Valentines day

For Valentine's day, my best friend sent me this gorgeous accessorize necklace. Its dinky, floral and a little camera. Kind of sums my tastes up perfectly, don't you think? I can't wait to wear it and jazz up some outfits. I'm thinking, tight black skirt or shorts, cream knitted jumper and this cutie pie to contrast with the plain outfit! I love a chunky knit teamed with a dainty piece of jewellery.

The tell tale signs you have left all over me

I'm in a really simple outfit today and, shock horror, I'm wearing jeans! Its got really cold an I had a busy day today, so I just slung this on. So comfortable and I love my owl jumper/tee thing from Zara. Look at his lil face! I hope you all remember to enter my giveaway of a YSL lipstick- thats something you don't want to miss out on.

Tee: Zara
Jeans:  Dorothy Perkins
Cardigan: TU
Boots: Gift

Sail

I bought this skirt in Zara's sale after I dip dyed my hair turquoise. It made me feel like a mermaid and I have no shame in admitting it. Today I'm playing it down by adding this graphic tee of different scenes in London to make it suitable for a day of lectures and errand running. 

 

T shirt: TU for Sainsburys
Skirt: Zara
Jacket: Primark
Boots: Topshop
Nail Polish: OPI Big Hair Big Nails

 

I hate to sound pretentious but the material on this skirt, is simply.... divine! I can't wait to wear it without tights in Summer and at just £12, it was a complete bargain.

Priming for super nova

For big, dramatic makeup looks, I need primers that are strong enough to hold it. No one wants a black smokey eye ending up halfway down their face at the end of a night out, or checking the mirror at prom to see that their concealer has gone walkabouts. At the moment I'm using Nivea's Daily Essentials Express Hydration Primer* which doesn't make me feel so bad about smothering my face in quite so much slap.

Nivea's Daily Essentials Express Hydration Primer* is light, moisturising and absorbs instantly-meaning less waiting around for my primer to dry time in the morning. Lets just say, I don't have time for that in my, rushed, routine. Nivea primer helps to smooth out my pores, and only costs around £4- way less than Benefit's The Porefessional- a previous favourite of mine.

For my eyes, I've been using Bella Pierre's Make Up Base. Its a tinted, creamy base, which smooths out my eyelids, hiding redness and tiredness- perfect base for large, over the top eye looks. It provides more coverage than I'd want to use all over my face- but for eyes and particularly tough red patches, its perfect. 

But, what of this 'big makeup look' I keep yapping on about? Well, after receiving this Front Cover Sparkler Kit* I couldn't not try out my Primers against the toughest look of them all? The loose glitter pigment look. Yup, thats right guys and dolls, I went all out. This look isn't wearable for me personally, but boy was it fun to create and photograph! I'm going for Cleopatra meets a supernova? 

Unfortunately, perhaps the primers worked too well, as I'm fairly confident I gave my house mate a shock when I wandered into the kitchen a few hours later (forgetting my eye makeup). Its definitely fun to experiment with makeup, MUA style sometimes, but primer will always be there for any makeup looks little, or large.

Both Front Cover and Bella Pierre can be purchased through QVC.

My guide to Christmas shopping

Be Productive
Write a list of everyone you need to buy for and the items you want to buy them. This way you can know exactly which shops and which areas of shops you need to head to. This way you are much less likely to be distracted wandering around, looking at things for yourself and wasting time! Tut tut. 

Work Out Your Budget

Set a budget, and stick to it. If you are running low on money and you still have a few people left to buy for you can alter your list slightly to fit this. For example: does your second cousin twice removed really need headphones that expensive? Perhaps you could go for the next price level down and put the money you saved towards another, more important area.

Clothes
Wear comfortable clothing. I'm talking flat shoes, warm coat and loose fitting jeans etc. You don't want to be wandering around a ball of stress because your shoes hurt and your jeans are too tight and you are cold or too hot. 

Timing
Go early in the morning *le gasp* I know, I know, its going to be painful. But trust me, worth it in the long run. If you get to the shops as they are opening, everything will be tidy, there will be smaller ques and less of a nightmare maneuvering around the aisles. 

Don't Forget The Essentials
If you need scissors, sellotape, wrapping paper or cards, don't forget to buy these on your shopping trip. There is nothing worse than realising you remembered everything except gift tags!

Give Yourself A Break
If you can, give yourself a whole day to get the Christmas shopping done and dusted, this way if you begin to feel stressed you'll be able to go for a quiet sit down in Starbucks (eggnog latte please!) to regain much needed energy.

Location
Choose wisely. Make sure its within a distance you feel comfortable travelling too- especially if you are going on the train or bus. Its also a good idea to check what shops an area or center has online, before going there. There is nothing worse than going shopping and realising the center you've gone to doesn't have a shop to get that really, really specific type of body lotion you need to bye your Nan.

I hope these ideas have been helpful to you! I'm going to *try* to do blogmas this year- blogging the 24 days in the run up to Christmas, but I'm not going to promise anything. Here's to trying.

Nicol x

It's BBQ time!

Ahh todays a proper BBQ day in England isn't it? I've been jamming around in my new bikini and my Abercrombie shorts trying to get some colour on me before the cruise. We also have family coming over later for our first BBQ of the summer which should be nice.


This Morning I went up to Sainsbury's with my Mum to buy some BBQ food/alcohol and along the way came across the 'Dirty Works' range (exclusive to Sainsburys). After reading Holly's brand review I couldn't resist picking up some of the products. Like Holly, I was drawn to the quirky retro packaging and the purse-friendly prices (especially the 1/3 off deal Sainsburys is offering at the moment). 


I got myself the Dirty Works Glamour Shimmer Puff for £3.32 and Dirty Works Get Set Go! Mini set for £3.32,  also. The Get Set Go box contains 'Bare Necessity Body Lotion,' 'All of a Lather Body Wash' and 'Think of England Bath Soak.' I also purchased the 'Gently Does it Facial Wipes.'


I also Picked up a copy of Marie Claire magazine (which came with a free Ciate lipgloss) as it contained an interview with the talented Audrey Tautou, who I have loved since her role in 'Amelie.'

And whats in your bag?

I've seen a few 'Whats in your bag?' posts around recently and it looks like fun! So here is the idea: you post your last used handbag and all of its content. No matter how weird or embarrassing!

This is my Accessorize bag which my lovely boyfriend bought me on our 2 year anniversary! 

Its very ALexa Chung and I absolutely adore it. I pair it with practically everything!

I also like the pretty lining inside!

Here is the contents:

Lush Helping Hands hand cream
Sinex Soother nasal spray (I have a cold, boo :()
Missguided Lipsplash in 'Missfortune'
Cherry Carmex
My keys (attached to bracelet from Futuroscope in France, complete with sperm keyring (don't ask!!))
My iPod (A.K.A Marvin)
A roll of film to be developed
Garnier Mineral deodorant
My purse from River Island




Whats in YOUR bag?