Nail polish dupes - Purples

The second post in my nail polish dupes mini series is on purples.

1. Max Factor - Purple Haze - £3.99

2. Bourjois - Bleu Violet - £5.99

2. No 7 - Violetta - £7.00

These colours are virtually identical. I have used the Bourjois polish for years and love it as the quality is really good but in terms of colour the cheaper Max Factor one is a good match. If you get a £5 off No 7 voucher that always seem to be floating about then try the No 7 polish in Violetta but I've always loved the Bourjois So Laque polishes, they have a good pigmentation, long lasting and have a nice shiny finish to them.

Overall, I think this one is just about personal choice and how much you want to spend on a polish.

A year of nail polish - August

Milani - Gems

Rimmel - Clock your green

Orly (not sure what colour)

Avon - City Navy

Avon - Emerald Noir

Wednesday Wishlist 20 - New Look

Rabbit sweater - £14.99

Skull print top - £9.99

Green jeans - £16.99

Monochrome dress - £22.99

Ruby's Closet dress - £39.00

Belted skater dress -  £14.99

Bird print scarf - £2.99

Lace skirt - £24.99

All are available from New Look

Review - Spa Find Stabilizing Mud Mask

I was kindly sent some mini skincare samples from Spa Find and couldn't wait to try them but as I was in the middle of decorating and the whole house was turned upside down as a result I had to wait.

Well after all the stress of redecorating it was the perfect time to treat my skin to a lovely face mask so out came this little beauty.

A mud mask is generally and typically grey in colour but this one was a khaki green and it actually had a clay like scent to it. This little tube was just enough for one application and I left it to dry for around 10 minutes.

I rinsed it off with warm water and unlike other mud masks it was quite easy to remove. Sometimes they cake on and are a pain to remove but this one washed off with no bother at all. After my skin felt toned and refreshed and what's ever better is that it didn't break my skin out in spots. Winner!

The full sized 125ml pot costs £28.50 and I imagine it would last absolutely ages as this one application tube was 7ml so there is about 15 applications in the full sized pot.

The mask is available online from Shop For Spa.

Review - MaxFactor Eye Brightening Mascara

An eye brightening mascara - yes you heard right and I am equally baffled by this claim as you are.

I have to admit I only bought this as I got caught in a mega rain storm whilst walking back to my car  after work last week and I went to see my friend in Boots and saw that this was on offer and I had some Boots points burning a hole in my purse.

So how does it claim to brighten your eyes? Well there are 3 different shades: one for brown, green and blue eyes where the mascara colour is slightly different. As I have brown eyes that's the one I got and the mascara colour is black pearl. If you have blue eyes the mascara colour is black sapphire and for green eyes it's black emerald.

After using it everyday since I got it I wouldn't say it brightens my eyes but it does fan out my lashes nicely. It doesn't give mega volume, I have used other mascaras which I prefer for this, but for everyday use this is perfect. 

Thinking back Boots 17 range brought out a Photo Flawless mascara which was similar as you chose your shade depending on your eye colour. I haven't used this one so can't compare.

Overall I would buy this again but purely for the fact that it made my lashes look nice for an everyday look and not for the claims that it makes my eyes look brighter.

Have you tried this what did you think?

Available from Boots and Superdrug.

Nail polish dupes - Blues

Whilst sorting through my huge bag of nail polishes I was astounded by how many shades I had that were the same but from different brands. I am planning on doing a little mini series over the next few weeks to show which ones I have found. First up it's navy blue.

1. 2True - Crystal Shade 1 - £1.99

2. Max Factor - Prussian Blue - £3.99

3. No 7 - Betty Blues - £7

All three colours are very similar but vary significantly in price.

After trying all three of these polishes out the 2True and Max Factor are most similar in colour but after just one coat the 2True and No 7 polishes apply the best.

I'm not sure which one I would chose out of the 2True or No 7 polishes but I wouldn't pay £7 for the No 7 one, I would wait for the £5 off vouchers and buy it at £2. The lasting quality of both of these are very good and you can easily get away with just one coat of each so these are perfect of you're in a rush.

Wednesday Wishlist 19 - ASOS

Curve peplum top - £16.00

Bird snood - £10.00

Oasis street scene scarf - £20.00

Shearling mittens - £15.00

Tigi split end mender leave in conditioner - £11.90

Fekkai shea butter hair conditioner - £23 (was £33)

All available from ASOS

My goals for the rest of the year

As we are half way through August and I haven't really progressed much with my Day Zero Project I thought I would select certain goals from it that I can achieve or start by the end of the year.

1. Eat veggie for a week

2. Pay off my debts

3. Take a full length photo every week for a year

4. Don't wear black for a week

5. Grow my hair down my back

6. Watch 2 new films

7. Try 1 new cocktail

8. Open a cookbook and cook what ever is on the page

9. Cook 3 new recipes

10. Try 2 new foods

As always I'll keep you updated with how I get on. Do you have your own Day Zero Project? I'd love to hear of any ideas you could give me as I haven't yet got my 101 goals!

