Sunday Nails - Geometric Peach

One of my favourite nail art tools is sellotape. A boring everyday household item that can be used to create so many different nail art patterns and is incredibly useful in creating clean cut lines. Sellotape and nail art pens were my tools of choice in creating today's geometric Sunday Nails and can help people with even the unsteadiest of hands.

Hope your all having a wonderful weekend and I'd love to know what plans you have for the week ahead!

Eleanor xx

5 Makeup Tips For Hay Fever Sufferers

Wearing makeup when you suffer from hay fever can be a nightmare. Puffy, blotchy skin, itchy eyes and red noses mean that makeup can be a lifesaver in disguising common problems caused by hay fever. With more and more people suffering from hay fever than ever before more of us are having to adapt our makeup routine to hay fever, so I thought I'd offer some helpful tips to help you in the process. 

1. Use waterproof long lasting makeup especially mascara and eyeliner. Jet black mascara or eyeliner running down your face, because of itchy watery eyes, will not only make you look like a panda but ruin the rest of our makeup. This is the last thing you want when you've spent ages putting your makeup on in the morning.

2. Avoid pink toned products. Using a green or yellow toned concealer will mask a red nose or eyes as they cancel out red. Another option would be to use a colour correcting primer like the Stila One Step Correcting Primer.

3. Less is more. If your skin is itchy and inflamed it is probably best to not wear any makeup at all but if you do choose to wear makeup try to wear less. Makeup can become very obvious as watery eyes and runny noses can cause patches to rub off, so natural makeup will be less noticeable if it rubs off until you get a chance to touch up.

4. Eye drops can work wonders for some hay fever sufferers as they add moisture to dry itchy eyes. Itching your eyes will not help and only ruin your makeup so carry round some eye drops instead.

5. Use a nude eyeliner on your waterline. Using a nude eyeliner on your waterline will not only brighten up your eyes but counteract the redness making red irritated eyes a lot less noticeable.

Do you suffer from hay fever? If so, what are your tips?

Eleanor 
xx

Hibiscus

Bright colours and summer florals have never really been my thing. In the height of the summer I will wear the same monochromatic colour palette that I wore in the depths of the winter, but that doesn't stop me from wearing bright nail polishes. I am full of contradictions when it comes to my nails; Orange is my least favourite colour but my favourite nail polish is orange, I hate bright colours on me unless its on my nails and I think that rhinestones can look a bit tacky anywhere other than on my nails. 

I can't explain my contradictory nature so there isn't really an explanation of my nail art today apart from it is a simple summery hibiscus design and I like it, so I'm wearing it! What I can explain though is the improvement in the quality of my photo's as yesterday I went out and bought the Canon EOS 700D. For a long time I've felt like my photography has been holding my blog back and now I've finally got a good camera I can learn how to improve my photography more and maybe start a YouTube channel... if I ever pluck up the courage that is!

Eleanor xx

Review - Stila One Step Colour Corrector Primer

Primer is often argued as the most important part of your makeup routine but it's a step that I often forget. When I wear a primer I often notice a significant difference to the appearance of my makeup and instantly regret my years of laziness and ignorance when it comes to primer. As I don't want you to make the same mistakes as me I thought that today I'd share with you my review of my favorite primer: Stila One Step Colour Correcting Primer.

While the name suggests that all the Stila One Step Primer does is colour correct, it infact does a lot more. The primer is make up of 3 colours which work together in improving the appearance of your skin. Stila claims that the green tone neutralizes redness and conceals blemishes, the lavender tone counteracts shallow undertones and the peach tone brightens, illuminates and helps diminish the appearance of sun spots. They also claim that the primer reduces the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, pores and pigmentation as well as hydrating the skin and controlling oil.

Of course I cannot back up all of these claims as I do not have wrinkles or sun spots but it does work wonders on my skin. When my acne is causing a lot of redness, I'll just rub a bit of primer into my skin and the redness will disappear, my pores will look smaller and my skin will feel smoother. Sadly it does not 'conceal blemishes' but I find that I do not have to use as much concealer. 

The only negative about this primer is that it causes serious flashback because it contains titanium dioxide but other than that I think this is a great primer that will suit a lot of different skin types, just don't use it for photos!

Have you tried the Stila One Step Colour Correcting Primer?

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - Football

While I'm not the biggest fan of football, with the world cup on at the moment there will be no escaping talk of 'the beautiful game'. So I've decided that instead of complaining about how constant coverage of the world cup has messed up the TV schedule or that my twitter timeline is full of football related tweets, I will embrace the sporting spirit and show my support for the England team through my football nail art. 

Will you be watching any of the world cup?

Eleanor xx

June Wishlist

So as you may be able to see this months wishlist is very white. Yes, in order to get out of my black fashion rut I've gone to the complete opposite end of the colour spectrum. While white is not the most practical colour ever it will certainly keep you a lot cooler in the summer months than black while still allowing you to work to monochrome trend so I will definitely be embracing it as we enter the warmer months.

