Crafting Mini-Haul!

On occasion it is just absolutely necessary to purchase new pens.

My mum and I often take trips to The Range which has a selection of craft supplies. It's in the middle of refurbishment at the moment so everything was all over the place when we went today before picking my brother up from the station, but I managed to find a few goodies.
Here's what I bought!

I have been eyeing up the Special Delivery stamps by Helz Cuppleditch for ages. My mum bought me one with Father Christmas giving carrots to little rabbits as presents <3 I'll take a pic at some point, it's SO cute! I wanted the penguin stamp because I had an idea for mini Christmas cards, which I also bought. They didn't have white ones so I got pearlised cream which hopefully will work just as well. The pens just wouldn't leave my hand. They weren't cheap but they're SO PRETTY!!! *Wistful sigh*

Helz Cuppleditch is one of my favourite illustrators. Her designs are always adorable and always find their way into my basket... I have several of her previous collections, not the whole collections mind but choice pieces. I usually buy the papers, diecuts and the stamps, leaving the stickers and decoupage etc.. I occasionally get the buttons too hehe.. but the stamps are reusable and the papers are really good quality so I don't feel so bad about buying them. All of them. The stamps retail for £3.99 each and I recommend them wholeheartedly! You'll need an acrylic block to stamp them with, but they're very cheap. If you haven't seem Helz's artwork before then you should definitely check out her website.

These little blank cards are so cute, they're 3"x3" and are pearlised so they have a sheen to them. They come with matching envelopes too =) my plan is to have one penguin per card and make my own backgrounds for matting and layering. I'm excited to start these, even though it feels very early. These were £2.99 which for 20 cards is fairly reasonable. About 15p a card.

 Urgh my camera did NOT want to focus on the ribbon. I think it's because the protective plastic was still on them so they were all reflective.. but anyway it's a kind of bluey-mint green textured ribbon with little white polka dots of various sizes. I thought it kind of looked like snow? Anyway it was only £1 and it'll make cute bows =) you can probably see it better in the group picture actually >.<

These pens. Oh these pens. What can I say? I love pens. Going back to a very little Leisha, I used to spend my days colouring in. I thought that one day I might be a professional colour-iner. This love of stationery and colours is probably why I like nail varnish so much; it's a left over childhood passion. It's what I was born to do. The love of sitting for hours colouring pictures has dwindled but my love for the instruments of colour has not. Pens call to me. These were no exception. I went to them, said "ooooooohhhhh..." saw the price tag (£14.99) went "errrrrrhhhhhh...." then somehow they ended up in my hand for the entire time I was in the shop, then came with me to the till. I might have to do a proper review of these with swatches etc, each pen has two nips.. one is like a brush, it is shaped like a brush but doesn't have bristles. It creates a nice wash of colour. The other is a very fine point, perfect for writing or for detail work. I love them. There were 2 other sets that I might have to go back for, one was pastel and the other was brights. I have several different packs of bright pens so I went for the Vintage set hoping they'd be muted and delicate, which they are.

So there were have it, a little haul of crafty bits yay!
Do you enjoy crafting? What are your favourite brands/artists? Please check out Helz Cuppleditch if you haven't already, her art is too cute!

-Leishasaurus

31 Day Nail Challenge: Week 3 - Yellow Nails

It's week three of the nail art challenge already! Morgan, Gemx and I are enjoying going through the list and I hope that you are enjoying looking at our designs!

For those of you that know me, you'll probably be aware that yellow is my favourite colour. It's bright, happy, sunny and just wonderful <3 I have loads of yellow polishes and I love them all. Yellow can be a bit of a difficult colour, lots of people don't like it because they think they can't pull it off. My theory is this. Sod it. If you like a colour, wear it and sod whether you think it suits you or not. I love to wear yellow!

