VALENCIA... Global Style Blogger Challenge

Hi Guys,

I was recently contacted on behalf of eShores to ask if I wanted to enter a style competition to win £250 of ASOS vouchers. As you all probably know, I love a good style competition, and this one has a twist. You can read more about it here.

The clincher for me was that you had to pick a stylish city that you love shopping in...

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before or not, but I used to live in Spain. In fact, this year marks ten years since my family moved there. July 2003-September 2008, five years, and most of my teens (nearly 13-just turned 18). I loved it, learned a different language, had my own transport (a moped - Peugeot Speedfight 2 Silversport!) and became who I am today!

So, without further ado, let me present my style capital...

Valencia has the amazing Fallas festival in March, holds the Formula 1 in the summer, the Moto GP in the Autumn, and countless festivals in between. It has a great beach and so much going for it!

Most of all, Valencia was the city that taught me to shop!

I had a 30-40 stop in the city every morning and evening between trains to/from school and I used to love popping over the road to have an early morning browse! 

So... What do I love about shopping in Valencia? There is something for everyone! And I mean everyone! It doesn't matter about your budget or taste, you'll find something for you.

Before I go onto the main part of this post, here is my outfit! 

I've kept it simple. The colour scheme is my favourite kind of neutral, grey, with metallic hints of silver and champagne to take it from daytime to evening. It can be really sunny even in the winter there, so I made sure to pick out some sunglasses. As far as the dress goes, you could get away with no tights on a nice day, even in January, but on a cooler day I would add over the knee black socks, or black opaque tights. The bag is the perfect size to fit in a few small shopping items, and all my usual essentials, plus a bottle of water to stay hydrated for my whole day shopping!

Underneath the picture you will find links to each item. Fortunately, some of the items are available in the UK!

1. Cut-out shoulder dress - Zara - £29.99

2. Wayfarer style sunglasses - Mango - £17.99

3. Brooch to be used as hair clip - Stradivarius - €7.95

4. Necklace - Bershka - £14.99

5. Essence Colour and Go 140 - Beautik - €1.95 

6. Bag - Stradivarius - €29.95

7. Ankle boots - Zara - £49.99

(Some prices in £GBP because they are available to buy online in the UK) 

Click "Read More" to read the details of this post, it's pretty long!

Barry M Spring 2013 Releases

Hi Everyone, 

I can't believe it's the end of the week already... This week has flown by with a lack of posts unfortunately. At the moment I just can't seem to get myself together. I really regret not bringing my camera here because I have bought some really beautiful polishes recently and I'm dying to swatch them!

Anyway, tonight I have a little bit of polish news for you! Barry M have revealed their new Spring additions...

So here goes!

Papaya GNP13, Dragon Fruit GNP11, Lychee GNP10, Green Berry GNP12 

There will be four new additions to the Gelly Hi Shine range. These are super glossy polishes, one of which (Watermelon) I swatched here. As far as these polishes go, I don't really understand the need for high shine because I always use a fast dry top coat, but I can understand why it might appeal to some people. That aside, I LOVE these colours, especially the pink and green. They're exactly what I think of when I think of spring. 

Here's what Barry M had to say about them:

"To add to our Hi Shine Gelly Nail Paint collection Barry M have 4 new exotic fruit inspired shades! Lychee GNP10, Dragon Fruit GNP11, Green Berry GNP12, Papaya GNP13 will be your go-to shades this Spring for an extra shiny mani."

When these are released they will retail for £3.99. I know I'll be picking them up!

Next up, and something I was waiting for...

Kingsland Road TNP3, Atlantic Road TNP1, Ridley Road TNP4,  Station Road TNP2

Every year there is one nail polish trend that stands out amongst all others, this year, it is texture. Specifically this kind of texture. During the summer last year, my boyfriend and I were talking about ideas for a polish line. It's a dream of mine to start creating my own, and we were just chatting casually about it. He suggested a textured polish that was gritty and like sand... I turned my nose up at the idea, saying "who wants sandpaper nails?" As far as I was concerned, I use topcoat over my glitters to get a smooth finish so why would I want gritty nails. As soon as I saw the OPI Liquid Sand polishes, I realised that was going to catch on big-time! So I hold my hands up, I WANT GRITTY NAILS!

