FaeriWood

In not sure if you've noticed but I'm really throwing myself into christmas this year. This has been very evident in my moonlighting work as a Nail Technician. Here are some recent examples of my work!  These Winter Bridal nails feature a gorgeous vintage red over Hard Gel enhancements at a wearable length. We went full on glitter mani for this one. Nothing says Christmas like over the top sparkle! Santa and Mistletoe accents over a true red. So cute! Black and Gold fade to match my client's Christmas party outfit! When searching for inspiration my client fell in love with a very similar look by The Nailasaurus (one of my all time fave Nail Bloggers) so we followed our hearts and came up with this homage. 

So over the past few years, in keeping with the modern day obsession of all things simultaneously cute, ugly, and nostalgic, we have seen the comeback of Christmas jumpers. Like most people however I haven't been able to join in the fun because I simply couldn't justify the cost. However this year I was determined and I have compiled a list of my favourite jumpers. My only stipulation? They're all under a tenner! 1. F&F Embellished Pull Me from Tesco £7 : First & foremost I've only seen this 50% offer online so I'm not sure you'd get it in store. I love it because I'm obsessed with grey and I do like a good pun. The embellishment is totally on trend too so that's another box ticked! 2. F&F Nice Baubles from Tesco £6 : again, I'm pretty sure this only meets the criteria online at 50% off but it's super cute and super cheap! And black. There's not enough black at Christmas in my opinion.  3. Black Rudolph from Karma

Last week I told you about the Micro Mani and how to give yourself a gorgeously shiny manicure in just a few seconds. This week I'm taking care of your feet with the accompanying Micro Pedi also from Emjoi. This 11 piece gift set is slicker in design than the mani set plus you get all the tools you would need for a full manicure/pedicure even down to the finishing cream moisturiser.  Here you see it set up with the exfoliating roller to remove dry or excess skin. This is my favourite part of the process, with my feet being slightly ticklish it feels great and like you're getting a proper foot massage! Also included in the gift set is a nail brush, a tiny little brush to clean out the skin dust (gross but necessary), toe separators, clippers and scissors to trim your nails, and a 5 piece set to shape, buff and shine your toe nails. This takes a bit of skill if, like myself, you're not that flexible but the end result is great! As I mentioned earlier

It's almost that time of year again and unless you're the most prepared person in the world you're probably just about thinking about presents for your friends & loved ones. Well I have a treat for you.  The Emjoi Micro-Nail Electric Nail Polisher  promises a 2 week manicure in just a few seconds and it's really not far off the mark!  The set up is simple. You get 4 rollers, a buffer and a shiner (2 of each) and you easily pop them on and off for use. Then after prepping your nails thoroughly you switch it on, glide the rollers across the nail and you're done. Sounds simple but in practice it takes a bit of getting used to. I tested it with my mum and we both found it took a few attempts to get used to the speed of the rollers without it shooting across the nail. But once we got the hang of it we found it as quick as advertised.  Now, you should never use an abrasive on your nail for more than a few seconds (or else you risk damaging the layer

I love living in Belfast. It's something that given the notorious history, and sometimes present, of this City that I tend to forget. But the time has come for me to take a break from small city life and move back home for a while. Home being Antrim; a mere 30 minutes away. So being my last Sunday as a city dweller I decided to make the most of it. I got my  Blanket Cape on and off I went.  My first point of call was Ground Espresso in Waterstones . I'd heard a lot about this up & coming local chain and really wanted to sample their wares.  And I certainly did sample. Between myself and my friend Sarah we got through a Chocolate Orange hot chocolate, a Snowball steamer made of Coconut, White Chocolate syrup and soya milk (to make me feel better about myself) a Warm Chocolate Brownie and the best Bacon & Cream Cheese Bagel I've had in years! No joke. Also if you haven't had Sukí Tea before then their Belfast Brew is a classic and delightful

Every year it's a tough choice between Benefit and Soap & Glory for my favourite festive Gift Sets. Both are usually super cute with great range but this year I think Benefit have the edge with their Sweet Shoppe range. The tin cases have been designed to look like little houses, complete with removable roof for portability, so that when you collect them (and you WILL want to collect them) it looks like a little village. Amazing. My personal favourite amongst the Benefit range is Cheeky Sweet Spot . I picked it up last time I visited House Of Fraser and I'm in  love. Not only is it packed with gorgeous blushes, the best bronzer ever, Hoola , & the now discontinued Bella Bamba but at £ 29.50 it's also a flippin bargain that's so ridiculous it actually made me do math.  And then it made me make a spreadsheet to display the math because I couldn't believe just how great it was.  Don't believe me?  BAM £73.02!!! That's

This week I was invited to take part in a Jewellery making workshop in The Black Box by the folks at KARMA Jewellery .  If you haven't heard of KARMA they are a Belfast based company who's ethos  of uplifting and inspiring the recipients of their product also comes with the benefits of knowing you are helping the community when you make your purchase. 10% of all their sales goes to helping out local charities,  all of which is detailed on their website. So when you make a purchase it's definitely good for your karma...  Ok punning aside its a pretty great idea, i t's been a few years since I went through my jewellery making phase so I jumped at the chance to join in and learn some new techniques.  We started out with a bit of a "get to know you" session where we each recieved personalised gifts. Massively generous given that they were about to let us loose among their huge bead collection. After