Here's my mani:

Beeeeeees! I think Bees are an obvious choice for yellow. I thought about giraffes again but wanted to try something different. I have been wiggling my fingers through the air and saying "bzzzzz" hehehe

I used a nail polish called Daisy by an Australian brand Bloom. I saw this brand in the Winchester Superdrug when I was studying for my degree, I wish I'd bought more colours even though they were £8 each.. I only got a green and a yellow. The green because it reminded me of a polish I had when I was much younger, a lovely light spring green <3 and the yellow well because it was yellow and I couldn't pass it up. Ha!
I used my nail art pens for the details. I added glitter to the wings because all bees should have glittery wings

Gemx also chose to do bees but her design is very different to mine, I love the flight path of the bee I can imagine it bumbling around looking for flowers =) bzzz

Here's what Gemx had to say!

"For yellow nails I went for a bee! I used Models Own Lemon Meringue and a Topshop liner pen in black to draw the bee. I appear to have misplaced my black nail art pen, but the liner pen worked quite well, although you have to wait for it to dry and add a topcoat to make sure it stays or it will just wash off."

I love that she used liner! I used to use gel pens for my nail art before I got my nail art pens, you can use markers too but like Gemx says you must seal them with a topcoat.

So there we have it! Yellow nails!

Let me know what you think and be sure to check out Morgan's design!

-Leishasaurus

PS Ignore the red bump on my index finger, I burned myself whilst making lunch the other day.. the toastie was worth it.

31 Day Nail Challenge: Week 2 - Orange Nails

Helloooo,
It's that time again! Morgan and I are doing the 31 Day Nail Challenge with one design a week!

So the theme for this week is Orange nails. I racked my brains for ideas. "What's orange?" I thought. Well there are lots of things that are orange tbh but it wasn't until yesterday that I hit on the *perfect* idea! So here we go, my version of Orange nails!

Cute orange foxes!! <3 Ah this is possibly my favourite nail art to date, I just know that I'm not going to want to take these off. Ever. I *love* foxes. Check out the adorable fox pyjamas in the photos, they were from Topshop last year and I bought two pairs because I love them so much!

For this design I used one coat of Barry M Nude for the base then for the foxes I used China Glaze Riveting, which was given to me for my birthday by my friends Sandra and Mike (hi guys if you're reading!). I only did one coat as it was so vibrant but I think in some places it needed two as there are a couple of patches. I did a curve about 2/3 up my nail then added points for the ears. The rest was done with my nail art pens.

Gemx sent me an email with her designs in and here they are!

Here's what Gemx had to say!
"I really love orange nail polish. I have two favourites, Illamasqua Gamma because it's so bright and lovely and the one I used for this Models Own Golden Peach. It's a pale orange with a pretty golden shimmer. I painted the tips orange and then added a coat of OPI Pirouette My Whistle. It's my favourite glitter at the moment with small silver glitter and larger sheer white hex glitter. "

I love coloured tips, especially orange. They just look so pretty! I adore Models Own Golden Peach, it's one of my favourite polishes! I love the addition of the glitter and I wish I could buy this one for myself but since OPI were taken over by Coty I refuse to buy their polish. It's sad as they were my favourite brand once.

Anyway. Orange for the win! When I was deciding which polish to use I had a browse through my stash and pulled out all of my oranges.. I thought you might like to see them!

They are as follows: 

Top: Rimmel - Apricot Punch / Natural Collection - Antique Coral / 17 - Tropical Island / Exposed - Sweet Caroline / Sinful Colours - Tapping Nails, Big Daddy, UFO, Cloud 9 / Revlon Orange Fizz.

Bottom: Leighton Denny - Hanky Panky / Models Own - Orangeade, Tangerine Queen, Golden Peach, Tropical Sun /  Nails Inc - Chelsea Flower Show / OPI - Goin' Ape-ricot! / China Glaze - Riveting, Papaya Punch.

Gemx mentioned her favourite oranges so I probably should too, though it's hard to pick! If I had to choose one it would probably be UFO, it's a stunning glitter in an orange jelly base. Riveting is now firmly on my favourites list too! I hadn't realised how much I love orange until this post, woot go orange!!

That's it for now, I hope you enjoyed mine and Gemx's nail art! Let me know! Also, make sure you pop over and see Morgan's orange nails too!

-Leishasaurus

P.S. Some of my orange polishes were purchased over a year ago and are not CF. Of the brands mentioned in this post, I no longer buy Rimmel, Revlon or OPI.

