Sunday Nails - Autumn Leaves

Last week while I was waiting for my father to pick my up from Sixth Form I noticed that I was standing in a huge pile of leaves that covered the floor like a blanket. It was only then that I realised how beautiful leaves are when they've fallen from their tree. I find it weird that leaves are more beautiful when they're dead than when they're actually hanging on a tree. WEIRD.

As leaves are so festive and pretty what better inspiration for my nails this Sunday? To keep with the autumnal theme I decided to buy myself a burgundy nail varnish while I was in town today so I could use it for this nail art. I used a Barry M Nail Paint in 115 Red Black for those of you wondering. I was a bit lazy and only did the nail art on my ring finger but sometimes I think it's best not to go over the top.

What are you doing to get into the festive spirit? Apart from admiring piles of leaves I've got Christmas candles burning left right and centre, not next to the leaves I might add that would be a for hazard.

Eleanor xx

November Wishlist

Finally my student card has come after a couple of months of waiting and it getting lost in the post. What does that have to do with anything? I hear you ask, well my friend I can now go shopping and feel slightly less guilty about spending my money if I get discount. Oh yes (be jealous) as this is what I'm going to buy:

Topshop Check A-Line Skirt - £42

I saw this skirt in Topshop in Birmingham and fell in love! I think it's a cross between Cher in Clueless and a biker, and it's very different to a lot of other tartan skirts I've seen about. Okay £42 is quite expensive but it's so pretty, I need it!

New Look Black Ankle Boots - £27.99

I've seen so many expensive black boots with this 'workman' sole on blogs and in the shops all around the £70-£80 price mark, so was quite shocked to see these beauties on the New Look website for £27.99. In the past I've bought loads of shoes from New Look and they've always been great value for money so if that's anything to go buy these would definetly last you through the cold winter months.

River Island Leather Look Trousers - £35

I've always wanted a pair of leather look trousers but I've never found a pair I liked or if I have they've always been really expensive, but these are perfect. I saw these on Tar Mar and they looked amazing on her which just made me want them even more!

Real Techniques Sam's Picks Set - £29.99

Real Techniques is by far my favourite brand for makeup brushes and I currently own the Core Collection set and the Starter Set. The newest set that Real Techniques are launching is full of Samatha Chapman's favourite brushes, the set includes the multi task brush, the buffing brush, essential crease brush, setting brush, pointed foundation brush and the fine liner brush. The set is being released this month.

Topshop Lip Crayon in Suspect - £7
I've been looking for the perfect dark lipstick all month, I started looking at Mac lipsticks (my favourite brand for lipsticks) but I just could find the right colour and I wasn't going to spend £15 if I wasn't in love with the shade. Topshop's Lip Crayon in Suspect is the perfect dark burgendy lipstick that is each to apply because it's in the shape of a crayon (obz haha) and for £7 what's not to love?

I hoped you liked this post and what I'm hoping to buy this month. Oh and for those of you wondering the shopping ban didn't work out as you probably guessed, I'm sorry okay...

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - Neutral Aztec

I love doing crazy colourful nail art but sometimes you just want to be a bit more subtle and understated, and that is how I felt this week. It's been my first week back at school since the half term break and I'm trying to keep cool, calm and collected as I get back into my routine and that is definitely reflected on my nails.

The truth is that I'm worn out and just couldn't be bothered to experiment, nor did I have the time with all of my school work, helping out at open evenings, watching drama performances and trying to get my room back together after decorating. That being said it's nice not to worry about getting paint under my nails now we've finished painting, but my room still isn't finished! 

Before I get new wardrobes my parents have suggested I look for a new carpet as I still have the original carpet that was in the house when my parents moved in just before I was born, yes the carpet is that old (now you can see why I got a rug haha!) But when I get a new carpet I do not know let alone new wardrobes, but I promise when I do that I will either do a room tour post or YouTube video. (If you want a sneak peak of how my room is starting to look check out my Instagram.)

Do you ever get those weeks when you just cannot be bothered to make a huge effort?

Eleanor xx

October Rate Or Hate

I'm late, I'm late, I'm very very late! Okay, I know we're already well in November and this post is very overdue but I thought I'd post my October Rate or Hate anyway because I would've felt guilty not doing some sort of favourite post for two months on the trot. 

