DIY Gel Nails

I used to get gel manicures a few years ago before my wedding so that my nails would grow for the day itself, and I used to love how they would last for at least two weeks without chipping or getting smudged like normal polish. I stopped getting them done a few months after my wedding as, although it wasn't crazy expensive, I just couldn't justify the cost every 3-4 weeks.
So, for my birthday, my friend Caroline arranged for me to get my nails done with her and the mobile technician she uses. I was really pleased with how my nails looked. I went for a bright pink as they would match my dress for my night out (see post here).

After a couple of weeks, I realised that my nails had grown so well with the gel manicure on, and I wanted to keep it up. But again, I couldn't justify the cost every few weeks. I had been lucky to get some money for my birthday from my family, so I decided to look into how much it would cost to get my own gel kit. My cousin Stacey had got one a while ago and was happy with it, so I did a bit of research and ended up on Ebay at what deals I could find. I ended up coming across this shop which seemed to have some good deals.

I had looked at getting a set that was the UV light box, remover solution and prepare and wipe solution. This was around £30. I then looked at polishes. The listed the BlueSky brand at £5 each, but if you bought 10 of the polishes, you would get the UV light box for free! So I went through and chose the colours I wanted - which was really hard as there were soooo many that I wanted! Then I found a listing for the two solutions I needed, and a bottle of each base and top coats for £21. So I went for it!

I couldn't wait to give it a go! I followed the instructions and had so much fun :) I have used it three times so far, twice on my hands and once on my feet. I am loving the colour I have on at the moment, Rubble.

 

 

I chose a variety of colours, from black and dark red, to bright pink and a lovely glittery green. The gel remover solution worked really well, I just soaked my nails in it for about 10 minutes and the gel polish came off well with a nail file. Then I buffed and oiled my cuticles and gave them a rest for 24 hours before applying the next colour. I have always loved painting my nails, and found it so frustrating that after around 24 hours, I would have a chip somewhere! This way, I can have the perfect nail look at home for longer. Now I need to resist looking at the other colours they do. Oh and they do colour changing gel polishes!!!

 



Birthday Dress - Yours Clothing

What seems like an age ago, I bought a dress from the Yours Clothing which I had tried on in the new Bluewater store on my first visit there. I had been looking for a dress for my cousin's wedding in September, and I was drawn to two dresses. I ended up buying a light and bright floral dress for my cousins wedding, but I was so in love with the other dark skater dress I tried on, I ordered it the next day from their website.

I decided that it would be a perfect dress for a birthday night out, so I put it away in my wardrobe and resisted every urge to wear it before that night! I did, and boy was I glad....

 

 Black and Pink Tropical Floral Skater Dress With Patent Belt - Was £35 Now £18.40

I was so pleased with the dress. A usual, being 6"1, the dress was a little short for tights, so I teamed it with some black leggings. I do find this more comfortable anyway as I am still to find a pair of tights that fit my waist size AND leg length. But anyway, I felt amazing in the dress.

I opted for no jewellery or jacket, just my birthday present from Hubby, a rose gold Michael Kors watch :) (separate post to follow). And then we were ready to go out! We had cocktails and dinner with a friend, then headed to The Chequers pub in Sevenoaks High Street for their weekly pub quiz. There we were joined by a couple of other friends. More wine and laughs later, we came 4th out of 9 teams...... we were pretty satisfied as there was only 4 of us! I even got treated by a sweet 'merry' guy who heard it was my birthday and bought me a lovely little bottle or Prosecco :) We have done the quiz at The Chequers a few times now, and it is always great fun. If you are ever in the area on a Wednesday evening, I would highly recommend it!

Check out The Chequers here.

Summer brights

A couple of weeks ago I ventured to Asda Living in Dartford for a little look around. I happened to come across the George make-up section and some lovely Brazilian themed nail polishes caught my eye.

 



 

They are from the George Gel Pro collection. I have bought a couple of the other colours from this range before and have been really impressed with them. So I treated myself to Festival - a bright yellow - and Samba Parade - a deep lilac.

 

 

I had actually picked up a bright yellow dress as I was walking around, so thought that the yellow polish would go great with that. And purple is one of my favourite colours, so I couldn't resist getting that one too. They were only £2 each and I knew I just had to have them. Even though I have a couple of other colours in the Gel Pro range, I was a little uncertain of what the coverage of these would be like. I was prepared for them to be a little opaque on application as I have had that with the pastel colours from other brands before. But I was pleasantly surprised.

 

 

They both covered with intense colour on pretty much the first coat. I was really pleased with the yellow as it didn't lose any of the brightness when I applied it, and was really popped after applying the second coat. The lilac was the same, and was really vibrant after I applied the second coat. They both dried pretty quickly, within 4-5 minutes of application and lasted really well.

Fun in France - Part 1

In May, I was lucky to be invited to France for a week with my good friend Caroline and some of her friends. She has hit the big 3-0 and is a mother of 3, so wanted a nice week away in the sun as a treat. As soon as she asked me, I knew I had to go!

