My Bling!

Hey!

Just a quickie post to show those of you who have asked, and are not on twitter, my engagement ring!

Here it is -

I love it so much. Maz chose it all on his own and he couldn't have chosen anything more perfect.

I'll show you what I was wearing on my nails that day because, this is, of course, a nail blog!

The pictures were taken several days into the manicure though so there's alot of tip wear.

Also, for some reason I didn't take very many pics so these aren't the best -

The base is OPI's Absolutely Alice with Stargazer's silver chrome printed on the top with konad image plate M60.

I've chopped my nails off today to as short as they'll go because they're in such bad condition. Think I might go naked for a couple of weeks to try and give them a break... bet I don't last more than a couple of days!

Hope everyone's doing great! Sorry about my appauling lack of responding to comments... I will really try to catch up!

Hormonal Balance (boys beware), a NOTD and some news!

Hi! I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted anything. I am truly a slacker. In my defence I have had a lot going on and still do so posts will continue to be a bit sporadic!

Firstly for those of you who don't follow me on Twitter or aren't friends with me on Facebook - I got engaged! I am very, very, very happy, gobsmacked and excited and I will do a proper post all about it at some point.

Secondly, and this is completely un-nail related but something I had to tell you all about, I started taking Seven Seas Hormonal Balance tablets a few months ago and they have literally changed my (and Maz's!!)life.

I don't know if I've mentioned it before but I have PCOS (polycystic ovaries). PCOS effects women in different ways but one of the ways it effects me is I have very irregular periods. When I do get a period they're very painful and my hormones go COMPLETELY crazy turning me into an irrational mad woman. Even if I don't get the actual period, my hormones go crazy once a month without fail and I used to take it all out on Maz.

After one particularly bad 'pyscho' month I decided to try to find some sort of supplement to try and keep my hormones more under control and came across Seven Seas Hormonal Balance -

"Contains an effective combination of the minerals magnesium and zinc and the key nutrient Vitamin B6, which helps you maintain a healthy hormonal balance so that you feel like yourself, every day of the month."

I bought some, started taking it and WOW! It really works. Like really, really, really works. Not only has it balanced out my hormones so that I don't have the mood swings I was having, I also don't get nearly as irrational as I used to, I don't wake up wanting to kill someone (well not as often anyway!) and I don't overreact as much as I used to.

On top of that, when I get my actual period, there's no pain! Well the odd twinge but nothing compared to what it was like before.

I can't believe it. I was hoping it would help but I had no idea just how much it would. As I said, it has changed my life and made Maz's life far calmer ;)

I had to tell you all about it in the hopes that it can help someone else too. Obviously though everyone's different and it will work to different degrees on people.

I get it from Tescos and it costs £3.99 for 30 tablets (1 a day).

I can't recommend enough for anyone with hormone issues to go out and give this a try! If anyone does try it let me know how you get on.

Lastly, couldn't do a post without any nails at all so here's a NOTD -

Photos were taken after me having worn it for a few days thus the tip wear!
I used OPI's DS Extravagance with konad black special polish and image plate M79.

That's it for this post! Post about my engagement to follow in a few days!

Hope everyone's well and have a great weekend!

OPI DS Mystery Konadicure

Hi!

Long time no see!

I have been taking a break from blogging and going online in general but I think I'm ready to get back into the swing of things now!

I went back to my home town a couple of weekends ago and had a night out with the girls. I wore a black and pink dress for the occasion and this is what I wore on my nails -

Ignore the big chip on my middle finger! I took these pictures after wearing it for about a week.

2 layers of OPI DS Mystery and Konad pink polish with image plate M65

I was really pleased with the result and I LOVE DS Mystery polish SO much! It looks black in the pictures but it's actually a very dark purple with gold flecks in it. I will be definitely be wearing it sans konad someday soon.

I have lots to catch up now, about a million blog posts to read, comments to leave and answer and emails to respond to! I am such a slacker :)

Hope everyone's been keeping well - I've missed you all!

FAQs And Some New Things!

Hi!

This is a post I've been meaning to do for ages. I get asked a lot of questions but there are a few that come up a lot so I thought I'd do a post on them.

