New York Beauty Haul!

Apart from seeing all of the sights of New York, one of the main things that I wanted to do while in the city was shopping. When converting the exchange rate it works out quite a bit cheaper to buy lots of makeup brands in America compared to the UK and there are quite a few brands available in America that aren't available in the UK, so I took a substantial amount of spending money with me. 

Sadly while in New York we only really had a few hours shopping and I didn't manage to go to all of the shops that I would have liked to go to. This means that I didn't buy that much as I thought but I am still extremely happy with all of the things that I bought and I am excited to share them with you! 

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette (and Lipgloss) - $52

I already own the Naked 3 and Naked Basics Palettes, and they are practically the only eyeshadows I ever use so why not buy the Naked 2? My sister has this palette so I've used hers in the past, and like all of the Naked Palettes the eyeshadows are highly pigmented and come in a range of gorgeous colours, so I had to buy it for myself. It also comes with a pretty pink lip gloss which is a nice change to the usual primer potion samples the other palettes come with.

Mac Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle - $25

Soft and Gentle is a gorgeous golden highlighter but with pink undertones running through it meaning that it suits almost every skin tone. As it suits a lot of people I decided to buy it as a present for my sister because she has been looking for a high end highlighter for quite some time and I know she's going to love it!

Mac Lipsticks in Morange and Rebel - $16 each

I love Mac lipsticks and have quite a few in my makeup collection already, but I couldn't pass on the opportunity to pick up a couple more! I already had Morange from when my sister bought it for me when she went to New York a couple of years ago but I stupidly went and lost it, it's one of my favourite Mac lipsticks so I had to repurchase it. On the other hand I've never had Rebel before but I've been lusting over it all autumn/winter, it's such a beautiful deep berry lipstick and I've been wearing it non-stop since I got back!

Seche Vite Dry Fast Topcoat - $9.95

The Seche Vite Topcoat is probably the most raved about nail varnish in the beauty blogging community and after already using it only a couple of times I can see why! The topcoat makes any nail varnish ultra glossy, doesn't smudge nail art and dries so quickly, I can safely say that it is worth the money despite it's horrible smell.

Kardashian Khroma Honey Stick Lip Gloss - $8.99

I don't even have to tell you guys how much I love the Kardashians and ever since they released the Khroma beauty line I have been dying to try some products from it. The Kardashians are famous for their ultra glossy nude lips and seeing as I don't own many lip glosses I decided to buy one and give it a try! First impressions: it smells very strongly of honey, which is great if you love the smell of honey!

I also bought a pink and white striped pajama shirt/nightie from Victoria's Secret but I didn't see a lot of point in showing it as this is a beauty haul!

I hoped you found this post interesting and like everything that I bought. I promise there will be a New York diary soon but I'm just waiting to get a copy some of the photos one of my teachers took on the trip with his DSLR because if there are some nice ones I might include them! Hope you're having a good week...

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - Fading Away

I'm finally home after hours of travelling. I got home Friday lunchtime after an overnight flight and 2 hour journey back from the airport and I can safely say that it was the best week of my life. New York was everything I imagined and so much more making all the travelling and jet lag worth it. But because of the jet lag I've spent a lot of the weekend sleeping and that's one of the reasons why this blog post is going up quite late so I apologize for that. 

I saw a nail art very similar to this on WAH Nails Instagram and thought I'd give it a go. Of course mine isn't up to the same standard but I'm not a professional nail artist so I think it's excusable. I love how the pink and white checks just fade away into a white ombre and it reminds me of something similar I've seen on lots of tops and dresses in Topshop a a couple of seasons ago.

Prepare yourselves for a few posts this week about my trip to New York as I haven't got over the excitement of it all just yet (and probably won't for a long time)! If you can't wait go check out my Instagram because I've been Instragraming pictures of my trip all this week. Hope you've all had as great a week as I have, I'd love to know what you've been up to...

Eleanor xx

February Wishlist

Happy hump day! Congratulations you've made it halfway through the week, but sadly for me that means that my time in New York is nearly over as I'm travelling home tomorrow evening, arriving home early Friday morning. I can't tell you how my time has been in New York as this is a pre-written post but if all has gone to plan stay tuned for a New York diary type post next week. But something I can tell you about is what I've been lusting over this month...

Lipsy Kardashian Kollection White Midi Dress - £65
We all know I have a slight major obsession with the Kardashians, so of course I have to buy every product with the Kardashian brand name attached to it! I first saw this dress when there was a picture of Kim was wearing it on the cover of Look Magazine last week and she looked gorgeous! So when I found it while browsing through the Kardashians latest collection with Lipsy I knew that it was something I needed in my life. I know it won't look as good on me as it does on Kim as I don't have the curves but a girl can dream?

Topshop Croc Winged Bag - £50
I normally despise the colour orange as I only thought that looked good in a few places: nails, lips and Beyonce. But I can safely say that orange also looks good on bags, more specifically this gorgeous winged bag from Topshop. This bag is the perfect everyday size and has a long strap as well as a short strap, so you don't always have to carry it on the crook of your arm. 

Pull And Bear Heeled Sandals - £39.99 
I think my tastes are changing as I usually never even glance at a shoes that exposes any foot because feet are so weird and disgusting. But these heeled sandals are just so gorgeous, of course if I wore them right now my feet would get soaking wet because of the rain but they would be perfect for the spring/summer. 

