FaeriWood

Only 1 more day till the end of my Ciaté challenge and I'm not gonna lie I can't wait to give my wee nails a break for a while. Will be showing you guys the last 10 awesome days of the calendar shortly. In the meantime in gonna show you guys my new shoe crush: Chelsea Ankle Boots. They're so pretty! There's a lot of cowboy-ish boots floating about right now and i'm kind of like "eh." but these lovelies are much more my style. Bring on the January sales... if I can wait that long.

So Ive just got an email from a company telling me they had "the perfect gift for him this Christmas!" "Perfect!" I thought. I opened the email excitedly to see what original and quality gift I could get for a loved one this year and it was... ...a razor set. What? I mean, seriously? A razor and some shaving foam is your grand idea? I thought at least it would be something you couldn't pick up with the weekly shopping...but a razor and some foam? Here is my face at exactly that time: So I thought why not do a bit of an alternative Christmas gift guide, You know, to prove I'm not a grinch. How's about a little personalisation? A hoody (for them snuggly winter nights), t shirt, mug, mouse pad, pen, calendar... The list goes on. I myself am on Santas list for a pug hoody. Hell! You could even personalise that razor I'm sure! 50 pairs of socks. Because everyone needs socks. Something you made by hand - this could vary depending on what you...

Another week down on the mani challenge and I'm still going strong! Although I did forget to photograph day 12 (Twilight) oops! Just know that it was really cute and worked great as an accent to day 10 (Ladylike Luxe) as did Day 11's Caviar Pearls in Bumble Bee! And although I loved every polish this week if have to say my least favourite would be Day 13 (Glass Slipper). Despite it being insanely pretty it was a bit of a 'mare to remove. Oh well! Bring on week 3!

I know you've already seen Day 1 but here are the rest of week ones goodies! So far I'm in love with Cupcake Queen, Halo & Caberet. My least favourite is Cutie Pie which despite 3 coats is the sheerest polish I've ever come across!!

I must admit, despite my normal Scrooge McScrooge attitude at the mention of christmas in any month other than december, I've been feeling festive a bit earlier this year and did some sneaky nail art experiments using my favourite Christmas polishes. I also played with this Colour Club Enchanted Holiday set I found randomly in TK Maxx about 2 months ago! Amazing. Apologies for the crappy photos but its that time of year where daylight is non exist any and my camera was having a wee funny fit that evening.

So it's officially December and I can finally start preparations and stop hating on those who've been celebrating since September! I can also stop ogling the Ciaté mini mani advent calendar and get stuck in. Day 1 is Cupcake Queen, which I coincidentally already own and happens to be my favourite pink ever! Of course I purchased this in the name of science to show you guys ;) who would I be if I didn't bring the best of the best to your attention. Look out for regular updates on the surprises within, I'm especially looking forward to the super secret exclusive glitters and the caviar pearls.

Today myself and a whole bunch of Northern Irish bloggers, including the famous FABB babes, were invited to TK Maxx on the Boucher rd to go shopping and have a wee browse before they opened the store to the public. They even offered us and our friends and family 20% discount! Well you don't have to ask me twice. Or my friends Carolyn & Gayle, so we decided to make a wee girly day of it and went for lunch and Lilypink bakery cupcakes afterwards. Nom. I can never find anything in the clothing dept and shoes are a rarity so I went straight for cosmetics and my haul included 3 OPI polishes for £15, 3 New CID I-kiss pencils for a tenner and the Sally Hansen effects nail strips for only £4!! Add to that some awesome space themed pasta and a microwaveable Owl teddy (so cute!) and I'm all biz for my bargains. I have to say TK Maxx are doing well in the moment in the beauty department my purchases came to £38.25 and I got about £8 off with the 20% but this haul should've cost...

I joined Georgiana and Anthony for a moshoot on Sunday to kick off movember. Us ladies can't really grow a good moustache so Anthony had the brain bulb of creating #moshoot where he gets a load of fake moustaches and gets us girls to stick them on! He's a professional head shot photographer and sometimes got his clients to do this to break the ice and the idea progressed from there! Well it was wonderful, not only did I get to meet the lovely Georgiana - George- I got to prance about in a moustache for a while. Swing by my mospace and check out our team that will grow (haha) over the month of movember. I'm not going to badger you for donations, this is a polite head tilt to the cause and I hope to raise a little more awareness so they can continue their good work. If you would like to make a donation you can do it here :) http://mosista.co/3927441 Here's a little something to get your upper lips twitching..!

