Nails of the Day!

This is called Aphrodite, from Revolution's  Rainbow range. I stamped over it with Konad white polish, the Konad stamper, and an Essence plate.

This polish was one of my bargain buys recently, check some Nails Inc Bargains I found for you HERE. 

It has a slight sparkle, and is a lovely orange polish. The polish looks much brighter and prettier in person. It is a smooth glitter type polish, and this is only two coats, the colour is quite dense. It dries fairly quickly and with a smooth application.

I did some stamping over it, some nails worked better than others, as you can see. For some reason when I put a top coat over my stamping, it smudged the stamping slightly. Does anyone know why? The stamping was dry, so I am not sure...

I am very proud of how my middle nail turned out, the full design, wow! I think I need to stamp more often.

Wedgeday Happiness!

It is time for my Wedgeday post again... When I run out of wedges, I will change to Shoesday Tuesdays!

Today's wedge is from Mr Price again! I love the range of shoes they have, most of them are inspired by other more expensive brands of shoes!

I love the neutral colourblocking of these wedges, the pointy toes also gives it a bit of an edge.

These wedges are really comfortable and can be paired with anything really.

I have worn them once, with black leather look pants and a metallic jersey top. I wore it in winter, because it is suede, and summer rain just does not work!

Thanks for reading!

And check out additions to Great Bargains... Nails Inc Nailpolish!

And addition to the Blog Sale, Stila Blush.

GOSH Kiss Me Lip Balms

I finally got myself a Kiss Me Balm from GOSH! I have an addiction to lip balms, glosses and everything else lippy! No matter how many I have, there are still some products you just need! And this was one of them!

These balms are meant to be 3-in-1:

-Colour of a lipstick- Check

-Moisture of a balm- Check

-Shine of a gloss- Check

There are six shades to choose from:

Innocent Kiss (natural/nude)

First Kiss (light pink)

Flirty Kiss (orange)

Sweet Kiss (bright pink)

Irresistible Kiss (deep red)

Hot Kiss (hot red)

I have five swatched on my hand, I think I am missing the light pink.

I got myself the Hot Kiss, which is the hot red shade, third swatch from the top!

These are the swatches after some wear, the colour is still great, but the gloss is gone, they look more like stains now.

Have you tried these balms? 

I am a lucky lady

I was lucky enough to win two giveaways recently!

One from All4women, a CND hamper! Which includes a polish, a top coat and a mini Solar Oil.

One by a fellow blogger, Shaheeda. Check out her blog HERE. I love the EOS lip balms!

And then fellow blogger and friend Yasmin from Shades of Mink Blog bought me these amazing goodies from her trip to Thailand and Bali! How exciting, she knows me so well!

Thank you to everyone!

A little blog update

Some of you may have noticed a few new tabs on the top of my blog.

Travel Diaries

Blogsale

Great Bargains

For some reason when I update these tabs it is not published to Bloglovin and emails aren't sent out either. I am not that tech savvy, so I am not sure how to go about changing this.

Nevertheless, I do update these often, and I would like to find out from the readers, would you like a post sent out when the tabs are updated, and if so, how often? Immediately, or a once a week update on what has been updated.

Travel Diaries is a collection of my boyfriend and my travels from the last three years. It includes tips, must do activities and some pictures from along the way. If you are visiting Thailand or Singapore check it out, and if you are not check it out anyway. :P

The Blogsale is an attempt for me to reduce some of the excess in my life, and share it with you. Shoes, clothes, accessories and beauty products too.

Lastly, Great Bargains is a new addition to the blog, I often find amazing items on sale online and in-store, and this is where I will share it with you.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you will enjoy the new tabs!

February Rubybox Unboxed and Boutique Orders!

I received my February Rubybox a bit late this month, which is a bit disappointing. But what was awesome about that was the Stila Bronzer that I ordered was included, even though it should have only been delivered with my March Box!

For some reason I didn't receive the information card, which I didn't realise until now. My box has a Pepper Tree Handwash in Blueberry that smells amazing! A Yardley lipstick, a Rimmel nailpolish, a perfume sample by Emanuel Ungaro and a Grazia magazine.

The box was okay, not the best, and not the worst.

My boutique orders on the other hand I love! I am so excited for the best of kitten set and the bronzer, I am a huge Stila addict, and love adding to my collection. When I saw the invisi-bobble I was really eager to try it, it is meant to secure your hair without damaging your hair or causing headaches. I will do a review on it once I use it. Nuxe Multi purpose dry oils are amazing, and I bought these little travel sizes which are super cute! The FHI hot sauce is a hair product which sounded really great, it is a heat activated treatment. 

What was in your rubybox?

Happy Wedgeday!

I am so happy we are two days away from the weekend!

These wedges are really comfortable! They are not very high, and are quite sturdy. 

They are from Zoom, obviously, we can all see the box in the picture above. They are about two years old, and I have worn them once... Bad I know!

I love the colour, and the suede, except in the rain. 

I would pair them with something neutral, in the black-grey-nude palette. I love this colour with grey, I think they compliment each other amazingly well.

Thank you for reading...

February rubybox unboxed and boutique orders coming soon!

Nails of the day- Glitter Gradient

Who doesn't love a bit of glitter!

A glitter gradient, is an easy and quick way to spice up your nails.

I used Sinful in Rise and Shine. The polish said matte on the bottle, but there was no matte at all.

I quite like the contrast of a matte polish with a glitter gradient, but nevertheless I am happy with this.

I used a combination of gold glitters:

Essence in Gold Fever

Sally Hansen in Big Money

Sparitual in Golden Rule

I used Sally Hansen on the tips, for a denser glitter, then Sparitual and Essence for the gradient.

Happy Tuesday!

Check back tomorrow for Wedgeday!

