Nails of the Week

Bit late posting this one seeing as it's bloody Thursday, but here's my nails for this week!

Base - CND Super Sticky x1

Polish - China Glaze Drummer Boy x1 (2010 winter collection) Deborah Lippmann Across The Universe x3 (2010 Fall Collection)

Top - CND Super Shiny x2

Pretty pretty!

I didn't think Deborah Lippmann polishes were available in the UK until i found a very small concession stand in Jenner's when i was in Edinburgh this past weekend. At that point i did a great big whopping dance of joy! Any swatches i've seen of her polishes (particularly Happy Birthday & Ruby Red Slippers) have always looked completely spectacular! But having bought & tried out one of the polishes i've come to this conclusion...every blogger who's posted swatches of her polishes must have poured a big dod of polish out onto something plasticky & then picked up individual hexagonal sparkles & placed each one neatly on the nail because there is no way in hell you would get that kind over coverage from 3 coats of polish. Nor would they get that depth of colour without using a dark base coat, it's impossible, without applying 6 coats that is!

That said it is a lovely polish & i'm glad i bought it. It applies really well, if a bit faffy & has a nice even finish, but right now, i'm craving nice creamy finishes. I'm getting a little bit fed up of the glitter/nail art overload that's been seen recently & can't wait for the Spring 2011 range from China Glaze - Anchors Away!!

K xox

A weekend in Edinburgh

So this past weekend my mum & I went on a weekend away to the capital Edinburgh! The main reason for going away was to see the fabulous production of Hairspray at the Playhouse on the Friday night, but we decided to make a weekend of it and do a ghosty tour and visit the castle. Happy Times! But I forgot to take my camera. Sad Times.

Needless to say, Hairspray was absolutely amazing! Right up there with Les Misérables and We Will Rock You as 3 of the best shows I’ve seen...and I’ve been going to see them since I was 13 at a rate of 1-2 a year, so that’s a lot of shows!

On the Saturday evening we went and did a tour of Mary Kings Close. It wasn’t really spooky, more informative, but that’s fine by me! We were led round by a lass called Megan who was dressed up as a house maid of 1535 called Agnes who told us what life would have been like at the time for the families living in the lower levels of the tenements, how the plague spread amongst the various closes and wynds of the Royal Mile, of which there would have been 200, all leading down to the Nor’ Loch, which is now Princes Street and it’s gardens. There’s a reason why the grass there is so green...ever heard of “Gardez-loo”? Very fertile land so it is...

Sunday dawned and so did the visit to the castle. We thought we were going to have a nice leisurely stroll around it...how wrong was I?! I have never been so tired going around a tourist attraction. I went up and down so many flights of stairs and steep hills that I lost count. And for someone with fibro, it’s no mean feat! Regardless of that, it was all pretty interesting and had wonderful views over the firth of forth to Fife. We were lucky to go on the day we did as it was closed on the Saturday due to snow fall on Friday night and although a fair few areas were fenced off, we still got to see enough to make it worth the £14 admission fee.

Finally, no weekend trip is complete without some shopping and who am I to mess with tradition?!

Seeing as we were in walking distance to John Lewis I made a stop to stock up on essentials such as Liz Earle Skin Tonic & Exfoliator, then came the frivolous things!

Two balls of teal coloured wool/yarn stuff and 3 crochet hooks so I can crack on with Resolution number 3! (£2.95p/ball and 95p p/hook)

Aveda Shampoo & conditioner in Madder Root, to “Enrich the warm tones of your chestnut, auburn and red hair” (Here’s hoping it works at £41.50 a pop!) Don’t think I need to show you a pic of these...

Deborah Lippmann nail polish in Across the Universe (£14)

MAC Face & Body foundation in N1 (£23.50)

MAC Mineralised Skin Finish/Natural in Light - Soft pale beige (£18.50)

MAC Dazzleglass in Date Night - Deep plum with blue and gold pearl (£16.00)

MAC Lustre Lipstick in Plumful - Blossoming rose-plum (£13.50)

And finally...my lovely, lovely mum bought me a 100ml bottle of Guerlain’s Apres L'Ondee!!!

I’ve been lusting after this perfume for a loooooooooong time and when we discovered a Guerlain counter in Jenner’s I was in heaven! The lady at the counter was so knowledgeable and we spent a while gabbing about how fantastic Guerlain perfumes are and why they have a bee theme. After a wee while we left the counter, liberally doused in our chosen perfume to browse the other counters in the area. Whilst I was busy with the mega expensive shampoo from above, my mum slipped away and back to the Guerlain counter for the Apres L'Ondee and gave it to me when we got back to the Hotel. How lovely is that?!

