July Rate Or Hate

Occasionally I struggle to make my mind up when deciding on what products to feature in my monthly 'Rate Or Hate' posts. This is because sometimes it is just impossible to say that you either love or hate a product as a lot of the time they fall into the uncertain middle ground of 'like'. The two products I'm going to feature today both fall into that middle ground so instead of trying to class them as 'Rate or Hate' I thought I'd do a mini review of each product.

Nars Laguna Bronzer - £27

Nars' Laguna Bronzer is an incredibly hyped about product within the beauty blogging community but I'm not that in love with it. Don't get me wrong it's a gorgeous bronzer: just the right colour, a hint of shimmer but not glittery and makes my face look photo shopped. But in all honesty it doesn't blend that well, it isn't that pigmented and like all Nars products the packaging gets extremely dirty. If it was a bit cheaper then these imperfections may be forgivable but for £27 I'd really expect more.

Cocoa Brown Fake Tan By Marissa Carter - £6

This product is at the other end of the price spectrum so I expect that this product may not be perfect but I still don't like to think that I've wasted my money. While this isn't the best fake tan I've used it's still not bad for the price, in fact when it's washed off my skin is a gorgeous brown not orange. But a word of warning if you do not prepare your skin it will go patchy, it also stains your sheets and goes patchy as it starts to fade. That being said I'd probably buy it again because it's easy to apply, dries quickly and you can fix the faults with a bit of exfoliating and moisturizing.

Have you tried either of these products? 

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - Amsterdam

I haven't posted a lot this week and the reason is that I've been on holiday in Amsterdam. It was all very last minute and for a while I didn't think that I would be going on holiday this summer but on Monday morning my parents booked the holiday and we were on the plane first thing Tuesday morning! The weather was perfect, I had an amazing time looking around the museums and boating along the canals but because it was all so last minute I didn't have time to schedule a blog post. But now that I'm back on home soil I've managed to squeeze in this Sunday Nails post dedicated to my trip to Amsterdam; the flag of Amsterdam.

To make up for my lack of posts this week I was thinking about doing 2 posts a week (Sunday nails and a fashion or beauty post) and maybe a guest post every week until September. Would any of you be interested in doing a guest post? Let me know down below...

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - Diamantes Are A Girls Best Friend

When Marilyn Monroe sang Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend she was certainly onto something but sadly not many of us can afford diamonds to stick on our nails; this is where diamantes or gem stones come in. Gem stones or diamantes are a simple and cheap way to make your nails more interesting, and while in the past I've always thought they were a bit 'chavy' but like a lot of trends when done tastefully they can look great.

I bought these gems as part of a pack from Primark and I just attach them with a coat of clear nail varnish and some tweezers. But what do you think, are diamantes chavy or tasteful?

Eleanor xx

How To Survive Summer On A Budget

Summer has officially started for me as today was my last day of Sixth Form! With so much time on my hands I finally have the chance to spend some well deserved quality time with my family friends but going on day trips and holidays can all add up to be very expensive, so today I thought I'd give you guys some tips on how to survive summer on a budget!

1. Don't do anything unless it's free or you can get a discount! This is a motto that can applied to a lot of things but is very easy to implement during the summer. There are hundreds of activities that you can do that don't cost a penny such as going for a walk, bike ride or just chilling out in one of the UK's beautiful parks. There are also lots of attractions that are free for example lots of museums in London including my personal favorites: the National History Museum, The Tate Modern and The National Gallery. 

2. Do your research! This ties into the last point but if there is in particular you had in mind doing this summer then research it to see if there are any ways you can do it cheaper. Look for special offers on the attractions official website, discount codes, vouchers in newspapers and food packaging (Kelloggs cereals often have a 2 for 1 offer on attractions such as Alton Towers, Thorpe Park and many more).

3. Look local! Lots of towns and cities host their own festivals that often only require a donation on entry. My local town holds a small music festival one weekend every year and it's a great opportunity to support local music acts and businesses, not only that but you don't have to spend any money on train tickets or petrol as it's within walking distance.