Make Up Forever Full Cover Concealer - £22.95
I have heard so many good things about this concealer but sadly Make Up Forever isn't a readily available brand in the UK, so I'm going to try pick this up this week in Sephora. The Make Up Forever Full Cover Concealer is as the name suggests a full coverage concealer, which is what I need in order to cover my bad skin and imperfections, so I'm really excited to try this product!

Smashbox Full Exposure Eyeshadow Palette - £36
Since the release of the palette I've heard good things about this palette on practically every beauty blog/youtube channel. The Smashbox Full Exposure Palette has 7 shimmery shades and  7 matte shades in very natural and wearable everyday shades, think naked palette but better because it has an equal balance of matte and shimmery shades. It also comes with a mascara and a double ended eyeshadow brush all for £36 making it the perfect neutral palette.

Have a lovely rest of week!

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - New York City

This is a pre-written post, so while you read these words I will be making my way round New York City. Yes I woke up this morning (Sunday 16th) at around 4 o' clock to get to Heathrow at about half 7 for my flight at 9:40. As I write this I don't know how I'll be able to get up that early or if I'll even be able to sleep because of my excitement! 

If you didn't know I'm going to New York as part of a school trip, it's not particularly educational or related to my studies in anyway but it's going to one of the best weeks of my life. There are 11 students going (including myself) and 2 teachers and we're going from Sunday 16th and arriving back very early on the morning of Friday 21st. We'll be seeing all the sites such as the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Grand Central Station, Times Square and the 9/11 memorial, visiting a few museums including the Museum of Moving Image and the Museum of Modern Art. We'll also a doing bit of shopping so prepare yourself for a New York haul when I get back!

This'll be my first time in the USA let alone New York so what better way than to show my excitement through my nail art? 

Eleanor xx

Outfit Post - Valentines

Over the past week I've seen lots of Valentines outfit posts and ideas, the majority of them suggesting that if you are going on a date you should wear your prettiest pink dress. But I was thinking if this guy really likes you, he will love you no matter what you're wearing and let's be honest the majority of guys probably won't even notice! 

River Island Cami, Topshop Skirt, H and M Necklace, Topshop Leather Jacket and Zara Shoes

So this post is less about the clothes you should wear and more about the way your clothes should make you feel: confident, comfortable and sexy! As your valentines date is likely to go 100 times better when you are feeling good about yourself because confidence is attractive. 

I personally feel most confident in black as you all know that it's my go to colour. But I like to experiment a bit with fabrics and texture, this Topshop skirt is a prime example of this. It cuts off at a flattering point on me though I wouldn't complain if there were of couple of extra inches in length and around the hips but sadly Topshop don't make clothes for girls like me with big hips and a small waist! 

Of course you don't have to take my advice, I hardly have experience to give advice seeing as I don't have a Valentine anyway! But whether you are going on a date or not remember one thing; Valentines Day isn't the be all and end all, it's probably going to be the same as the other 364 days this year. And as one of you rightly commented on a previous blog post - Valentines Day is overrated anyway!

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - You Stole My Heart

Who says singles can't celebrate Valentines? Well whether your heart has been stolen or not, why not celebrate the most romantic day of the year with this pretty and simple negative space nail art. 

Negative space nail art is when you leave part of the nail without polish, in this case the heart, creating the stolen heart effect. I did this using a nail art pen, drawing a heart and then filling in the space outside the heart. Then just outline the heart with a white nail art pen and finish with a glossy topcoat. 

I hope you liked my Valentines nail art design and I'd love to know how you're going to spend Valentines Day! On another note though, I thought I'd just let you guys know that I put up a quick and easy double chocolate cookie recipe on my instagram because they are seriously the yummiest cookies ever! I didn't know if you guys would have been interested in a blog post (since this is mainly a fashion and beauty blog) but if you are interested go check out my instagram!

Eleanor xx

Outfit Post - I Woke Up Like This

When deciding what I was going to post this week I wanted to do some sort of Valentines or going out outfit post showing you the outfit I wore when I went out last weekend. But sadly the weather wasn't appropriate for me to take some outfit pictures as it's currently blowing a gale outside, so I decided that I'd post some pictures that I took awhile ago.

Topshop T-shirt, H and M Shirt, River Island Leather Trousers, H and M Necklace, Timberlands

I love the 90s trend of tying a shirt round your waist and I really think it completes this outfit. This outfit is more of a spring outfit as I find it's difficult to find a jacket that's appropriate because the shirt will be sticking out the bottom. But aside from that I'm in love with this outfit and I wear it quite a lot.

I hope the weathers not as bad where you are, this morning I nearly got blown away walking into Sixth Form! But if the weather gets better I promise that I'll try to post a 'going out outfit' post before Valentines Day, not that I'll be going out anyway *sobs at the thought of being forever alone*

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - Pinstripes and Roses

Unlike previous weeks today there is no explanation to the inspiration of my nail art apart from I thought it would look pretty! I'd already painted my nails this lovely grey colour because I went out last night and I hate having bare nails especially when I'm going to a party, but I wanted to jazz my nails up a bit for this post so I went with pinstripes and roses. 

I love this look as it contrasts the masculine stripes with the pretty flowers and I've seen a few bloggers do similar looks in the past. For my version I used Sellotape to create the stripes then a toothpick and 3 different shades of pink to create the roses.

I hope you liked this post and my nail art, please tell me am I the only one who can't stand having I unpainted nails? 

Eleanor xx