Here's the official statement from Barry M:

"Channel East End cool by adding some grit to your nails! Textured Nail Effect’s grainy, matte formula creates a unique textured effect for a grunge-chic look. Available in 4 Spring/Summer shades named after famous haunts where Mr Barry Mero began his early working days in the markets of Ridley Road and Brixton. Ridley Road (Green)TNP4, Kingsland Road (Pink) TNP3, Station Road (Yellow) TNP2, Atlantic Road (Blue) TNP1." 

I love all of these colours so much... They too will retail for £3.99 once they are released!

.......

I can see myself buying all 8 of these new additions. I'm starting to think when I get home and organise my Helmer I'm going to need to do it by brand rather than colour because I'll have too many Barry Ms! 

What do you think, which of these do you think you'll be buying? And what do you think about the craze for gritty nails?!

Have a great weekend!

MUA Undressed Palette

Hi Everyone,

I am so tired, this will be a quick-ish post because I need to put my son to bed, have dinner, and then have a bit of downtime before trying to get an early night! I've been trying so hard to go to sleep at a reasonable hour, but TV and the book I was reading was making it too hard!

Tonight I've got something different to show you, an eyeshadow palette! I have always thought that the New Year would be the perfect time to shake up my makeup routine, and going into 2013, I still feel like that. My favourite way to do this is with eyeshadow. It is a relatively easy way to create a look that is dramatically different from what you are used to. 

A little while ago I was on a plane and they were selling the Urban Decay Naked2 palette. I didn't buy it because anything around £30 mark isn't for me, but I set to work researching it as soon as I got home. I realised then that I preferred the original Naked Palette. That was when I came across this MUA palette on a beauty blog - I really can't remember which one it was - and I knew I had to have it! I bought it around November last year and it is beautiful!

This is called the Undressed Palette (undressed, naked, get it?) and the shades are near dupes of the Urban Decay shadows.

The packaging and shadows in the sunlight

Inside in the natural light

Numbered Swatches - Indoors

Numbered Swatches - Sunlight

The shades are as follows (not named, just numbered... how creative!):

Shade 1: Very pale peach with a slight pearl effect

Shade 2: Pale pinky brown shimmer

Shade 3: Tan matte, as you can see by the swatches, this didn't really show up on my skin

Shade 4: Mid-brown shimmer

Shade 5: Mid-brown matte

Shade 6: Gold shimmer

Shade 7: Bronze shimmer

Shade 8: Dark brown pearl with gold pearl shimmer

Shade 9: Darker pinky brown shimmer

Shade 10: Dark brown pearl with cooler brown pearl shimmer

Shade 11: Charcoal grey shimmer

Shade 12: Dark blue shimmer

I have got a lot of use out of this palette in the time I've had it and I love most of the shades. The ones I use the most are: 2,6,7,8 and 12 but I have used them all more than once, even the mattes which I HATED at first. I found them really dull, but then I realised they could be used for a really subtle daytime look. 

I'm hoping that when I improve a) my makeup application technique and b) my photography skills, that I can show you some of the looks I have created with this palette, but until then, I urge you to go and buy this!

Did I mention the price??? It retails for £4!!!! You can get this at most Superdrug stores, my local Superdrug is TINY and they still stocked it. You can also buy it online at the MUA online store. It's definitely worth buying, I would have been happy to pay slightly more for this, it's so well pigmented! For £4 this is amazing, and one of the main reasons I'm such an advocate for MUA! They bring out so many amazing products and I think 2013 will be their year!

That's it from me for this evening, see you all soon! I need to sort out a camera ASAP to get some swatches up... I didn't bring mine with me to my Mum's and the bad weather means I can't leave yet. I don't mind though, I'm having too much fun!