First off, and I'm not sure why people are fascinated about this, but a lot of people ask to see my 'bare' nails so here they are sans polish!

You have to ignore the slight yellow staining. Trust me, they used to be FAR worse! They're longer than I usually have them at the moment, I just haven't got round to chopping them. My cuticles aren't at their best here either :)

The 2nd question I get asked a lot - What base and top coat do you use?

I have tried quite a few base and top coats. In my opinion though, nothing beats Nails Inc Kensington Caviar base coat and top coat -

For me, it's the best by a long mile. I don't know how I coped without the top coat especially! It dries in 45 seconds and gives a really good shine. The only thing I can't use it for is over konads as it smudges them but I still put a coat of it over the konad special top coat.

The only downside for me is that it's quite expensive but I think it's well worth it and I can usually find it on ebay for a bit less than usual.

3rd question - Do you use any other products on your nails to keep them strong?

I am very lucky with my nails. They are naturally very strong. Usually I only break one if I really whack it on something. I wish I had some amazing tip but I don't!

The one thing I do do regularly is use cuticle remover, buff and shape -

I use Nails Inc Striptease cuticle remover. For me it works well but it's all I've ever used so I have nothing to compare it to.

About once every couple of weeks I use the cuticle remover, then I use the nail buffer (top) to smooth and shine and then I shape (or should I say attempt to) using the glass nail file. That's all I do nail care wise.

4th question - how do you clean up any excess polish on your nails?

I forgot to take a picture for this one! It would only have been a picture of a boring brush though :)

I usually put nail polish on at night, go to sleep and then in my shower or bath the next morning I peel off any excess polish and tidy the nails up. If I can't do that though then I just use a firm bristled brush soaked in nail polish remover and wipe that round the edges of my nails.

Those are the questions I get asked the most. I do always answer any emails so feel free to ask me anything else you want to know!

One other question I've been asked a couple of times recently is why I never do any haul posts... well to be honest, I don't actually buy that much nail polish! I buy the occasional bottle that I really want and I'm very lucky in the fact that Maz and some friends occasionally buy me a bottle. I'm trying to be sensible spending wise at the moment but here are a few things I've bought or been given recently -

(L-R) Bourjois Bleu Violet, No7 Spun Sugar, Miss Sporty x2 (no names)

(L-R) Rimmel Green With Envy and Desire, Bloom Isla

OPI's Absolutely Alice and China Glaze's C-C-Courage

Lastly, here are a couple of things I've won recently -

The 8 new konad plates! Thanks to Beauty Judy and wowsocool.com

A Nutriganics gift pack from The Body Shop. I won this through twitter. I haven't used it enough to give my opinion on it yet though :)

That's it for today. My nails are NAKED at the moment so no manicure to show you. I may do them later if I can resist cutting them...

OPI's Purple With A Purpose Konadicure

Hey!

Sorry I've been a bit quiet on the blogging front recently. I have been feeling a bit disheartened with the whole thing due to various reasons so decided to take a bit of a step back. Not much of a step back though as I can't resist showing you my latest konadicure :)

I used OPI's Purple With A Purpose as a base and China Glaze's Devotion with image plate M64 for the konad.

Purple With A Purpose is a gorgeous purple. It doesn't show in any of these pictures but there is a hint of red running through the purple.

This image from M64 is definitely one of my favourites even though it still reminds me of wallpaper!

This weekend I am going away again. My friend from Australia is back for a couple of weeks so I'm going to see her! I can't wait. This time though, there will  be a lot less shots consumed!!!

Oh and for those of you who asked, Valentine's Day was great! Maz spoilt me loads. We went out for a lovely meal and he bought me lots of pressies :) The roses he got me are still going strong despite several attempts from Bobo and Barnaby to eat them.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

OPI DS Extravagance Konadicure

Hey,

Just a quickie today!

Not my favourite konad I've ever done but I do love OPI's DS Extravagance!

I used 2 coats of OPI's DS Extravagance for the base and China Glaze's Devotion for the Konad with image plate M25.

