Diamonds are forever

I haven't done any nail art in TIME, seriously it has been so long that I even think I'm losing my touch doing leopard print! Must get back into it, I need to get as good as Charlene and her amazing bananas!

I took inspiration for the diamonds from this picture that I found on Tumblr, seriously, can somebody teach me the ways of doing good nail art?! To do it I used black and white nail art pens and the coral is called Peachy and is from the new Revlon Top Speed range, and it does actually dry super fast but only when you don't put layer upon layer upon layer upon layer on and expect it to be dry within seconds...

I need to go to bed now, there's no rest for the wicked apparently!

Twenty one

Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy 21st birthday on Saturday, I literally had so many tweets! I had an absolutely lovely time, it was definitely much quieter than our usual standards but it was nice all the same. We went out for a family meal during the day and then had a few people back to our house and I went out in the evening with some friends from Sixth Form. I was in two minds about whether to go out or not but I'm glad I did, I had such a good night!

I was very lucky on the present front too. I got lots of lovely little bits - two Pandora charms, a new hairdryer, a Cath Kidston washbag, chocolate, sweets and on top of that I got a ticket to see Cirque Du Soleil when it comes to London next January, enough money to buy a big posh camera and a ring off my parents that I had made for me. My lovely grandma also put together a photo album of pictures of the family over the years, I might do a separate post on that, everybody loves a good embarassing family album!

I also got the best two homemade cards off my BFFS 4EVA, see:

Sorry none of these photos are very good, I am literally so tired today that I can't be bothered to take better ones - these are just pictures that I already had on my phone. Hopefully this will be one of the last posts that has rubbish Blackberry-quality pictures, if I get my way I'll be getting my camera soon! Think I'm going to go for the Nikon D3100, anybody got any thoughts or advice?

Oh, I also got a some work experience at Cosmopolitan on the beauty desk confirmed and I start this coming Monday. CANNOT WAIT!

Fergie - Outspoken Intense

Last week I mentioned that while I was at Psychologies, I went to a number of press launches and one of the ones I went to was for Fergie's new fragrance for Avon. This perfume is apparently a follow up from her first which was called Outspoken, the new one called Outspoken Intense. Did anyone else not even know she had the original one out? Apparently it's the best selling fragrance in Avon's history! Who knew!

Now, I wasn't really very enthusiastic about it at first. I'm not usually one for celebrity fragrances because I always deem them as cheap and nasty (except Britney Spears - the majority of her perfumes have been INCREDIBLE. My cousin has religiously worn Fantasy for years) so I wasn't too bothered about this Fergie one.

You know what I'm going to say now though don't you? Well, I'm not going to be that predictable because at first I didn't like it. It gave me a perfume headache (the worse kind) and I thought it was way too floral and just generally offensive. I was given a 50ml bottle of the perfume to take home and since then it was sat on my shelf. To be fair, it wasn't even sat looking pretty on my shelf because the bottle leaves a lot to be desired.

NOW, when I got home on Monday I went for another whiff and I decided that actually, it was quite nice and have been wearing it every day since. I'm not sure what made me change my mind, whether there was just too much of the perfume in the air at the launch, or whether it was something else, I'm not sure. It is floral and it's definitely not the sort of scent I'd usually go for - I usually like more obscure smells like Paul Smith and Diesel - but I think because it's different to what I usually like, that could be part of the appeal.

I like a perfume that lasts, I go through bottles and bottles because I'm always worried that if I can't smell it, nobody else can and I hate that. I really don't understand how people can only put one or two sprays on and it lasts all day/night, what?! Even my Chanel EDP doesn't last an amazingly long time. Outspoken Intense however does last a decent amount of time, I still find my self topping up at least once throughout the day but I normally do it more than that.

I got the press release for the fragrance and there's such a bizarre mix of smells in there, I mean I'm no perfumer but starfruit, kumquat, passion flower, gardenia & orange flower petals along with white amber & cedar wood? So weird!

It's not released until September but when it is, it'll be £15 for 5oml.

Are there any other celebrity fragrances I should have a smell of or has anyone else smelt this or Fergie's other fragrance for Avon? Thoughts?

Dior Vernis La Collection

On Saturday I was a bit naughty and opened the birthday present I got from my best friend when she gave it to me, sorry Mum if you're reading this! I don't usually open stuff early but I won't be seeing her on my actual birthday so it's only right, yes?

Amongst other lovely things, she bought me this Dior collection of mini nail varnishes and I absolutely love them. I've never used Dior polishes before, or any other high-end brands actually, but they apply like an absolute dream. This collection is definitely perfect for travelling (good job really!) because there's a shade to suit almost every outfit and occasion.

I adore the nude/beige colour (shade 219 apparently, do Dior polishes usually have names?) and it's probably my most favourite, second to the red (shade 853). I own a fair few red polishes but none as intense as this one, and I like it even more because it hasn't left a red stain on my nail like most reds do. They dry really quickly and leave a lovely shiny finish, I haven't got a topcoat on the above pictures and look how good they look without one! Seriously impressed.

What are your favourite Dior shades? I feel like I need to invest in more (when I have the money to, obviously)!

Melting in your eyes

I am now officially moved back home for the foreseeable future, and will only be returning to Leicester for graduation and possibly for something else that I will update you all on in due course. At the minute I don't want to jinx anything, I'm also making this sound much more exciting than it really is...