Rate -

This month I've really been loving the look of dark eyes and dark lips but surprisingly I don't own many dark lipsticks apart from one: 2True Colour Drench Lipstick in no. 2. I cannot tell you how many compliments I've had on this lipstick this month and people asking me what lipstick I'm wearing. So when I tell them that I'm wearing a 2True lipstick they're often very surprised, as 2True is a very cheap brand that not many people think of buying makeup from. 

This lipstick is the perfect shade of brown, not too dark and with a slight plum undertone. It's quite moisturizing and glossy for a cheap lipstick and for the price I'm very impressed with it, even if the packaging isn't that pretty.

Hate - 

If you often read my Sunday Nails posts then you'll have heard me mention this nail varnish before. All I can really say about it, is how disappointed I am that is 'matte' nail varnish isn't actually very matte at all, which is why I bought it. It's just so annoying because for £6 I expect the nail varnish to be good and worth the money, where as the matte nail varnish I bought by Barry M is actually matte and it was nearly half the price of the Topshop one. How. Annoying.

Have you tried either of these products? Or maybe have some recommendations of products you've loved this month? If so you know what to do;)

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - Burgundy Baroque

Brrrrrrr I'm so cold, in fact constantly freezing now we have entered the month of November. My temperature is not helped by the fact that for the next two days we cannot put on the heating while the radiator that we've painted in my room dries *sighs and goes to put on two sets of thermals, three jumpers, a pair of leggings, a onesie, two pairs of fluffy socks and slippers*.

So to exercise my hands and to keep them warm I have attempted a rather complicated baroque nail art on a burgundy base, very wintry if I do say so myself. In my opinion this nail art is very elegant but was also a pain in the bum to do as you need a very steady hand (something that is difficult to achieve when you're shivering)!

I hope you aren't as chilly as I am but if you are I hope this has cheered you up a bit (I don't know why nail art would cheer you up but hey ho)!

Eleanor xx

Review - Bleach London D.I.Y Dip Dye Kit

Last Saturday I finally took the plunge and decided to ombré my hair. After lots of thought and encouragement from my friends I just decided to go for it despite never having dyed my own hair before let alone ombréd it!

I decided to buy the Bleach D.I.Y Dip Dye Kit from Boots for £7 as I'd lots of great things about it before. The box contains a mixing bowl, a tint brush, some gloves,  2 sachets of bleach powder, a sachet of blending lotion, a bottle of developing lotion and a their conditioning recovery mask. It says on the box to buy two kits if you have long hair but I have mid length hair and didn't even need half of the mixture so I'm sure if you had long hair you wouldn't need two kits. Money wise I think you get a lot for your money but I wish they'd included a small sample of toner so you didn't have to go out and buy one.

The mixing stage isn't particularly difficult it's just very messy as the bowl is a bit small, so I'd make sure you put something on the surface underneath the bowl as I ended up spilling it a couple of times. Application was quite simple and the blending location gives a nice blended effect minimizing the risk of that dreaded line across your head where the two colours meet.

It says to leave it on for about 15-30 minutes and test to see if it's the right colour, I left mine on for about 20 as my hair wasn't the darkest brown, I didn't want it to be ice blonde and also my hair was quite damaged to start with so I was a bit vary of the impact of the bleach on my hair! After washing off the dye my hair was left very dry but that was soon fixed by the recovery mask which I left on for 10 minutes. 

Overall I'm really happy with the finished result but I might get some toner just to slightly reduce the yellow and copper tones. Next time I might also leave it on a bit longer at the tips just to get it a bit blonder.

Have you ever ombréd your hair?

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - Disco Drippin'

After I took the pictures for today's Sunday Nails I had to do something devastatingly tragic. Cut my nail very very short. WHY?! I hear the scream after spending weeks growing them and shaping into a perfect point? And the answer is that my nail were so damaged that my nails were bending and breaking right in the middle and the only solution was to cut them off and start again. So let's reminisce my long nails together with my last Halloween nail art.

Right so this isn't the scariest nail art but I still think it counts as a Halloween nail art because of the dripping blood. I think it's pretty, unusual and perfect if your going out clubbing on Halloween because of the way the light hits the hollographic nail polish making it shimmer and sparkle specks of rainbow.