Caroline's dad, David, lives in France and offered us his caravan to stay in in the South of France for the week. 4 of us got a plane from Gatwick to Geneva, where we met up with Karisse as she was travelling from Manchester. Once we were all together, David was our chaufer to the campsite.....which took just over 4 hours, but we did stop for a lovely lunch half way.

After arriving at the campsite and having a little rest, we got dressed up and headed out for dinner. David took us to a restaurant in the town centre and then came the task of trying to translate the menu..... with David's help, and the waiter, we all managed to choose something. And I have to say the food was amazing! I ordered a pizza rocket, dried beef and parmesan cheese. It was so yummy! We had some wine and just had a good chat over the lovely food.

 

 

The next day, we went into the local town as there is a weekly market that we wanted to have a look around. It was so big, and busy, with such a wide range of stalls. There were amazing fruit and veg stalls, olives, dried meats, jewellery, clothes and everything you could imagine! We got to have some samples of some lovely food, and the locals were very friendly, especially with our limited French! The town was also a lovely place to look around, lots of old buildings and architecture.

 

 

We then met up with David for Lunch at a restaurant in the town. We had a lovely table outside and got to soak up the sun, along with some beer and wine of course. Then came the food....

 

 

Caroline showing off her new hat and scarf! Down the right is my lunch. I had an aubergine tart and salad for starters...it was massive! Then I had lamb shank for main, and a chocolate fondant for dessert. It was so yummy. Not to mention a nice beer, and some wine, and a nice coffee to finish.

Wedding Guest Dresses - Lovedrobe

I have a couple of weddings to go to in September and I have just started to look at possible outfits for them. One is for my cousin who I love to pieces, and I really want to look my best on the day. So I have been having a look through some sites for some dress-piration!

This week, I have been looking through the Lovedrobe website at some of their lovely occasion dresses and found these dresses that would be great for a wedding.

Koko Blue Salmon Pink Contrast Cap Sleeve Chiffon Dress - £42

This dress caught my eye as I really like the lace detail around the neckline, and I would like to have a 'girly' dress for my cousins wedding. And the fact it is a skater style dress, with the elasticated waistband is a plus for me.

Koko Blue/Multi Frill Sleeve Floral Print Chiffon Dress - £40

 

I really like the shape of this dress with the frill sleeves, and I am a big fan of floral prints. I like the fact I have a couple of options of colours to use to match a handbag and shoes with. And again, this has an elasticated waist band, so will hopefully be nice a comfy.

 

 

Koko Tie Die Print Bead Embellished Neckline Maxi Dress - £48

 

I'm hoping the weather in September will still be nice, so I thought that a maxi dress could be something to give a go. I like the print on this dress, and the beading around the neckline means I don't need to worry about a necklace. And it also has the tie detail around the waist the help get a bit of shape into it. My only issue would be if it would long enough for me.

Fancy a cuppa?

I was having a little browse around Asda Living in Dartford last week when I came across a lovely selection of mugs. I had been thinking about getting some new ones as we have had ours for like 3 years and I wanted some new pretty ones :)

They had some really nice patterned mugs for £1.50, but my eye was drawn to these beauties....

 

 

These were only 65p each! I was so pleased as they would match some other bits I had for the kitchen. I had bought some storage jars in Argos few months ago as I wanted to start brightening up the kitchen. It's pretty plain and a bit boring, and we aren't able to decorate a the moment, so I thought I would start by adding colourful accessories. 

 

 

The blue, yellow and pink match really well. Next step, updating the tiles and wallpaper.

 

 

Yours Bluewater store opening

On Thursday, my friend and I decided to take a trip to Bluewater for the opening of the new Yours store.! Bluewater is about 15 minutes from where I live which is so great. I had been planning a trip to the Lakeside store in Thurrock with my friend, which is about 45 minutes away, but would mean paying £4 for the Dartford Crossing! So when I got the email from Yours advertising the store opening, I was so excited. So we both dropped our kids at school and headed over to Bluewater....

 

 

We got to the store about 15 minutes before opening, and there was already a queue of about a dozen people waiting for it to open. Then after the ladies opened the door and cut the ribbon, we got to go in. There were so many great pieces that caught my eye when we entered, including this lovely top.

 

 

The store was a good size and had a great range of items, including shoes and handbags. The staff were really friendly and the store was set out well. It was a little bit of a squeeze going around some of the clothes rails, but we managed.

 

 

 

 

 

Whilst we were having a look around, a couple of other pieces caught my eye. First was this jumper with crochet shoulders which I loved! It was a big slouchy style jumper and had little pearls on the shoulder sections too. I really liked the grey colour, but they also did it in black and a cream/pink colour too.

 

 

 

Also, I was on the look out for some outfits for a couple of weddings we are going to in September. They had a great range of dresses, from more casual day dresses, to lovely evening dresses. This long black dress caught my eye, I really like the coloured feathered detail on the bottom.

 

 

It was quite busy in the store, so I didn't get time to try anything on properly, but I will definitely have another proper shopping trip there in the next few months to try on some of their lovely bits. We were also given a goody bag on the way out which included a pen, some love hearts, a mini spring catalogue and a £5 gift voucher.