31 Day Nail Challenge: Week 1 - Red Nails

Helloooo,

So I suggested to Morgan from Morgue in Black that we have a go at the 31 day nail challenge but instead of doing it everyday, because that just seems like too much work, we're going to do it once a week and post our designs on Mondays. I'm so excited about this challenge, I've seen lots of people doing it and their designs look great and it'll give me the motivation to post regularly. For those of you not familiar with the challenge, here's the image I found on Nail Art 101 showing what the themes are. Feel free to join in if you like!

So the first theme is red nails! So without further ado I would like to show you my attempt.

Ladybird nails yay! I used Noelle by Filthy Gorgeous London for the red base and my nail art pens for the rest, I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out but if I were to do them again I would make the middle line thinner and make the eyes bigger =)

I sent a text to Gemx asking if she wanted to join in and said that if she didn't want to post on her blog then I'd feature her designs on mine. She said yes so here are her red nails!

I love the idea behind this, the hearts are so cute! How perfect would this be for v-day? Gemma said that she used Models Own Snow White as the base colour and Color Club Velvet Rope for the hearts. She said "I really love Velvet Rope, one of my favourite reds. It is a really nice red, but when you put it in the sunlight it has a subtle reddy-pink shimmer in it, very pretty!" I totally agree with her, the colour looks gorgeous!

So there you have it, week one of the nail challenge is complete! Do please let me know what you think and be sure to check out Morgan's design too!

-Leishasaurus


PS I think the cats liked my nails

First Attempt: Jelly Sandwich

I love jelly nail varnishes. I love how soft and squishy they look, how they have a depth to them and how they shine. I also learnt that I love what they can do to glitter. I had been lusting after the Nails Inc Juicy Sheer collection since it was released earlier this year but I always find it harder to buy things online than to buy them in shops.. I guess it's because the price is always there on the screen, telling me I'm naughty.
I spotted two of the collection on ASOS in the sale with free P&P and an extra % off so I didn't feel quite so bad when I instantly purchased them. Seriously, the transaction took less than 5 mins that's how quickly I snapped them up. I was a bit disappointed that they didn't have all 3, I'll have to look out for the 3rd one =)
 These polishes are fab! They're so bright and fun and you can see from the bottle that they're going to be really squishy looking <3
I chose to use Henley Regatta, (the other one I got is Chelsea Flower Show) which on the Nails Inc site is called Strawberry Sheer. It's easy to tell why, not only does it look like strawberries, but it frigging SMELLS like them too!

[Sorry for the lighting of this pic, it was late at night]

I did two coats of strawberry then a coat of Barry M 210, a pink and holographic bar glitter that I won in a giveaway that Gemx held last year, and then another coat of strawberry. I think I did the last coat too thin though.. I was scared I'd cover up the glitter too much! I'll know for next time =)

The only bad thing I can say is that this took ages to dry. Usually I use a quick dry top coat, but for some reason I didn't and woke up with sheet marks. I thought about doing another coat but never got around to it.
It has been a whole WEEK since I did this mani and not a single chip! Slight tip wear but no chips!! This is totally amazing, I always chip my index fingers. Sometimes on the 1st or 2nd day! A whole 7 days with nothing is so impressive! I have a feeling I'll get bored and change it before it even starts to come off!! I think this is because of the non-drying formula because if I push really hard with the tip of my nail it leaves a dent.. but otherwise they're totally dry. Weird. I don't think it'd do that if I'd used the top coat, maybe it would have chipped sooner too.
I totally recommend these jellies, they're fantastic. Go and buy them. I would say try ASOS but they're not on there any more =( but the nails inc website still has them, as does QVC, so go go go!

-Leishasaurus

UPDATE: I removed this after one week and a day because a) I got slightly bored of it haha and b) I messed it up when playing around with my corset trying outfits for a hen night.. I'm convinced it would have lasted at least 3 more days had I not got the corset stuck and had to prize it apart haha!

How much is my face worth?