Models Own Aciiied

Hi Everyone,

I can't believe how busy I've been this week. Staying with my Mum here has been really nice. I've been going to playgroup and meeting up with my friends, which has been fun! The only not-so-fun thing about today has been that it started snowing. I always say that you know you've grown up when you look out of the window and think "oh no." I hate snow and I haven't stepped outside my Mum's house all day...

Tonight I have a bright non-wintery polish to show you. This is Aciiied by Models Own and I bought it as part of the half price sale that they had a while ago. It's a bright greeny-yellow. Kind of a shade of chartreuse, which I used to hate, but now it's one of my favourite colours! I used this as part of a tape mani a while ago. You can see that here.

The formila of this was a little thick but fairly easy to work with. The photos below show two coats with no topcoat.

Natural light

Sunlight

I love this polish, it's the ultimate ugly-pretty shade! I did a layering combo that I thought was amazing, so I'm hoping to recreate that to show you all.

You can buy this polish at the Models Own website, as well as the other usual stockists. It retails for £5 but as I mentioned earlier, I got this for £2.50!

Have a great weekend and see you in a few days! 

Five Favourites: 2012!

Hi Guys,

I know this post is a bit late, I planned on doing it right at the start of the year, but time has really got away with me!

Last year was a really great year for me, so many great things happened, and we all survived the end of the world! I don't know how this year could possibly top it...

So here are my Five Favourites of 2012:

1. I Passed My Driving Test:

Photo from Google (credit)

This has been one of the greatest achievements of my life. It has opened so many doors for me and I can't imagine not having that freedom now. It took me four years (in a roundabout way) to take my test and I'm so happy to have my licence!

2. Great Moments With My Son: 

Photo from Google

Last year was filled with milestones for Caleb. He started crawling, walking, saying small words, and just became the cutest little boy ever. He makes my day every day and I just love having him with me. I'm dreading the day when he grows up and realises I'm not cool...

3. We Moved House:

Housewarming gift from my friend Chloe
It's a private joke from when we lived together and I LOVE IT!

This year saw us make a big move. After my boyfriend sold his house in October 2010, he used to stay in my student house when he was home from working offshore. Then when I finished uni, we rented a little house, which was my son's first home. After a year and a half of renting, we finally found our dream house (for now, anyway) and made the 240 mile move. It was stressful and time consuming - as you've probably heard me rambling on about on here - but we hosted family at Christmas and it feels like a home now.

4. I Discovered a Hidden Love (and talent?) for Baking: 

Happy 1st Birthday Caleb!

Back in October, well, a couple of months of planning happened beforehand, I set about making my son a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cake. It took me 7 hours to make, and I was amazed by how good it looked! Now I want to bake anything and everything I can think of...

Meme from MemeGenerator (credit)

5. Our First Family Holiday: 

Malta - Photo from Google

This year we had our first family holiday to Malta. It was so lovely, and as a family it was the first big thing we had all done together. Now we're about to book our second proper holiday. I'm not counting the couple of times we've been to Holland because we went to see my Dad there. This weather is making me need a bit of heat!

So that's it! My Five Favourites for the last year. Here's to having a great 2013 and doing everything to make sure this year is even better!

Models Own Cement Mixer

Hi Guys,

This post comes from a very tired place. I actually fell asleep on the sofa for half an hour earlier, that's how tired I am! I've been staying up too late and then because the room my son and I sleep in at my Mum's gets so light, he's been waking up a lot earlier than usual. Normally he sleeps until 9.45 or 1o but this morning at 8.25am I was awoken by "MAMA MAMA MAMA MAMA MAMA!" I just love sharing a room with Caleb! I was up until about 2am, so I didn't get much sleep... Oh well, tomorrow is another day!

In other news, I got a new phone at last! I imported a Motorola Droid 3 from America last year and it was terrible. Slow, bad camera, froze all the time, kept closing applications, the list goes on. Anyway, I had the idea of getting a Samsung Galaxy S3 but when my Mum got one, I realised it was HUGE, so I got the iPhone 5 instead. I'm really pleased with it, the camera is good, and it makes calls when I want it to, in other words, it's a big step forward!