Choies White Sandals - £41.29
There is no denying that these sandals are exact dupes for the Alexander Wang Aline Sandals that were released last year. They are probably uncomfortable because of the heel and would therefore not be suitable for everyday use but if you want to look like a celebrity but for a fraction of the price then these are a great summer shoe.

Topshop Lace Skirt - £38
This skirt is so unbelievably pretty, delicate and girly. Lace is a timeless material and I can imagine this skirt being a summer wardrobe staple for years to come. While £38 initially seems a bit expensive, I think that you get what you pay for and this skirt is very detailed making it worth the money.

Frends Headphones - £120
Frends isn't a brand that I'm particularly familiar with because its not as highly publicized as brands such as Beats but Frends' designs beat Beats by miles. Frends is the first technology brand that predominantly designs headphones for women and the Layla rose gold headphones are a prime example of that.

Boohoo Boutique Trousers - £25
I'm loving the Boohoo Boutique range at the moment, the designs are so on point and look a lot more expensive than they actually are. I love the PVC detail around the top of these trousers as it really makes them stand out from similar trousers I've seen. I just hope that they look as good quality in person!

This time next week all of my exams will be over and to treat myself I will be going shopping, so expect to see a haul very soon featuring lots of white items. Ah I'm so excited to finally be able to relax without having to stress about revising! 

What are you looking forward to this month?

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - Dark Tropics

Apart from the usual spring summer trends like pastels and pretty florals there is a new standout trend this season: tropics. Tropical prints are everywhere on the high street this season and while it is unlikely that you will see my sporting the trend through my clothes (colourful clothes aren't typically my thing) I will be working the trend through this bright nail art! 

For a nail art like this to work you need to take your time building up layers of colour using acrylic paints. To create depth in the flowers with every layer of paint use a slighter colour, and strategically place it too create shadows and highlights. While the sounds complicated and time consuming, you don't need to worry about being neat a precise saving a lot of time.

What's your favourite SS14 trend?

Eleanor xx

Top 5 Tanning Tips

Ah summer...hair gets lighter...skin gets darker... well not if your pale skinned like me. I am seriously pale, so ghostly white that it's blinding; don't get me wrong I do embrace the pale but sometimes it's nice to have a healthy glowing tan. But to get a healthy glowing tan I have to use fake tan because the sun does nothing but give me freckles and burn my pale skin, this means that I have a bit of experience when it comes to the do's and don'ts of fake tan so I thought I'd share some of my tips...

1. Exfoliating your skin will remove any dead skin cells or dry skin helping your tan to apply more evenly so it is less likely to go patchy. If you are a frequent fake tanner, exfoliating your skin will also help to remove your old fake tan once again helping to minimize patchiness. For the best results I would recommend lightly exfoliating (with an exfoliating mitt or body scrub) every day for a week prior to tanning.

2. Moisturizing is the most important part of your tanning routine. Moisturizing everyday for a week prior to tanning should prevent the fake tan sticking to any dry skin and moisturizing after tanning will help maintain the tan and help it fake without going patchy. Even if you do not think that your skin is dry it probably is especially in areas such as your knees, hands, ankles, elbows and spine, if you do not moisturize these areas they will go orange. 

3. Unless you have found the perfect high street tan for you I would recommend investing in a more expensive fake tan such as St Tropez, Xen Tan or Fake Bake. This is because they are often more forgiving if you apply them badly and have less orange pigment, giving a more natural look. There is always an offer on somewhere so if you do your research you are unlikely to have to pay full price anyway.

4. You don't need to have an expensive fake tan mitt to apply fake tan well. While they do come in handy if you don't own one simply put a couple of pairs of clean socks over your hand (a couple so that the tan doesn't seep through and turn your hands orange). Whatever you do, DO NOT APPLY FAKE TAN WITH YOUR HANDS! I do not care what anybody says, no matter how many time you wash your hands they will be stained orange, which is a common tell tale sign of a bad fake tan.

5. Check over every inch of your body to make sure you have applied the tan everywhere. To do this thoroughly stand in front of a full length mirror in good lighting and check that you haven't missed anywhere. If you have missed or can't reach an area, for example your back which is always a tricky place to reach on your own, rope in a friend or family member to help you out.

What are your opinions of fake tan?

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - Renaissance Opulence

It may be the first of June but I refuse to let that stop me from wearing dark nail polishes. While it may not be very seasonal to wear a dark nail polish in the summer I am a strong believer in doing what you want no matter what the weather is for example I'm still going to wear a skirt in the winter or if it's raining.

Nail Varnish - Essie Shearling Darling

Studs - Primark 

Its sad but sometimes I feel like my appearance is one of the only things I am in control of. I'm in that annoying teenage stage where I'm fed up of people telling me what I can and cannot do; I want to make my own decisions and be independent as this is my life after all. But until I can figure out how I'll just have to stick to rebelling through my controversial choice in nail polish.

Eleanor xx