or not. As a nail technician, I would always suggest the thinnest coats possible is the best way to get your polish to dry quickly. If you have to apply 5 thin coats of a polish, that will always dry quicker than two thick coats. But I find the dry time on these, the same as any other polish. The consistency is a little thicker so it's all about the thin coats. 

Do you like Dragonfruit? Which are your favourite shades from the Gelly Hi Shine range?

Technic - Cactus Flower

Hi everyone I hope you all had a lovely Valentines weekend, I was spoiled rotten and had an amazing weekend off! Today's post is a little review on one of my favourite Technic polishes, (more of a rave than a review!) you all know I love Technic, they are a little harder to get a hold of but you can find them on Ebay, in Bodycare stores in the UK or from Love Thy Makeup online. Their polishes never seem to disappoint and the quality for what you pay I think is outstanding. Cactus Flower has been in my collection for over a year now but I never get tired of looking at it. It's a vibrant fuchsia pink, with blue shimmery undertones. It takes three coats to become opaque but once applied, it's so beautiful. I don't think I have any other shades like this on in my collection and as I only paid £1.00 for it, I think it's a total steal! It's so silky and easy to apply, no streaking to speak of. Dry time is also normal, a few minutes for each coat. It looks really amazing with a glossy clear top coat, it brings out the colour and shimmer.

Another thing I would like to mention about Technic polishes in particular, if you tighten the lid properly when you are finished with them, they do not dry out and go gloopy and unusable even the glitter topcoats. They are such good quality, I wish Superdrug and Boots sold them and they bought collections out all the time!

Do you own any Technic nail polishes? Which are your favourite shades?

Essie - Beach Bum Blu

In around September last year, Beach Bum Blu found it's way into my nail polish collection. It was just at the end of the summer, so I was a little bit disappointed that I discovered it so late in the year as I wanted to wear it, but for the autumn time it just wouldn't have matched my outfits or accessories. However, now it's edging towards spring time and the darker colours are slowly being stored away, I can justify bringing Beach Bum Blu out to play! This polish is absolutely stunning, my photographs don't do it justice at all. It's a bright silver pearlescent blue and it does just remind me of a tropical blue ocean. As the formulation is very sheer, my swatches are three coats on the nail wheel but after three coats it was completely opaque. I have to also add what an absolute dream this polish was to apply, it glides on the nail with ease. I am definitely going to start wearing Beach Bum Blu really soon, I just know I won't be able to stop looking at my nails!

What do you think of Beach Bum Blu? What are your favourite Spring / Summer Essie shades?

Sunglasses Mini Haul!

In my defence, the weather outside may be cold but over the past couple of weeks, there have been a few really sunny days and I've been finding it hard to see when I'm driving! Haha, I know it's possibly too soon to go sunglasses shopping but I found a couple of pairs from Dorothy Perkins that I just fell in love with (along with a black fedora hat, which you will see soon!) and I just thought, what the hell. In a few months I would have been buying sunglasses anyway so now is as good as any time to get them.

The first pair were £8.00, I wore them last weekend for the first time and just love them. Aviators are my favourite type of sunglasses to wear, they do make me look a little bit bug like because I have a small head, but still. They are comfy to wear and I really like the style. These have a rose gold trim and a kind of brownish / auburn shade to the lens's which are faded. Perfect for any time of year.

The second pair I purchased are black, with a floral design on the rims and a dark purplish / grey faded tone to the lens's. I wasn't sure about the shape of these to start with but once I tried them on I decided to keep them. For £5.00 they were a bargain! I love the floral detailing too.

Which pair do you like best? Where is your favourite place to buy sunglasses?

Spring Nail Polish Haul #1

Okay, so I may have had a little splurge the other day in Superdrug. I needed a little mid-week pick me up and the natural choice for me was to head to the nail polishes. I love Barry M Gelly polishes I think their pigmentation, formulation and colour selections are spot on. I found 4 shades that I haven't tried yet, although they aren't newly released. For some reason I just hadn't bought them. I picked up (from left to right) Almond, Coconut, Olive and Elderberry. I love these shades, they are perfect for the start of springtime, transitioning into the brighter months. I have read good things about Coconut especially so I am eager to try it. Almond is a beautiful shade. I don't own anything like it already just like Olive - which isn't typically a colour I would choose but I really liked it on the shelf. Elderberry is also lovely, I needed a new blue nail polish I haven't seen one that I've liked for a while.

Overall I think I picked some really lovely polishes. What are your favourite Barry M Gelly Hi Shine shades?

Topshop - Profound

I don't have many Topshop nail polishes, something which I want to change this year! They have so many lovely shades yet I never think of them when I want to splurge a little. So the next time I order, I will pick up a few, I may even post a little wish list first! Profound is the perfect shade for Spring. A dusky muted pink, it's a really lovely colour. The consistency was okay to apply, it took a three coats to build up to an opaque colour. I love the dusky spring shades, the brighter ones are coming in and the darker ones are fading out. Profound is so versatile, I can imagine this on my nails with a glitter over the top on the ring fingers. It could also be worn all year round, and for £5.00 it's a total steal. What are your favourite Topshop shades? Which ones should I try out?