It is Wedgeday again ladies!

These are a pair of new wedges I bought recently. I haven't worn them yet, but they were quite comfortable when I tried them on.

I bought them at Mr Price, yay!

I love the thick ankle strap, which looks a bit like an ankle collar :)

The only thing I would change, is the heel, I wish the whole thing was made of wood, without that other espadrille rope type material along the edge.

I haven't quite decided what to wear it with yet. If I wore it with a dress or shorts the ankle strap would make my legs look shorter than they are (and they are already quite short). If I wore it with something long it would lose the effect of the ankle collar... Sigh, problems...

Any suggestions?

BB Cream Take Two- Stila and Erborian

I previously did a post on budget BB creams HERE, and this is an update on not so budget BB creams.

First up, Erborian BB Cream in Dore (Tan)

When I first saw the colour of this BB I thought it was too light, too yellow and too dull and made my skin grey. But it grew on me. I didnt realise how much it grew on me until writing this post...

Taken from the Erborian website

"Transformed by the warmth of the skin, the ultra-light new generation formula's chameleon colouring adapts to the skin's natural tone, giving the perfect coverage, while nourishing with antioxidants and minerals and protecting skin from the sun with an SPF 25+."

It has a matte look and more than average coverage, and can be used without a moisturiser or primer. I prefer to use a moisturiser underneath, I feel it smooths on the skin easier that way. It also has spf25!

I like to add some highlighter and bronzer to give my face dimension, or even a blush tint works perfectly well! The scent of this BB is pleasant, I quite like it. It smells florally!

Some more interesting information from the site:

"Utilising the true secret of Oriental beauty, Korean Red Ginseng, a natural element known for its regenerating and energizing properties, BB Creme gives skin a soft, flawless no makeup look that is toned throughout the day.

Its signature ingredient is cultivated for six years to become a beauty treasure with a market price similar to gold, working meticulously to detoxify and boost microcirculation, making skin firmer, denser and more radiant.

BB cream is designed to give you a very natural, "no makeup look"

- Provides perfect coverage better then foundation, its noncomedogenic.

- Works like a tinted moisturiser with more skin healing benefits, including an SPF. 

- Conceals all types of pigmentation, discoloration, acne and other blemishes.

- Has healing properties that soften, smooth and refine skin like Ginseng.

- Ginseng also encourages skin regeneration maintaining firm and youthful skin."

Stila Stay All Day 10-in-1 HD Bronzing BB cream.

This BB cream is quite thick, and I find it doesn't smooth well without a primer or moisturiser. The coverage is less than average, you might need to use it as a primer under your foundation if you are looking for more coverage. I like the minimal coverage for summer though.

It gives skin a tanned glow, which I quite like, although when it is really hot I felt my face looked oily, but that may have just been the insane weather we had. Some bronzing powder does the trick though. I sometimes feel it makes me look to summery and tanny and holidayish for work.(Does that even make sense?)

The best part of this by far is it is waterproof and has an SPF of 30, so it is perfect for the summer holidays! I used it everyday while away this past holiday. It has a strange scent, sort of like sunblock, sort of not, I can't quite put my finger on it.

And it really is waterproof, you can feel it when you remove it at the end of the day. And it really does stay all day.

The Stila website lists the following benefits:

"Contains innovative micro spheres, which have been shown to hide skin imperfections and reduce wrinkle depth by up to 84%

Infused with natural, skin-protecting emollients which have been shown to increase antioxidant activity by up to 89.7%

Enriched with a proprietary blend, which has been shown to reduce skin inflammation, improve texture, stimulate collagen production and reduce the appearance of wrinkles by up to 67%

Broad-spectrum spf 30 protects the skin

Hydrates and nourishes the skin

Helps reduce pore size and provide oil and blemish control

Features an exclusive complex, which helps reduce redness and skin irritation

Uses the smallest particle size of coated pigments for seamless, smooth coverage

Bronzes and primes the skin for a sun-kissed glow

Oil-free, paraben-free, dermatologist tested and ideal for all skin types"

My Final Verdict:

These are both winners for me, and I use them both regularly. For minimalism with swimming protection I choose Stila. And for everyday use or slightly more coverage I choose Erborian.

What are your thoughts?

Wedges my love...

I love wedges, they give you the height of a platform, with the comfort of a pump!

I was super excited when wedges made a huge comeback, and I stocked up, and luckily there is no end in sight yet.

From wedge sandals, to wedge boots, I love them all!

Every Wedgeday (that's Wednesday for the non-obsessed) I will post a wedge of mine, as well as where I bought it, what I usually wear it with and anything else that comes to mind at the time...

I love the look of this wedge, comfort wise, it is very high and the heel is quite thin, so it was not stable enough for me. I wore it once, and that was that...

It is by the brand Impress, and I bought it at a shop in Woodmead called Bulhafi, but it was also sold online on Zando.co.za.

I cannot remember exactly what I wore it with, but I would assume a dark pair of skinny jeans, a pretty top in cream or white(to offset the snake skin look) and gold accessories.

What do you think of these wedges?

And would you like any other details on my Wedgeday posts?

Another chevron for mani monday!

As you can see, the chevron mani is my new nail thing!

I love it because it is so easy to do, and so quick, especially when you use quick drying polishes.

I used Yardley in 'Candy Burst', and Essence sand effect in 'Here's my number'

I love the brightness of 'Candy Burst' it also dries really quickly, and gives a flawless creamy finish. It is between a bright pink, red and orange!

I am loving textured polishes, and the LA Girl was my favourite, but the Essence is on the same level I think. I love that it has a sparkle to it, it gives dimension and doesn't look flat. It also dries faster than other Essence polishes, which is a huge plus for me!

Would you like me to do a pictorial of how to do a chevron mani?

Thanks for reading!