I've seen this a lot on blogger recently and thought I'd have a go whilst it was still current, rather than leaving it several months and then not bothering.
What I use on my face varies, but I've gone with my most common selection (as per my recent 'most used' post). Also, what these items retail for and what I paid for them differs a lot. So I'll do the cost for both. Here goes! (WIP stands for What I paid)

Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation
RRP £10.99 WIP £7.99 (introductory price at Boots)

Bourjois Healthy Mix Concealer
RRP £7.49 WIP £5.99 (introductory price at Boots)

Models Own Eyeliner Pencil
RRP £5 WIP £0 (free with eyeshadow palette that I wanted anyway)

Soap and Glory Supercat
RRP £6 WIP £4 (in 3 for 2 offer, have used 1/3 of the price I paid)

No7 Lash Adapt Mascara
RRP £12 WIP £7 (£5 Boots voucher.. plus I got a free eyeshadow quad!)

MyFace Blingtone Eyeshadow Raspberry

RRP £9.99 WIP £2.49 (clearance sale at Boots)

The Balm Frat Boy Blusher
RRP £16, WIP £1.40 (I got this in my first Carmine box -RIP Carmine- have divided the £7 I paid for the box by the amount of items in it)

Barry M Lip Paint 132 Pink Gold Sparkle
RRP £4.49 WIP £4.25 (bought on amazon as this colour is not widely available)

My face: RRP £71.96 WIP £33.12

As you can see I love a good bargain!
I think it's fair that I counted the eyeliner as £0 because I was going to buy the palette anyway, and I charged myself the full price for the mascara despite the fact I only bought it to get the quad lol! I was going to add the eyeliner and the palette together then divide by two and the same for the mascara and quad, but it only worked out at like 50p difference so I thought sod it.

I'm happy with the cost of my makeup, I have yet to use any of the items up and I envisage they'll last for a long time yet, so I think it's amazing value. The best part? They're all cruelty free.

-Leishasaurus

Tag - Most Worn Makeup

I'm trying to post regularly and make a effort with this blog. I saw this tag on Glitter on Glitter and thought I'd have a go. I got me thinking about my makeup and I'm going to try and use more of my stash. I only really wear makeup when I'm going out in the evening so I might try and wear it to work and use a few of my less-used items. I find that time is so precious in the morning that I don't get time to play with colours etc.. 
Anyway, here are my most worn makeup items:
1. Most worn lipstick & lipgloss:
I.. hmm I'm not actually sure. For a while it was Revlon Lip Butter's in Tutti-Frutti and Berry Smoothie, but then I heard that Revlon wasn't cruelty free and I felt guilty. I haven't worn them much since. I have a fair few lipsticks and tend to switch it up each time I wear makeup so I usually pick a shade to go with my outfit. I have a few from beauty boxes that I quite like and a fair few Barry M's. Actually it's probably Barry M Lip Paint in 132.. or 130.. they pretty much go with anything. I don't wear much lipgloss as my hair gets stuck in it and my bf hates it haha but I have a few that I like a lot! Bourjois do lovely glosses. And omg they smell AMAZING. The one pictured changes colour which is nice touch! It goes VERY bight pink on me!

2. Most worn eyeliner/kohl:

Models Own Pencil Eyeliner in black Soap and Glory Supercat - Black I use the Models Own pencil for my waterline and to tightline and the Soap and Glory pen liner for my eyelid. I love the Supercat, it's awesome! Very black and excellent control so I can be very precise. I'm pretty rubbish when using liner on my eyelid, I make a mess or blink, or end up making  part of the line too fat then going over the whole thing and ending up with a massive line >.< but I'm getting better. I need to work on my wings though! Some girls make it look so effortless! Grr.

3. Most worn nail polish:
China Glaze - Fairy Dust I pretty much add this baby to everything. I tried to think about a main colour that I use the most and I think it might be Models Own Champagne but that's probably only a couple of times more than any of the others. I have so many I can easily go through the year wearing a different one each time so I don't really reuse them often. I guess that's kind of wasteful. But I have thinner so they'll last for ages! I have my favourites but I kind of clutch on to them like Gollum, saying "my precioussss" and pawing at them with big eyes. I want to preserve them so that they're mine forever. 