Tonight I have a Models Own polish to show you. This is a kind of khaki colour called Cement Mixer. I'm slightly upset that this pulls so green on me, story of my life, but I'm pleased with how it looks anyway. It's something I've been wanting for a while.

The formula of this polish was brilliant, as I've come to expect from Models Own, and the photos below show two coats with no topcoat. 

Natural light

Sunlight

I've been searching for a colour like this for ages. I think it's the closest I'm going to get to a creamy green without being too green. It might be similar to OPI Stranger Tides, which I do have but funnily enough (considering I wanted it for ages) haven't ever worn. I'll have to do a comparison post in the future. I think it's right at the bottom of my stash box, so once I organise my Helmer I'm sure it'll turn up!

As always, you can buy this polish at the usual stockists and on the Models Own website where it retails for £5, but I bought it during the sale for £2.50!

H&M New Moon & Barry M Watermelon

Hello!

I hope you all remember who I am!

This is my attempt to get back into the swing regular blogging! I've been all over the place recently with the move, but now I've come down to my Mum's house for a couple of weeks so I've been uprooted again! I had a great routine in November, but after that, everything kind of went downhill so I'm hoping that I can get that back again! First step is a lightbox, I want a proper set up for my nail photos. And the next step is an organised stash. I'll feel much better when I have my polishes organised in my Helmer (which I put together the other night) and I can see what I have and haven't posted...

Anyway, tonight's post is a kind of followup to this post. I wanted to layer New Moon over something else so you could see the flakies better so I chose Barry M Watermelon. The photos below show one coat of New Moon over Watermelon. These pictures were taken a while ago when there was a bit of sun!

Natural light

Sunlight

Here you can see how translucent the flakies are

Macro from the bottle

Isn't this pretty. I'm dying to see this over black, so I'll make sure I do it as a NOTD post for that. 

This polish retails o £1.50 at H&M, what a bargain! 

You can buy Barry M Watermelon for £3.99 from all of the usual outlets.

I have some pretty polishes to show you soon, but they're at home so it'll have to wait a couple of weeks. In the meantime I have other posts planned! I'm really hoping to get back to three posts a week minimum, or four if I can manage! 

Right, that's all from me this evening, I didn't have a great night's sleep last night, then I woke up with a banging headache... Then I had to pack up everything and drive 260 miles! I'm exhausted! 

See you soon!

My Christmas and New Year in Pictures!

Hi Guys,

Happy New Year! I can't believe this is 2013! We all survived the end of the world and we've made it this far! This is the year I will be turning 23, my son will turn two, and my boyfriend will be hitting the big 3-0! 

I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and that you're all feeling positive for the year ahead!

As far as New Years Resolutions go, I haven't gone mental... I would like to start making more movements towards my own polish line, and I also want to get fitter. I used to go to the gym but I didn't have a driving licence so getting there was a nightmare. Now I have a car, I don't have a babysitter! We got a treadmill for the house so I can start running, I would like to lose that last bit of baby weight, that's all! I don't like to make proper resolutions because I can never keep them, but I think mine are realistic! 

I thought that as I have been away for so long relaxing with my family, I should share some of my Instagram photos with you all. I have misplaced my camera wire, so can't charge my camera or take my photos off right now (typical) so Instagram photos are a good option! I have a horrible feeling my boyfriend has taken my cable with him offshore... I'll have to buy new one because he's gone for a month at least!

Onto the photos... Please ignore the horrendous carpet and curtains. We've only lived here a couple of weeks and the focus has been on hosting Christmas, unpacking as many boxes as humanly possible and building furniture! We want to lay down solid wood flooring and we're trying to sort out getting our one pair of huge, beautiful damask curtains turned into three pairs of smaller curtains...

Don't forget, you can follow me on Instagram, my username is @truly_polished

Click "Read More" to see the rest of this post, it's extremely long!