So that was my weekend and it was fabulous! I’m paying for it now though, walking about like an old crone, hunched over & shuffling around and I’ll bet my bank balanced isn’t too happy either!

K xox

Colouring in...not the Sex in the City kind

The kids kind!!

I am a HUGE advocate for colouring in, whether you are 5 or 50 or anything in between or above, it is the best way to relax and de-stress! I used to work in a pretty stressy job dealing with benefits & would always have a colouring in book and a pack of pens out on my desk so i could colour in between calls. It kept me sane (ish) for the 4 and a bit years I worked there and would recommend it to anyone. Since Christmas I've given out 4 sets of books and pens and not one person has been disappointed. This year i gifted myself 2 new books & new pack of pens & find time each day (usually just before bed) to do a bit of scribbling!

You may think it's a bit bonkers, but give it a try...i assure you, you will love it!

K xox

Not another nail blog...

Like it says in my wee profile over there ---> I’m in my Second year of beauty therapy at college but although i enjoy all aspects of it, I don’t really want to be a “Jack of all trades, master of none” type of person, so I’ve decided I’m going with what I'm good at & that is nails, or to be specific, natural nail care.

Anyway, i don’t want this to be yet another nail blog as lord knows there are billions of them out there! But i am going to be posting “Polish of the week” posts showing what i’m wearing and also whatever new polishes i’ve been buying of which there will probably be many...

To start off 2011 here is my nail polish of the week!

Base – CND Super Sticky (x1)

Polish – Color Club Revvvolution (x3) & China Glaze Fairy Dust (x1)

Top – CND Super Shiney (x2)

Isn’t it pretty?! Revvolution is a really lovely dark grey polish with a fine holograph running through it. It’s not a very obvious holo but does show well under bright lights (holo is a bugger to photograph!) On it's own it's a very classy shade!

I really like this one. It's not in yer face sparkly overload, but nice & subdued i think!

K xox

New Year, New Start

I’ve had this blog since 2009 but only posted very very sporadically. I’m not sure if it was just sheer laziness or just down to the fact not a whole lot ever happens in my life? Either way, my last post was made in May 2010...so i decided to clear whatever i did have, ready to start again in 2011.

I’m aware that there are many people out there who think that making New Year resolutions is a big ol’ waste of time, and if i’m honest I do as well because i know i never keep the damn things going...but every year without fail, i sit down with my colourful fine liner & a sparkly new page in my new notebook and write a neat list of things i want to achieve in the current year. This year is no different, so here are the resolutions i’m probably not going to keep...

1. Save money & pay off debts

Save £100 of student loan each month and use another £100 to pay of 2 remaining bills. I know it would probably make sense to put the whole amount towards the bills...but i’m a student & i have the summer holidays coming up so will need money for then as at the moment i’m unable to work.

2. Don’t buy any new clothes or shoes/bags unless needed.

This is going to be a tough one. I’m TERRIBLE for just buying random items of clothing that i really don’t need. I’m going to allow myself to buy a new pair of jeans & a new pair of boots first & then the ban begins. I also really need to have a major clear out of clothes & immediately get rid of anything i don’t want or need rather than having a 2ft tower of “Thing’s i’m going to ebay” because lets face it...you’ll never do it and ebaying is just a bloody hassle!

3. Get Crafty!

This year i intend to learn to crochet (I even bought a book! The Happy Hooker, which is about crocheting rather than jolly prostitutes, much to my brother’s disappointment...) I’ve always wanted a huge colourful granny square blanket so that’s my aim for this year. In the past i’ve also dabbled a bit in jewellery making, so i might get back into that too. It’s always been an aim of mine to have a craft stall at one of those country fairs....maybe one of these years i’ll get my act together

4. Learn to drive.

As it says on the tin.... I’ve never had any inclination to learn to drive, i don’t really pay attention to the road when i am in a car & don’t know where anything is. Up until recently i only knew the roads of Dundee by what shops are on them. But I think I need to learn for my career....can’t really take a huge kit on the bus can I?

5. See more of the UK.

I’ve lived in Scotland all of my life but have never seen a highland glen. That is a very sad thing. This year i want to travel a bit more, see some historical sites such as Culloden and Edinburgh Castle and venture down south to see the sites there.

So there we have it. New Year resolutions that i more than likely won’t keep....and my first post of the new year!

K xox