4. Stay at home! You don't always need to go places to have a good time, invite your friends round for a BBQ or a party and I guarantee you will have a great time. Instead of bringing a present just ask everyone to bring round a dish of food or something to drink, pop on a party playlist from spotify and get the party started! 

5. It's not about what you do but who you do it with. It doesn't really matter what you do this summer because as cheesy as it sounds when your spending time with the people you love everything is fun.

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - He Loves Me He Loves Me Not

Summer time in Primary School was always the best time of year. Morning, lunch time and afternoon breaks were spent making daisy chains, playing handstands and giggling while watching the boys playing football. My most favourite past time was definitely picking the petals off daisy's wondering if my crush 'loved me or loved me not', the amount of innocent daisies I must have beheaded in my childhood is ridiculous, so in tribute to those daisies this Sunday nails is dedicated to them.

Please tell me I was not the only who did this as a kid?

Eleanor xx

Outfit Post - Hiding Under A Tree

I like to call these photos "Caught hiding under a tree by a former lover" as that is the only phrase that describes the startled/slightly angry/slightly disappointed look on my face, that or "Is that a stinging nettle touching my leg?". Why do bloggers pull such strange faces in outfit posts? The classic "looking at something mysterious in the distance" or the "oh you want to take my photo?" or in my case "what are you doing?" 

The majority of us aren't models and by the time I get one slightly acceptable photo I give up. Let's be real I don't have Patrick Demarchelier taking my photos, I'm not Cara Delevingne and this is not Vogue, this is my small piece of the internet and I'm going to show you what I wore today whether my photography is great or not.

I love these shorts they're so pretty with this delicate lace overlay and when paired with a striped blue and white shirt it creates the perfect relaxed summer look. Also you may or may not have noticed but I'm blonde! I bleached my hair quite a few weeks ago now but I haven't got round to showing you guys, so you won't have seen it unless you follow my Instagram (which you should be)!

Hope you're enjoying your week, tomorrow I'm going on a team building day with my Sixth Form. Think fields, mud and obstacle courses... wish me luck!

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - A Little Bit Of Lace

One of my favourite looks is nail art on an accent finger. Not only can it draw attention to pretty rings but if your a bit lazy when it comes to nail art, it looks like you intended to only paint one nail and not that you painted one and gave up (may or may not have been what happened to me)! I always keep accent nail art to either my ring finger or my middle finger as it doesn't quite look as good elsewhere but other than that anything goes.



So what do you think? Are accent nails a sign of laziness or a pretty nail art trend?

Eleanor xx

June Rate Or Hate

So we are officially more than half way through the year, isn't that crazy? The beginning of my year was so great because of my trip to New York that everything since then has seemed a bit average but July is a new month and I'm going to do my best to make sure that the rest of my year will be as good as (if not better) than the start of my year. 

But to improve you must reflect on all aspects of your life including my favourite (and not so favourite) products so here is this months rate or hate -

Seventeen Stay Time Concealer and Bioderma Micellaire Solution

Rate -
Every time I run out of my trusty Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer I always struggle to replace it as my local Boots and Superdrugs are always out of stock, so this time I decided to try something new: the Seventeen Stay Time Concealer. I was all prepared for this concealer to be disappointing but I was pleasantly surprised! The Seventeen Stay Time Concealer is incredibly similar to the Collection Concealer, the only difference is that it is less drying, paler and a slightly lighter coverage so if you were disappointed by the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer then maybe you should consider giving this a try!  

Hate - 
For over a year now I have been hearing about micellar waters and of course the 'holy grail' of micellar water: Bioderma, but in all honesty I'm not that impressed. Bioderma Crealine H2O Micellar Water is basically just a makeup remover, it's nothing particularly special and does as good a job as my makeup wipes. In fact my makeup wipes are a lot easier as I have to use at least four cotton pads and quite a bit of the micellar water. Sadly I think this is just another case of a good product being over hyped to the point where it seems like a rubbish product.

What are you rating and hating this month?

Eleanor xx