NOTD- Essie Go Ginza

As pretty as the colour is I have to say that I found this polish really hard to work with! I don't suppose it helped that I applied it when it was like an oven in the room and that the brush was a little bent! It took 3 coats to reach opacity and to lose the streakiness. It took a bit longer than usual to dry, but again that could be down to the hot weather. I sort of wish I had the full sized bottle of this as I think a decent brush would make a considerable difference. I do love the colour though, it's perfect for Summer and I have nothing like it in my collection.

On a side note, I had a lovely day today just chilling in my garden at home. Now I'm living in a flat I really miss being able to go outside and relax! Mum's done a great job- the flowers are gorgeous and so cheerful!

Sweaty Face Saviours

I know everyone is churning out these 'products for hot weather' type posts now, but I thought I might as well share some of the things that are helping to stop me being Laura the lard face. At least a little bit!

Seventeen Miracle Matte pressed powder- The is quickly becoming one of my favourite powders as it's really effective and seems a bit lighter (as in not heavy) than other ones. I've got the shade Ivory/Porcelain but it doesn't really add any colour. I actually thought it was translucent until I looked.  I also like that it's got a mirror, which is handy when I take it out. I think it beats the blogger fave Rimmel Stay Matte! 

Neutrogena Visibly Clear 2 in 1 Wash & Mask- I've been finding this really refreshing in this muggy weather as leaves my skin with a menthol-y tingliness. I know some people don't like that but it feels very cooling on a hot day! I also feel like it's really cleaning my pores out thanks to the clay based formula- it just feels more 'scrubby' and exfoliating than regular washes, even though it doesn't contain any particles. It works equally well as a mask too and left my skin feeling really smooth and free of grime. 

The Body Shop Tea Tree Pore Minimiser- I normally use this over moisturiser, but lately I've been using it on its own and it's been doing a great job at keeping my make up in place.  I love the clean, fresh scent and it seems to stop my skin getting so oily and spotty, especially on my cheeks. I can't really tell if it's minimising my pores but it's been a great base in this weather! Best of all it doesn't go all flaky or roll into little balls like some primers do. 

Do you use any of these? What are your thoughts?

My New Favourite Hair Mask

I bought a tub of the John Frieda Frizz Ease Miraculous Recovery hair mask (well 'masque') from Home Bargains a while back and I quickly fell in love with it. For the bargainous price of £1.99 it made my hair feel super soft and shiny, and made detangling it much easier. I was quite surprised to see Frizz Ease products there but I think it was because they've redesigned the packaging.  However, last week I sadly ran out of it and Home Bargains no longer stock it. Boo! I just had to buy it again though and luckily for me the John Frieda range is on a 2 for £7.50 offer a Boots at the moment. Not £1.99 but still a good deal! I also downloaded the Boots app yesterday and put the 20% off haircare offer onto my card as well as the double points one, so in the end I paid £6.20 for the two which is great considering it's usually £5.99 for one!
Even though it's a mask I've been using this mostly like a normal conditioner as it seems to work much better than regular ones. It claims to repair and fortify your hair as well as protect it against breakage. It also contains avocado oil.What I like most about this mask is that I can feel the difference straight away as I'm rinsing it out. My hair is also left looking a lot sleeker after I've dried it and feels really silky. I think this might be too heavy for some but if you've got thick, dry, fairly course hair like mine then I think it will suit you!

What's your favourite hair mask?

NOTD Essie Fashion Playground

I was initially quite cheesed off with this polish as I had gotten it from the clearance section at Boots, thinking it was £4, but I ended up getting charged full price for it, which I didn't notice until I'd gotten home (I don't pay enough attention at the tills obviously). However, after applying it, I have to say it's redeemed itself as it's one of the best mint polishes I've tried. This shade is described as a 'plucky pistachio green with subtle shimmer' and it's just that! It took 3 coats to get a decent opaque finish, but I've found that to be standard with pastel shades- especially green for some reason! The formula was really smooth though and I didn't find it to be streaky, which is another issue I've had in the past. You can see the shimmer clearly in the bottle but it doesn't really translate on the nails. You can only see the sparkles if you look closely but I'm not too fussed about that- it is described as subtle after all!  I think this shade will look amazing with a tan too and would be a great polish to take away on holiday.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that I love the brush! It's the perfect size for my nails and really helps me to stay neat. I can see myself buying more Essie in the future!