I've written about 10 massive paragraphs explaining my skin & the situation in which I was introduced to Laura Mercier's Flawless Skin (or how the sales girl almost cried at the state of my skin). But none of that matters really because all I need to say is before I started using this my skin was sandpaper. Scaly, horrible, ugly, bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Now it's not. Pure and simple. Flawless Skin is a cleansing oil which you pat on to your skin and it literally melts the makeup/dirt off. Below you'll see I was experimenting with some Halloween eye makeup (mucho glitter eyes) and the results after using the Oil. The whole process took 30 seconds. If you have dry skin & a spare £30 I'd don't know why you wouldn't buy this. It's ridiculously effective and my skin as you can see is most definitely not dry, flakey or scaly. I've also been using it solidly, everyday, for 2 months and have used about a 10th of the bottle. I'm trying no...

Girls (and guys) It's Breast Cancer Awareness Month and it's time to give yourself a good feel in the name of health & wellbeing. In order to promote this years BCAM myself and the other FABB bloggers you've heard me mention so often are getting together and fundraising for local charity Pretty In Pink . For those who don't know the awesomeness of PIP, a bit back ground for you: Founded in 2006 by Noleen Adair, Pretty n Pink is the  only  registered Breast Cancer charity in Northern Ireland. It is run by a very small team of people including a breast cancer survivor and local volunteers from across the province. All the funds raised go directly back to Breast Cancer patients and their families in Northern Ireland.   I don't know about you but when it comes to things things like cancer, and other serious illnesses, but I tend to run and hide. The thought of sitting in that doctors office and hearing those words actually brings tears to my eyes...

*pat, pat, pat, pat, pat, pat, pat, pat, pat, pat, pat, pat...pat...pat, pat, pat........pat...pat.....* That's the sound of me hunting down my glasses.  Everything is a shade of blurry without them and I spend way too much time feeling my way around rooms patting stuff down trying to relocate them.  Enter contact lenses!! I wear them pretty much everyday and have done so (on and off) for the last 8 or 9 years. My relationship with contacts got off to a rocky start, I refused to wear my glasses in school so my mum got me monthly contacts which I loved at the start but after the first week or so they got very dry and irritating. Plus with all the cleaning etc I just wasn't into it. I then moved onto dailies but trying to find a good pair that weren't drying and didn't cost the earth was proving difficult. HOWEVER! After researching online I came across a website  contactlenses.co.uk  which had a dupe of the Specsav...

I love scarves and it's just getting cold enough now to get them out again! I've got mine all out of storage, washed and ready for crisp Autumn mornings/afternoons/evenings/night time. I seen on Avril's blog School Gate Style  she had posted a video from Stella & Dot 10 Ways to wear a scarf (ps the scarves are flippin' beautiful in that video so be sure to pop over and check it out) and it reminded me of my favourite scarfy video... I just love how this video is made, so smart! I'll be using pretty much all of the styles through Autumn and Winter! So enjoy and if you have seen any pretty scarves recently be sure to link me below!! Wrap up warm and don't be sitting on anything cold ;) Michelle x

I'm a bit simplistic when it comes to self tanning. I only ever do it on really special occasions and I'm a St Tropez bronzing mousse devotee. I've been using it exclusively for about 4 years and even then I'm only about half way through my second bottle! That's how rarely I tan these days. So I was a bit intrigued when the lovely folk who represent He-Shi contacted me and asked me to try out one of their products I was intrigued. And a wee bit scared. I was even more scared when it arrived and I found that it was so shimmery. I mean look at it! So much gold! And the reds and greens and... So pretty. But also dark. I'm a bit intimidated I won't lie. But after a couple of weeks of staring at it I've finally plucked up the courage to dive in. So here is my review. He-Shi Quick + Easy Luminous Shimmer DESIGN: Not your typical tan bottle or squeezy tube, the luminous shimmer comes in a plastic tub with a tin lid so you can dip your hands/glove/face...