Anyway, so today I have unpacked my belongings and thrown out SO MUCH STUFF. Who even knew it was possible for one person to own so much rubbish? Seriously. Once I'd done that, I made some strawberry cupcakes and the best thing about them is the icing. I wasn't sure what to put on top of them, I thought about vanilla but I have no idea how to get butter icing pure white? It always has a yellowy tinge to it from the butter, so I decided to add some chopped up strawberries and mix them in until they disappeared and it is SO NICE. Here is a picture:

Granted, the icing isn't done very well because it was a little bit too sloppy but nevermind, it tastes good.

I have a few beauty-related posts in the pipeline, shock shock! I got a maaaaassive bag of treats when I finished at Psychologies on Friday so I'll have some bits to share. I got lots of new lipglosses, perfume, eyeshadows, face/body creams etc. I was so excited unpacking it all on the train home and seeing what I got!

Dusk & summer

A quick (and mostly pointless) update from me, just letting you know that I am actually still alive, I seem to have lost all ability to post anything remotely interesting as of late. Tomorrow is my last day at Psychologies' (hasn't the four weeks gone MEGA fast?!) so hopefully normal blogging will resume in the very near future.

This week has been a bit surreal looking back, on Sunday I spent six hours queuing to get into the audience of this years X Factor auditions. Six hours sounds like a crazy amount of time, and to be fair, it was pretty tedious but it was more than worth it. We were sat well near the front, I mean, GARY BARLOW KEPT LOOKING OVER AT US AND HE WAVED. I've taken that as my proposal that I thought I was getting a few weeks back, maybe we can have a joint wedding with Sarah? Anyway, it was good and all memories of the horrendous queuing disappeared almost right away.

Then on Tuesday there was drama llama at work and I was asked, last minute, to go to The Langham for a launch. When there, I met Dr. Brandt who is a celebrity dermatologist and his clients include Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow.

I also got my university results back, well provisional grades, and I think I'll be graduating with a 2:1 so I'm very pleased with that. I was scared to death I was going to end up with a 2:2 but I haven't. Well, this is just guess work, I averaged a 2:1 this year and last year so common sense says that that's what I'll be graduating with, right?!

This weekend I am being whisked away somewhere for a surprise birthday trip by some friends, it is my 21st birthday on the 25th of this month. No doubt I'll have an exciting blog post after that!

How are you lot? Any exciting happenings in your lives? TELL ME ALL.

You can have it all if you like

WORLD'S WORST BLOGGER AWARD GOES TO ME PLEASE. I hope everyone is okay and nobody has given up on me!

Yes, hello. I am alive. I wish I could say this week has been hectic and I haven't had time to breathe but sadly, I can't. Well, it hasn't been any busier than any other weeks I've had but I've just not found the time to sit down and write. To be fair, I have been in London since Wednesday and not had my laptop. I was staying at my friend's house in Islington which meant it was only an hours commute on one bus to get into work - seriously, that was like heaven. I wish I could move in permanently.

What other gossip have I got to share? Oh, Take That last week were AMAZING, so, so good. They got stuck on a big massive robot they had though which was slightly amusing! On Sunday we visited the Lowry exhibition at Salford Quays - it always surprises me when I actually enjoy myself at art galleries! I feel somewhat cultural.

On Thursday I went along to an Avon launch which was quite good. They're launching an exciting anti-ageing product and I'm not just saying this, but they made me feel guilty for not already using anti-ageing stuff. I mean, there's a voice in my head that tells me I should invest, you're supposed to start using that sort of stuff in your 20s, right? But I just haven't ever done anything about it. Anyway, this problem was solved because as part of the goody bag (aside from the massively beautiful bunch of flowers, mini bottle of Moet and a jar of Jelly Beans) I got a bottle of the Anew Genics serum and a bottle of Fergie's new fragrance, Outspoken Intense, both which will be available in September. Posts to follow at later dates!

This is turning into quite a rambly post isn't it! One more thing, I'm headed to Leeds this evening to stay at my wonderful darling sister's house and tomorrow we're going up to Manchester to go to the X Factor auditions, yesss! This is Gary's second chance to propose to me. If not, Olly Murs might be there for my taking...

A million love songs

In a couple of hours I will be Manchester bound to see Take That and I have been told by reliable sources that Gary Barlow is in fact going to propose to me in front of the entire stadium, HOW EXCITING!! So, when I return I will have a huge diamond on my finger and I will be single no more, obviously if I decide to accept that is.*

In other news, I found out yesterday that I won the lovely Holly's giveaway so a premium set of Sigma brushes should hopefully be on their jolly way to me soon! Oh, and on Thursday I casually had my hair cut by Ben Cooke, a celebrity hairdresser who is doing Amanda Holden's hair on Britain's Got Talent this week, the Beckhams are also clients of his and he is the one who cut Victoria's infamous bob a few years ago. He also owns a salon on Kings Road in Chelsea. Anyway, my hair isn't that much different but the cut was INCREDIBLE and it is so much easier to style now, not entirely sure how he managed that but I am suitably impressed. Pictures to come v soon!

*NOT REALLY. I am going to be bitter and alone forever and I just felt the need to update because I haven't in almost a week.