Essie Maintain Avenue

This is the first polish, from the Spring 2013 collection I recently acquired, that I've been sporting, and I have to say it hasn't been a let down! The formula was great and I could have gotten away with just one coat if I had been in a rush. I also found it to be pretty fast drying. Essie describes the shade as a 'lovely Parisian blue'. Can't really complain, it is a lovely blue. Not sure what makes it Parisian though. Not that I've ever been there. But hey, it's blue, and I'm a sucker for them!

I think this would look fab on toes too! Perfect for Summer as well as Spring!

Saturday Spending

Yesterday I popped into town to try and get some clothes for my holiday but, as is always the way when you really need stuff, there wasn't much that caught my eye. I wanted a really good look in Primark but it was so busy and I just wasn't in the mood for dodging chavvy mums and obnoxious teens so I left it for another time. Come the holidays I think I'll try and go to the one in Liverpool super early!
I managed to buy a few bits and pieces though and thought I'd share my little lot.

I got some cute socks on sale in Dorothy Perkins. Not much to say about them really! Have to love pandas and owls!

 In Peacocks I got this happy brekkie pj top and a pink aztec print tshirt. I thought the top might look nice paired with some denim shorts. If I decide to get my legs out that is. I'm still not feeling very confident about them as they're so stretch marked all of a sudden. I just had to get the pj top- look at their little faces! They had matching bottoms too but I thought that might be a bit OTT. I'll probably wear them with some plain shorts. These were a bargain too as it was 20% off everything! Wish I'd gotten more but I just didn't see anything else I fancied. If you're interested the pj top normally costs £4 and the tshirt costs £8.

In TK Maxx I got this set of mini Essie polishes from the 2013 Spring Collection. These were a complete impulse buy as they were by the tills and the queue was moving fast! I love all the colours though and I thought £6.99 was a decent price to try out 4 shades (Avenue Maintain, Bond With Whomever, Madison Ave-Hue and Go Ginza). Strange names. 

The box they came in was very pretty but sadly it was rather mashed up. I didn't notice until I'd gotten home but as I said I think this was the quickest I've ever bought anything! 

I can't wait until school is over now so I can get up early and have a proper look around. 

Book Review: Happy(ish) by Cara Trautman

Recently I went on a free ebook downloading spree on Amazon and Happy(ish) by Cara Trautman was one of them that caught my eye (sadly it's not free anymore but still a reasonable £2.42). It takes ages to find some decent looking ones amongst all the extremely cringey looking 'adult' fiction crap! The description really piqued my interest- it didn't sound like anything I've read before and was amusing, snappy and to the point without giving everything away. I hate the really long winded ones that practically tell you the entire story and send you to sleep at the same time.

I haven't been interested in reading for quite a while now so I was looking for something that would gain my attention from the get go and this did just that. I can't be doing with slow burners! At first I thought it was one of the aforementioned porno books but luckily it was just a very bold introduction and actually set the scene very well. The character descriptions are great throughout the story and I could clearly picture each one in my head. The characters, and the relationships between them, were also believable and engaging- you really get a feel for them. As for the storyline it's nothing too complex. It's essentially about her relationship with her friends and family and their goings-on. As well as her struggle to feel like a proper 'grown up', I suppose, with a good job and a partner- a purpose in life. It's easy to read without being too light and fluffy as it has it's serious moments alongside the more funny ones- which it has plenty of! I think you can definitely relate to the main character, whatever your age, as she isn't depicted as perfect. She's just normal. Whilst there were a few typos and some parts of the story were weaker than others, and a bit frustrating, particularly her relationship with a certain fella at times, it had everything I look for in a good book. I like the authors writing style and humour so I'll be on the look out for more of her work, and I'd certainly recommend this one!

source

Do you have any book recommendations of late? 

NOTD- Seventeen Gel Colour- Razberrito

I bought this a while back but for some reason I just haven't been in the mood for painting my nails lately. That was until this week when I got fed up of having naked nails and  thought I'd give this one a try! The gorgeous raspberry red shade is just so summery! I've just taken the picture after about 3 days and you can probably notice a bit of tip wear. The bottle claims up to 8 days of wear so it has fallen short somewhat but considering my hands and nails take quite a beating at work, I'm still pretty impressed. The formula has a near jelly like quality to it so it did require 3 coats to get the opacity I wanted. Each coat dried fast, for a gel polish, so it wasn't really a problem. Some gel polishes can be quite gloopy and hard to work with, but this one applied smoothly and evenly. The finished result was very shiny but I also put on my Nails Inc top coat, as I painted them late at night and got the dreaded sheet marks on a few of them. Handy tip there though, I always find a coat of top coat fixes that problem!

I think I'll definitely be trying out some more shades!