I do love getting my manicure on other willing victims. Part of the reason I don't do as much nail art on myself these days is because I much prefer to do it on other people. Last night the lovely Bex from www.bexberry.com came round for a wee chat and ended up with me doing her nails. I'm really chuffed with them! Got to try out some new designs I've not done before and partake in girly chat! Can't be bad to that on a Thursday. So what do ya's think? Are there any designs you would like to see for the future?

Hello all and welcome to part 2 of my M&S purple extravaganza. DESIGN: Bright Purple base with multi-colour Glitter throughout, designed is high gloss, long wearing and chip resistant. Comes with a flat brush meant for easy application.  USE: These polishes are the Ronseal of nail polishes. Only a wee bit* sexier. The glitter is tiny but so packed in. The size & variation in colour sets it apart from anything else I've seen recently. Pictures above are a single coat over a white base.  VERDICT: When you compare it to the likes of the Models Own Mirrorball Collection previews seen over at  Makeup Savvy  its remarkably understated but still so pretty. Once again I received plenty on complements during the week that I was wearing this and once again I'm taking this as a sign that I need to get my arse down to M&S and stock up on more prettiness! *A lot *This Sample was sent for review but all thoughts are my own*

The lovely girls people over at M&S have been working their magic again and have come up with a few ideas for this Autumns hottest colour: Purple. And with purple being my favourite colour to wear make-up wise I jumped at the chance to sample their wears. The following 2 posts are my view on the subject. DESIGN: Simple, sleek packaging in standard black. The bullet is shaped to provide maximum contact with your lips. Nothing strange or startling from packaging but who wants strange or startling from  lipstick? The little coloured stripe you see on the left is actually a sticker which carries on to the lid so when shopping you'll be instantly able to tell if you're lifting an unused product! (NB: How annoying is it when other shoppers don't use the testers provided? So Annoying!) USE: This is an Ultimate Shine lipstick so as you would expect its quite glossy, but not overly opaque. It takes quite a bit of build up to achieve the colour ...

Bit of a spur of the moment post tonight. My bestie popped round for one of our movie & mani' nights and I gave her this WAH inspired look. I'd love to just get up the courage to send them my portfolio and up sticks to London to work in one of their boutiques. But I'd need to paint ALOT of nails to afford London rental prices I think lol. Ah well until then I'll just stick with my amateur homages. Definitely need to perfect my straight lines too!

Nail Art is officially everywhere! You have your nail gurus like the WAH girls & Sophy Robson, dedicated nail blogs & every brand is releasing the all important Nail Art Pens. I've even grabbed a few in Poundland to try out! Your typical pen comes with a pointed nip, quite small and designed to let the polish flow out like a pen. They also contain a thin striping brush which is how you get those miraculously straight lines and are great for adding detail. Not all pen manufacturers got this memo. You'll see below a box I snapped up whilst standing in a Top Shop queue. I didn't really debate this purchase like I usually do. It was more of a "ooh pretty colours I don't already have!" purchase. Lesson learned. These pens don't come with a striping brush. They come with a really thick brush actually. Thicker than even a normal nail polish! So how are you meant to recreate the designs suggested on the side of the box? Well... With great difficulty ...

On tuesday I went to see the Foo Fighters play at Tennents Vital in Belfast. I had an amazing time at the festival, the Foos being a long time love since I was a teenager and completely obsessed with Dave Grohl's fringe in the Learn To Fly video. It still makes me swoon. Unfortunately my beloved Boots (pictured below with 3/4 leggings... Ugh what was I thinking?) decided to disintegrate during the show and I ended up having to abandon them on the walk home and make my way back shoeless. Cue many giggles and strange looks from passers by. Silver lining to this heartbreaking tale? SHOPPING! I've been searching online for a new pair all day, I'm quite fussy about shoe wear so have been looking at a very specific style. Who knew my bargainous New Look 915 calf-length-block-heel-lace-up boots had become such an expensive trend. Here are a few examples that I'll never be able to afford. The search continues.