Image from weheartit

Book review - Tales of the Gypsy Dressmaker by Thelma Madine

It's been such a long time since I did a book review due to basically getting out of the habit of reading but when I saw this book by the famous gypsy dressmaker, Thelma Madine, had been published I read it in super speedy time so here is what I thought.......

The blurb....

Thelma Madine, star of Channel 4’s Big Fat Gypsy Weddings and fairy godmother of extravagant wedding dresses, reveals the drama, secrets and surprises involved in ten incredible traveller weddings.

Through the tales of ten elaborate gypsy wedding dresses, Thelma Madine, trusted confidante and dressmaker extraordinaire, offers a window onto the world of traveller brides and their unbelievable celebrations.

For Thelma’s young brides, a wedding dress is more than just a pretty white gown. For some it is a symbol of their fairytale-like hopes and dreams for the future, for others a mark of a long-standing friendship with a non-traveller they have welcomed into their community, and, for one small group, it is a sad reminder of day they know will never come.

With each chapter based around the secrets and incredible truths hidden behind each different dress, Thelma’s second book is packed full of fascinating new stories. By turns laugh-out-loud funny and achingly sad, and brimming with hilarious anecdotes and larger-than-life characters, Thelma’s book will amaze, amuse and entertain.

Beautifully designed and fully-illustrated throughout, it is crammed with glossy new photos, revealing never-before-seen dresses adorned with thousands of Swarovski crystals and hundreds of LED lights – an ideal gift for fans of Channel 4’s Big Fat Gypsy Weddings and Thelma’s Gypsy Girls.

What I thought.....

As you've probably guessed I loved this book. It was really easy to read and I read it over 3 nights and found it hard to put down when it was bed time. I bought this to read on my iPad and  loved reading about Thelma's life, if you liked Thelma's Gypsy Girls then I think you'll love this book.

Pages....

304

Available on....

Kindle, iPad and in the traditional paper in a book!

Haul - Next and New Look

Apologies for the lack of posts this last couple of weeks but as you may know I've been decorating my room and time has been limited so blogging had to take a back seat. Now I'm back with a haul post I was meant to put up ages ago but as they say better late than never!

Next

All of these were in the sale so they should have been at least double what I paid for them - bargain!

Toucan handbag - £12.00

Snood - £5.00

For my cousins little boys:

Dino t-shirts - £3 each

Cow t-shirt - £2

Jeans - £7.00

Camper van romper - £6

Sequin beach bag - £20 (not in the sale)

 Gold cardigan - £12.00

Grey cardigan - £8.00

 Sequin jumper - £12.00

Heart t-shirt - £8.00

Bow t-shirt - £6.00

 Gym top - £6.00

Joggers - £8.00

I also got some christmas presents in the sale too and some home stuff but didn't take photos of these.

New Look

Studded shoes - £15.99

Patent shoes - £12.99

Combat trousers - £6.00 (was £17.99)

Trouser leggings - £7.00 (was £19.99)

Black vest - £5.99

Stripe vest - £5.99

Tweet jumper - £14.99

So that's my haul! Have you been hauling lately? Link me to your posts!

The month that was.....July

I literally can't believe it's August, where's time going?!? But back to July. July started with me getting a job interview for a company in town doing telesales. I went and didn't like it so wasn't going to accept the 3 month trial but then the man who I saw phoned me and asked if I wanted to try out for a job in the admin section. This was way more me so a few days later off I popped for a couple of hours to try it out. Three hours later I left pretty sure I had the job in the bag and hey presto 4 hours later I got the phone call asking if I could start on Monday! So I work 9-4.30 Monday-Friday, with one late night until 7.30 where I get paid for working 3 hours when in fact I work 2, we get extra money on Fridays depending on how well sales have done, last week we got ice creams when it was hot and we get enough free tea and coffee to sink a battle ship! Even though I've done admin before this is completely different as they have their own system and at the moment it's alot of learning and remembering. We sell till rolls by the way so it's not something I have a clue about! Overall though I really like it and it's so nice being able to get up for 7.30 and only having a 10 minute drive to work, abit different to a 5.30am alarm and at least an hours journey to work. 

Also in July my grandad had his big 85th birthday bash which was a big garden party and a hog roast. The weather was ok but it did rain on and off which was a little disappointing but everyone had a good day. Lots of family who I hadn't seen in years also came so it was really nice to have a big catch up. 

I'm also planning on redecorating my bedroom which is going to be a mega job but I've decided on what wallpaper I'm having and which paint so now it's just deciding when to start. 

Also it was the opening of the Olympics. The opening ceremony started a little 'blah' if you ask me. I turned off after half and hour because I just didn't get it but then when I started to see all the tweets saying how amazing it was I put it back on and was transfixed to the screen. Simply amazing. I'm not really planning on watching many events as I'm not really into sport but some of the athletic and the diving might just find their way on to my screen!

And as I've recently had a lot of time on my hands I took full advantage of competitions on Twitter and on blogs and won quite a few goodies including these: 

So that was my July, how was yours? Are you planning on watching the Olympics? Have a nice August :-)

A year of nail polish - July

Models Own - Black Smash Up 

Avon - Mercury Metal

Rimmel - Tangy Tangerine