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine - Greenberry

Greenberry is the kind of shade that gets me excited for Summer. It may be slightly too soon to be digging out such a bright colour but I'm trying to focus on the warmer months ahead, I am so bored on winter now I just want to go outside without losing all of my body heat and it taking me hours to warm back up again! Plus I was to wear skirts and dresses. There is nothing new about Greenberry it's been around for a while but I saw it whilst sorting out my nail polish collection (I was having a spring clean / clear out) and just wanted to play with it for while. It's a beautiful, bright turquoise / aqua shade. It has a creme formula and as with all of the Barry M Gellys, so easy to apply and drys perfectly. Greenberry is so bright, it's almost verging on neon. It would look amazing with a tan, and I just know I will be wearing this so much in the summer it makes me think of a tropical beach and coconuts haha! I have seen on a few blogs that Barry M have 3 new shades in the Gelly range this Spring, I can't wait to pick those up too.  Which Barry M shades are your favourites? Do you have Greenberry? 

Essie - Island Hopping

I picked up Island Hopping from Olympia Beauty in 2013, Essie had a stand that year and I bought a ton of polishes but this one really took my eye. There are a couple of things I didn't know about the polish before I bought it which makes it slightly more interesting! Island Hopping is from an Essie collection that was in collaboration with the Atlantis Resort in The Bahamas which has always been my dream holiday destination! Another shade in the collection I should have guessed is well loved - Bahama Mama. The formula is a dream to work with, a really smooth creme. Two coats and it's opaque, since my birthday I have had acrylic extensions on my nails, for many reasons. The main on being that I can't seem to get gel polish to stay on my nails (looking perfect) for a long enough time and I had to redo them every other week, due to my work being a nail tech and the fact that my nails have never been very thick, long or strong. The extensions I have are sculpted acrylic only - no glued on tips and they look incredibly natural. Anyway, back to the polish! I had my nails infilled this week and have been wearing Island Hopping on my nails, so many people have complimented me on the colour. In these pictures it comes across as a dusty dark pink, but in some lights it looks more of a light purple mauve. I think this shade could be passed as an Autumn or Spring shade, it's understated but still really lovely to look at. I can see myself wearing this shade a lot more this year, it's a little rediscovery for me. What do you think of Island Hopping?

January Favourites

January just flew by for me, I can't believe we are in February already! After recovering from tonsillitis over Christmas & New Year I finally feel healthy and back to normal. I had a lovely birthday (on the 15th of January) and I was utterly spoiled. Other than my birthday I had a bit of a boring month! I spent most of my time working hard, as I'm saving to do some travelling with my boyfriend in America next year. I ordered quite a few nail polishes from the Models Own sale at the end of January which I can't wait to try out when they arrive! I am also dying to try the Essie Cashmere Matte collection which isn't a resort collection, they are usually released in February so hopefully we will see another collection released soon too! Anyway, on with the favourites of the month!...

Song - Earned It by The Weeknd (Fifty Shades Of Grey Sountrack) I don't want to jump on the bandwagon, however..... I love the Fifty Shades books, I read all three and fell completely in love with the story. This song has been getting me excited for next friday the 13th, as I have booked tickets for my friend and I to go and see it on the opening night!

Blog - Rotten Otter which is written by Katy. I love her blog and every time I see a new post on Bloglovin that I haven't read I immediately stop what I'm doing (If I can!) and give it a read. Plus Katy's photography is lovely. Her posts are short and sweet but not without her personality shining through. Rotten Otter is a must read. You can find it here.

Drink - I just can't stop drinking Black Forest Hot Chocolate's from Costa. Shoot me.

Food - I don't know what to write in the category, as I love so many foods. But I discovered Lychee's and have been loving them! Also my favourite Sable South African Grapes are back in Sainsburys so I have eaten a few punnets of those!

Nail Polish - After all of those dark, rich and luxe polish shades around Christmas I am now well and truly ready to transition into Spring and opt for brighter colours. My favourite that I painted in January was Fruit Sangria by Essie.

Makeup Products - Revlon Lash Potion Mascara is just wonderful, I wore it all of January. And Too Faced's The Bronze & Beautiful palette has been a godsend making me look slightly more sun kissed and alive in cold, dark January.

Randoms - I know Christmas is over, but I was still burning a ton of Cinnamon / Spiced Apple candles in January. I realise in February this is completely unacceptable and I need to stop this, however they are my favourite scent in candles. On the subject on scents, I have been loving my new perfume that my parents bought me for my birthday, Flash by Jimmy Choo. The bottle is beautiful and the perfume even more so. 

What were your favourite things in January?

Dreaming Of Mint

I have been obsessing over this necklace & bracelet set since I received them at Christmas. They are so beautiful, when I unwrapped them the biggest smile appeared on my face. I have been pairing this set with jumpers, dresses and long chiffon tops they really go with everything. I had a lovely lady in Prezzo approach me last week to ask me where they were from! I know they are both from Miss Selfridge, I did look on the website to see if I could include the links in this post, but it looks like they are sold out. They do similar pieces online but these ones are no longer on the website. Statement jewellery has been a creeping obsession with me for a few months, I always dip in and out of buying jewellery. Some months I buy loads, then I go a few months without buying any. Recently I am a huge fan of this style of necklace and I have a couple more that I purchased that I have been loving too. They are easy to wear and really jazz up a more relaxed outfit.

Have you found any cute statement jewellery pieces recently? If so link them below in a comment I would love to have a look!