Getting into the Christmas Spirit!

The one week countdown to Christmas begins!! Wahoo!! Love this time of year and I’m especially looking forward to the next week as I have lots of Christmas catch ups coming up! So this past week just gone I’ve been really trying to get in the Christmas spirit, so I thought id share with you what I’ve been doing to get in the Christmas mood...

First up, one of my awesome friends is an amazing artist and crafter and put on a wreath making class. It was two hours full of moth, holly and mulled wine. A ridiculously fun evening! I’ve never made a home made wreath before and am so happy with what I ended up with.

Every year I get Xmas themed nails and I love them! I usually go for bright and tacky but this year I wanted something a big more classy so went for black nails with white nail art and its perfect. Its understated and has a vintage feel.

I have a bit of a tradition lf making home made Gin which I then hand out as a present to various people This year I went for strawberry flavoured Gin and I’m really pleased with the results, it  is yummy! After a few months of brewing and agitating it, this week I was time to decent not bottles ready to hand out for Christmas.

We also finally put up our Christmas tree!! I went for a gold theme and It looks great, even if I do say so myself. I just had to share this photo, how cute do my puppies look framing the tree!!

Nails // Rimmel London Space Dust in Total Eclipse

 

This has to be my favourite polish at the moment, it’s vampy and perfect for Autumn! I am in LUST! What is it I hear you ask? Well it’s Rimmel London’s Space Dust in Total Eclipse. It’s a textured polish and looks a dark black but in certain lights can shimmer a dark purple or green.

I love this polish so much, I am a fan of textured polishes I think they add a bit of edge. It’s also so easy to apply, I only needed two coats to get the look I wanted and it dries pretty quickly too. This is definitely going to be a regular on my nails over the next few months!

Have you used a textured polish?

Nails // Seventeen Gel Colour in Pretty Bang Bang

 

I have pretty much had this polish on my nails continuously for the past few months. It’s such a pretty colour and goes with the majority of my outfits. I love love love it! It’s a Seventeen Gel Colour in Pretty Bang Bang and comes out as a gorgeous indigo shade. I have raved on here before about Seventeen Gel Colours before as they are such a great find, they are long lasting and give a fantastic finish for such a bargain price.

This colour has been fantastic for summer but I think it’s a shade that can be worn across the seasons. Do you have a favourite shade of polish?

Nails // Soigne Botanique in Cerise

 

Who doesn’t love a red nail? It’s such a classic that suits everyone. This particular colour is a cherry red and I adore it, it’s such a perfect colour for this time of year and adds a bit of colour to the day. This polish is by Soigné Botanique and is called Cerise, I received it a good few months ago now in a birchbox. I’m a little surprised I haven’t blogged about this sooner as it’s a fab product!

Firstly how cute and sophisticated is the bottle?! It reminds me of channel. Secondly it applies so well, the brush is easy to use and I only needed two coats. Thirdly the colour is so dreamy! It lasts for quite a while and is hard to chip, which for someone like me who is constantly trashing their nails is a life saver. I am definitely going to be trying out more of this range in the future!

Nails // Avon Speed Dry Nail Polish in Yellow Mystique

Today’s nails are painted in Avon Speed Dry Nail Polish in Yellow Mystique. I am desperately trying to hold onto summer and I can’t stress how much I hate this autumnal weather that seems to have come our way. Hence the bright yellow nails!

I am still umming and aaahing over this colour, it’s a canary yellow with glitter specks in it. It’s also ridiculously translucent which I was a bit disappointed about. I was hoping it would be quite a solid block colour. On the plus side it applies easily and it’s really quick drying as promised!

Not sure I’ll be using this colour again though as not sure it’s really me. Have you ever sported yellow nails?

Nails // DIY Glitter Tips

 

For someone who is obsessed with painting her nails, mainly because it stops me from biting them, I am pretty unadventurous. This makes me feel a bit ashamed really when there are so many cool nail art products out there, I think I worry they will look awful and tacky.

However this week I decided to be a little creative and decided to attempt doing my own glitter tips. For the base colour I used Models Own Hyper Gel Polish in Lilac Sheen, this is one of my favorite colours this summer and has become my go to nail colour. I put on two coats of this polish and let it dry.

When it was fully dry I used a sponge makeup brush (you can pick these pretty cheap in places like Superdrug) to dab on the glitter. For my glitter polish I used another Models Own polish in Southern Lights. It’s quite a fine glitter and very pretty and colour so I thought it would complement the lilac. I just dabbed the glitter to the tips of my nails but if you wanted you could easily do more or make patterns.

I am pretty impressed with my handy work and have had some lovely compliments. I think next time I am going to use the same technique and attempt ombre nails!