DS Extravagance is such a gorgeous colour! I've worn it before but never taken pictures for some reason... sometimes I forget!

I've added a new widget in the left hand side bar for formspring.me so if you have any questions, ask away! I'll answer most things :)

Hello and an OPI Teal The Cows Come Home Konadicure!

Hello Everyone!!

I have been off line for nearly 2 weeks now! I didn't mean to be but I just didn't have a spare moment over Christmas and New Year.

I had such a lovely time. We made it to my hometown after all and I got to meet my newest nephew for the first time. He is absolutely gorgeous. I wanted to steal him.

I am very glum that it's all over :( but it's snowing really heavily here now so that's cheered me up a bit! Everywhere looks so much prettier with snow :)

I have had the same manicure on for about 10 days now and it still hasn't chipped! The photos below of it were taken about 2 days ago and the only way you can tell it's been on for so long is the nail growth at the base. I am very impressed :)

Here it is -

I used OPI's Teal the Cows Come Home as the main colour with Barry M's Silver sponged at the base of the nail, Sinful Color's Queen of Beauty at the tips and konad's white special polish for the stamp (M12). I topped it off with Konad's top coat.

This is another one that didn't quite turn out as expected, next time I'd put the snowman on first and put the glitter round it! I got lots of compliments about it though :)

Anyway, I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas and Happy New Year!

OPI Teal The Cows Come Home Konadicure

Hi!

This is another quickie post.

I finally took my last konadicure off (the ruby pumps one as seen 2 posts ago) after wearing it for a week. I loved it so much I wanted to wear it forever!! I got so many comments on it, my favourites being the sales girls on the Illamasqua counter in Selfridges in the Trafford Centre. They were oooohhhing and ahhhing for ages! Made me smile a lot!

Anyway as I said, I finally took it off and replaced it with a konadicure using OPI's Teal The Cows Come Home.

Here's how it turned out -

I used the OPI as a base with konad special black polish and image plate M64.

You can probably see the chip on my middle finger that I got during an argument with my car door!!

This is another one that I loved how it turned out. I am getting more and more addicted to konad!

I know I said my next post would be about my storage but I just haven't had a chance to do all the pics yet. Maybe next time!

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

OPI Reflecting Pool

Hello!

I am taking time out from the very boring packing to show you what's currently on my nails.

I bought this a few weeks ago on a trip to Sally's for something completely different. It was a very spur of the moment buy as I'd made it to the counter with just what I had planned but then, there it was. Staring at me. Saying 'buy me, buy me' in a very high pitched voice. I couldn't resist. I was helpless in it's gaze. So even though OPI is more money than I normally spend on nail polish it somehow made itself into my hand :) It cost £9 ($14), I don't know how that compares to other places?

Anyway here it is - OPI's Reflecting Pool -

You really need to click on these pictures to get the full effect of this polish!

It's a really lovely bluey/green with speckles of gold through it. You can see the gold in the enlarged pictures. I think this colour would look good matte... still pondering on whether to get a matte topcoat or not!

I think, although I'm not 100%, that this is a UK exclusive. I'm so glad I got it as I la la love it! I may have to get some of the others in the series...

If you saw my fingernails now though, you would cringe. I have been packing and cleaning all day and they are really looking the worse for it. *Sigh*. I will have to give them some tlc when we're settled. I think they will have to be cut down again.

That's it for today. Just going to say it one more time - enlarge the pics so you can see the gold!! :)

Birthday Pictures (including new nail polishes!)!

Hey!

Finally I have sorted through my pictures and am able to do a post about my birthday :)

Be warned, this post is VERY picture heavy. There is nail polish in it though, promise!

So, as you all know, it was my 30th birthday a couple of weeks ago. I went back to my hometown for it and most of it was a surprise, all organised by my boyfriend, Maz.

We travelled down to Newbury on the Thursday (cats and all) and the first thing I did when I got there was get my hair cut! I still haven't found a hairdressers up here so I always get it done whenever I go back.
Then we spent the evening with my parents who ordered their first dominos pizza and loved it!
Friday we spent the day with my parents and then in the evening I was surprised with a meal out with my family at a local restaurant. My parents had been earlier in the day and decorated the table with lots of sparkly things and some flowers. They also took a cake to be brought out after dinner.