I hope you liked my not so scary Halloween nail art and this mini series has given you a few ideas about how you want to paint your nails on Halloween. But what I really want to know is which one was your favourite? 

Eleanor xx

Outfit Posts - Just Want To Be A Jenner

As we draw closer and closer into the winter it is becoming harder to take photo's for my outfit posts. This is because as soon as I get home for Sixth Form it's either raining or cloudy and damp. Sad, sad times. So to combat that, today I'm sharing an outfit that I took pictures of a couple of months ago, but trust me I still wear it!

New Look Top, Primark Jeans, H and M Bag and Dune Boots

This outfit is definitely something that I think Kylie Jenner would wear. It's very simple but accentuates your waist with the crop top and high waisted jeans. To make this outfit a bit more weather appropriate I'd probably recommend chucking on a leather jacket and a beanie otherwise you might be a bit chilly!

I hope you liked my outfit despite it being quite old and I look petrified in the last picture (I promise I don't look that scary in real life)! I've only got two days left of Sixth Form before half term and it seriously couldn't come soon enough! I feel exhausted and can't wait to have a lie in and plenty of pajama days as well as looking for a job.

In February I will hopefully be going to New York with Sixth Form and that means one thing... SHOPPING! But to shop you've got to have money hence my urgent need for a job and to save, so this could mean putting myself on a temporary shopping ban *weeps into laptop*. Have any of you tried it? Please say it's not as difficult as it looks?

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - Frankenstein

This is the second Halloween nail art in my mini Halloween nail art series but this time it's a little more obvious as it's inspired by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Frankenstein is like the monster of all Halloween Monsters and a popular choice for many people to dress up as on Halloween but if you don't fancy painting yourself green then this may be a perfect solution!

As a base colour I used OPI's Did It On Em' from the Nicki Minaj Collection, I then used my Black Models Own Nail Art Pen to create the black messy hair and stitched mouth and then my White Models Own Nail Art Pen for the eyes. It was quite quick, simple and easy and if you go slightly wrong it doesn't really matter as it just makes your little Frankensteins look a bit more creepy!

Next week will be my last Halloween themed Sunday Nails so if you have any special requests let me know down below.

Eleanor xx

October Wishlist

How are we halfway through October already? Before we know it, it'll be November and then December and then Christmas! HOW IS IT NEARLY CHRISTMAS? IT'S ONLY JUST BEEN MY BIRTHDAY?!...

Mind. Blown.

Bleach DIY Dip Dye Kit - £7 and Bleach Super Cool Colour Rosé - £5
I've always secretly wanted to dye my hair candyfloss pink but it's never really been achievable without going to a salon, but now my dreams can become a reality as from this month you can buy home hair dye kits and colours from the colour experts Bleach London. This will certainly make dying your hair at home easier and cheaper than ever. I'm not quite sure I'll have the confidence to dye my whole head pink at first so I think I'll use their Dip Dye Kit and see how it goes before I risk looking like Frenchy from Grease! 

Topshop Skeleton All-In-One - £32
This may just look like a Halloween costume to the untrained eye but in reality it is much, much more. This beautiful skeleton all in one is possibly one of the coolest things I've ever seen, I mean common it looks like an x-ray! Yes, it may show every lump and bump but who cares it's Halloween!

River Island Black Satin Bite T-shirt - £20
Now does this t-shirt look extremely similar to those made by Givenchy like last year, you know the one's seen on celebs such as Kanye West and Liv Tyler? There is no denying that this is a good dupe if you don't have the dollar for the real thing, plus it's readily available on the high street so you don't have to wait months to get something similar sent from a Chinese website, what more could you ask for?

The Great Gatsby DVD - £10
Okay, so this doesn't actually come out until November 11th but I couldn't resist including it as we all know how I love a lot a bit of Leo. Don't worry though as you can pre-order it off Amazon and get Gatsby as soon as possible. Enough said.

Missguided Floppy Hat - £14.99
I have been searching for the perfect floppy hat for weeks now in my quest to be the bloggers answer to Audrey Hepburn. Okay, that will never happen but a girl can dream! (On another note, is it just me but the model in the picture is pulling a very unusual facial expression?)

Once again I apologize for talking about The Great Gatsby and Leonardo DiCaprio #sorrynotsorry

Eleanor xx