4. Most worn eyeshadow:
MyFace Blingtone - Raspberry Beret This eyeshadow is gorgeous. It's a lovely bright-but-not-too-bright pink with tons of silvery glitter. LOVE. I got this in the sale when boots were discontinuing the range for £2.49 down from £9.99. I will replace this when it runs out, I think they still have them on the website. I adore it. I wet my finger and apply it straight to my lid. I have the blue one as well but haven't tried it yet as I adore the pink too much to wear any other colour!

5. Most worn concealer:
Bourjois - Healthy Mix - Shade 51 I like this concealer, thinking about it actually it's the first one I've owned! I guess I can't really compare it with any others but I'm happy with the way it works and I can really notice a difference when I use it.

6. Most worn foundation:
Bourjois - Healthy Mix Serum - Shade 51 This is a good foundation! It can pick up dry bits on my skin but I make sure I exfoliate and moisturise before using it now to avoid any dry patches. They're usually on my nose. I have an oily forehead, it's a bit worse now I have a fringe.. but I don't really see my forehead much because it's hidden haha I use a little bit on there but not much and if I finish with powder and it doesn't get too bad. The shade is good and I like the pump and the smell!

7. Most worn (finishing) powder:
Boots No7 Mineral Foundation I don't really have a finishing powder as such, I bought a mineral foundation with a No7 voucher just to try it out.. I got the lightest one but it's a bit dark for me.. so I use a very small amount to set my foundation sometimes and you can't really tell it's the wrong shade. I like powdering my nose with it, I feel all posh haha

8. Most worn blush:
The Balm Frat Boy I got this in my first Carmine box. Oh Carmine how I miss you so much. RIP. It's a lovely blush, a kind of peachy colour but it's got enough pink to give a nice glow. You can tell it's expensive, the powder is very silky and applies like a dream. If/when I hit pan I'll be buying this again. It's become a staple in my makeup bag. 

9. Most worn bronzer:
I've never actually worn bronzer! It's not something I've ever considered buying or wearing and I'm not sure that'll change any time soon! Am I missing out?
10. Most worn mascara:
Boots No7 Lash Adapt - Black I got this because I had a £5 voucher and there was a free eyeshadow quad that I thought looked very pretty. The mascara was something I didn't need at the time but it was the only way to get the quad so I got it. Funnily enough I've used the mascara every time I've done my makeup (except to try samples from beauty boxes) and haven't touched the quad. LOL. Well maybe once. I love how this defines my lashes and doesn't clump them all together. I have very long lashes, they're darkish at the roots and very fair at the ends so you can't tell how long they are until I wear mascara, this one makes them look HUGE. I only use one coat because I prefer them to look long and thin but I reckon this would be good for layering. It's very black which I like and dries quickly which is useful because I'm impatient. Definitely a keeper.

I hope you've enjoyed having a nosey through my make-up! I'll be pricing them up soon so keep and eye out for that!
-Leishasaurus
PS, Sorry about the pictures, the light was funny -.-

China Glaze - Electric Beat

Woot more China Glaze! This is another birthday polish from the Spring 2012 Electropop collection. It's called Electric Beat and oh my it's so pretty!
I ummed and arred about this one for a while before I hopped off the bus mid-route to grab it and 3 others, then hopped on the next bus and continued my journey.. I already have a couple of periwinkle colours, Models Own - Beth's Blue and Nails Inc, and had trouble picturing them for a mental comparison. In the end I thought sod it, 3 polishes in almost the same shade isn't a total disaster especially if the shade is one of your favourites, and took the plunge. I'm really glad I did!

It's actually a lot more blue than the ones I already have and a slightly darker shade as well. It's more of a mid tone colour whereas Beth's Blue is pale, almost pastel. I applied 2 (3 on a couple of fingers) coats on the Thursday evening before visiting the bf for the bank holiday weekend and took it off the following Wedsnesday. In that time only my index fingers chipped and that was because I was pretty careless and also because once it had chipped a tiny bit I couldn't help but fiddle with the uneven texture and make it worse.
Why.
Why do I do that?
Anyway.
The compulsive addition of Fairy Dust made the polish look a lot paler than it had done without it. I love it. These sorts of blue really suit me =)
Here's a blurry close up of the glitter.

And here's a cat looking stupid.