This was the cake -

It may not be obvious by this picture but this cake was HUGE!! I still have most of it in the fridge :)

It was a lovely evening and the food was amazing. I nearly cried when I saw the table had been decorated especially for me. At the end of the night I made everyone pick up all the bits of glitter/tassles/confetti etc so that I could take it all home.

Next day, Saturday, was my actual birthday. I got up early so that my dad could see me open presents before going to work.

Here's what I got -

An overview of everything! The helmer (storage) wasn't a present, my parents just weren't using it much so said I could have it!

The Urban Decay Book of Shadows II was from Barnaby. Such a clever kitten ;)

This little fellow is called Theo and is from Swarovski. This was my present from Bobo. Again, such a clever cat!

A gorgeous bracelet from my brother and his wife (and their bump!).

A nail art kit from my sister and her family. I can't wait for my nails to grow a bit so that I can try this out!

My 2 main presents from Maz. I adore them both. I wear the necklace 24/7 and will wear the watch once we've had it adjusted to fit my wrist!

Spice rack from my parents. I've wanted one of these for sooooo long! I love to cook. My parents also gave me some money which I bought some nail polishes with and plan to make a konad order with the rest :)

Now for the polishes I got -

(L-R) Barry M Acid Yellow, Grey and Dazzle Dust 933. Boots No 7 in Vivid Violet.

The Barry M were from Maz and the Boots No. 7 from a friend. Maz said he tried to choose colours I wouldn't usually get myself and I have to say I'm impressed because I swatched them and LOVE them!

(L-R) OPI DS Extravagance, Lincoln Park After Dark, Teal The Cows Come Home and Purple With a Purpose.

My first full size OPIs!! I was so excited when I saw these. They came from Australia from one of my best friends who lives there.

(L-R) China Glaze Sexy In The City, Watermelon Rind, Ruby Pumps and OPI Reflecting Pool.

As I mentioned earlier I got some money from my parents so I finally went to a Sally's to see what they had and was so happy to find some China Glaze and OPIs! I can't believe I've never checked them out before!

Plus another couple of things I picked up. Some nail bandages and a peroxide whitening gel.

That's it for presents. I also got a dressing table but it's not being delivered until after we move.

I was very, very spoilt. Especially by Maz :)

After the present opening was over Maz then told me that we were booked into a local hotel for the next 2 nights. I was so excited and completely surprised, hadn't seen that one coming at all. So we left the cats with my parents and went to the hotel. We had the most amazing room, I wish I'd taken some pics! It was the Executive Suite - ooo la la!

I had a lovely long bath and got ready for a night out with my friends. I thought we were meeting them in town but at about 8pm Maz said he had to go get something from the car and came back a few mins later with a cake and some of my friends! He'd had the cake made by the hotel and he'd been out earlier to get lots of alcohol for me and my friends (he doesn't drink).

Here's the cake -

How cute! My name is Sarah but my nickname is Millie... for those of you wondering! Maz always calls me Millie.

So we had a few (!) drinks at the hotel and then we hit the town!

Here are a few pics -

That dress I'm wearing was another pressie from Maz.

Me, Hanna and Nisa.

The man who gave me the best birthday ever :)

We took a million pictures but none of me and Maz together came out that great! :(

We had a great night. We danced the whole time and laughed a lot.

Then the next day we went to my parents again for a meal and back to the hotel in the evening.

Monday it was all over and time to go back home again :( I did get one more surprise though, a big bunch of flowers from best friend in Australia. They were meant to be delivered on my birthday but had got lost on route! They were gorgeous and can be seen in the pictures above.

So I had an absolutely fantastic 30th and I didn't want it to end. Maz put so much thought into organising the whole thing and bought me so many presents that I was almost in tears over it all. He also wrote me the sweetest card ever and got me cards from Bobo and Barnaby too :)

I am a very lucky girl.

Sorry for this mammoth post. I know a lot of people won't be interested but I know at least a couple of you who will be.

Thanks for reading!