Bits 'n' Bobs...

So yesterday I went into my home town centre to pick up a few things - I had a lovely mooch around the shops too and bought a few things.

I bought a neutral/taupe faux leather bag for work from H&M along with, a pair of beaded turquoise earrings, small black sequined cosmetic bag and a a black diamante cuff.

I also picked up a gorgeous stripey pom pom hat for my 1yr cousin with matching gloves and a scarf.

I wanted to have a look in Claire's as sometimes they do some really nice ethnicy earrings for cheap. I ended up buying a gorgeous pair of teal and gold threaded teardrop earrings along with a black diamante ring and a three sets of hoops for days when I want to be a 'Plain Jane'.

I popped into Superdrug as I had been wanting to purchase the Sunset palette but could not find it anywhere in London. I took advantage of the 3 for 2 offer on all makeup products and bought the Sleek Sunset Palette, Barry M Lip Paint in 152 (a lovely pinkish berry colour) Me Me Me Nail Polish in Ambitious. I also picked up 3 Accessorize nail polishes - navy ink, purple, and mermaid green they all are of a metallic finish. They look so pretty but will be doing a review shortly to find out how good the colour payoff is!

Oh yeah I dug up some HobbyCraft Vouchers earlier in the month which my mum gave to me a year ago :S OMG...It's amazing. I could have spent all evening in there but it was cold and I wasn't feeling too well and wanted to get home! I bought lots of materials and embellishments for my handmade cards. I can't wait to get back into making them again :)

Just to let you know I have added to this post as I went sales shopping a few days after and picked up a few items. From Zara I picked up a lovely pair of black ballet pumps and a cream cardigan. I bought a wooden print block and beautiful silver and turquoise marbled necklace from East.

I am pleased with the purchases I now own but think I need to cut back on the spending!

Did any of you pick up any goodies from the sales?

Peace and Love,

Home Sweet Home

Home for me is at my parents' home in Solihull. I love going back home to spend quality time with the family, I really appreciate it and cherish it as I have lived independently in London for 4 years now. It must be the time of year as when I went home this time I didn't miss London one little bit and actually missed everyone from the moment I got back on the train!

As a Muslim, my family and I don't tend to celebrate Christmas in terms of the gifts instead we like to get the whole family together for a delicious Roast Turkey dinner. My mum has always cooked the 'Christmas' meal since forever and it is the one time of the year that everyone in the family comes to our house for a good old family gathering! Our family LOVE our food and we always have lots of it! I really enjoyed catching up with everyone and can't wait until the next family get-together :)

Here are a few photographs I took when I went back home for Christmas. Enjoy :)

Off for a walk with my brother Sulley

Pretty snow-topped branches

A Wintry Walk to Dovehouse

Dovehouse Lane

Christmas Day: Setting out the table

Desserts Time!

My Lovely Mummy

Me, my cousin Zenii and my sister Sahdya

Me and my sister

I hope you all enjoyed spending time with your loved ones over the Christmas period.

Peace and Love

Rated: My Top Three Nail Products

I used to have lovely nails when I was a child right up until I was 16. From then on I guessed it must have been due to the stress of my A Levels that the condition of my nails deteriorated ( aka I started to bite them - yuck I know!) and so I never allowed them to grow to a decent length.

It was only until about 4 months ago when I decided once and for all that I was going to ditch using the falsies and grow my nails to a beautiful but easy to maintain length. It was just before Eid and with my my nails in a terrible state I decided to book myself in for a manicure. I have never felt so awkard, thinking how was the beautician going to sort them out. However I went ahead with thinking that by beautifying my nails it would encourage me to let them grow.

Result! It has now been four months and I haven't been back to the Beauty Bar since. I have been looking after my nails so well that I wanted to share my 'Top Three Nail Products' that I have been using.

1. Elegant Touch Emery Boards - These files are of a great length for maintaining a chic set of nails. I regularly use them to keep the shape of my nails looking pristine. (85p Bodycare)

2. The Body Shop Nail Block - I absolutely love this product. A colleague of mine introduced me to this gem whilst I used to work at The Body Shop and my oh my does it work wonders. Prior to using this I used the Ms Manicure Nail Block which was not good at all - it last about a month before it got all tatty. So the Body Shop one has 4 uber smooth sides which allow you to: file, remove ridges, smoothen and shine your nails , leaving them in a beautiful and healthy condition :) ( £4 The Body Shop)

3. Elegant Touch Nail Whitening Pencil - I use this product to whiten underneath the tips of my nails so they look brighter and whiter. I love it!  (£1.99 Bodycare)

So there you go, three nail products all for under £10 and resulting in a lovely set of uber chic nails!

Peace out my lovelies
xx

Jewellery/Accessories Haul

Unfortunately this week I have been struck down with a pretty bad cold and cough. I usually get really ill like once a year and this is it. I feel so so now but earlier in the week I felt terrible :( Since school breaks up for Xmas holidays next week I really tried not to take any days off but I ended up taking 2 days off. I was stuck in my room 'resting', I say that because I found it really hard to rest, I was trying to find jobs to do to make use of the time I was home.

Today I wanted to get out of my room/house, I think staying in has been pretty dull so I decided to venture into central for the day. I originally planned to go for 9am but I ended up getting there for 12..I managed to get back for 4pm though so wasn't too bad! I went for a mooch along Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street..

I did have a small list of things I wanted but ended up finding some pretty pieces of jewellery.

Aldo has some really lovely jewellery - I would say it is of a mixed price range because some pieces are quite cheap and others quite extortionate! There was a 2 for 1 offer where I purchased a pair of bronze diamante costume earrings along with a paisley fabric covered bangle. From their current range, I bought a pair of Bollywood/Bellydance style earrings, a style I have been after for a while and I randomly picked up a nail polish at the till point. It's a metallic taupe brown colour - perfect for a neutral look.

I originally went into Dorothy Perkins to purchase a hat..which I am still undecided on. It's really cute but deciding whether I really need it or not! I popped upstairs to find out that all jewellery had 25% off (yay!) and found an unsual pair of ethnic earrings from their 'Ribbon and Asher' range. I stumbled across their reduced section and found lots of goodies. A marbled cream and gold ring, a pair of fabric covered hoop earrings and a silver tribal style ring. I was happy with my purchases as I bagged some pretty good bargains!

I am not really one to continuously shop every other week or weekend. Although I do love my jewellery, in particular earrings and rings, I wouldn't consider shopping as something I love. Yes it probably sounds odd for a girl to admit that but it's true. I can probably last on a good day about 2 hours before I start to get bored and frustrated with other shoppers! Usually once a month or every two months I do 'treat' myself to something. It depends what I'm after...

Anyways I also popped into Selfridges to pick up my second MAC brush - 239, which is an eyeshadow brush. I do have a set of Body Shop brushes which I bought when I used to work there and they are still pretty much in good condition but I wanted to experiment more with my eyeshadows and therefore thought I should invest in some new brushes. So far I have the MAC 217 (crease/outer v) and MAC 239 (eyeshadow). I do have one or two brushes left on my MAC list and they are 224 (tapered blending brush) and the 219 (pencil brush). So far MAC brushes have defineltly lived upto their name. Thumbs up :)

Oh yes, I also popped into John Lewis just to pick up some buttons to sew onto my gloves. For some reason ( I own three pairs of capped gloves) one button off each of them has just come loose. So I decided to just choose a set of the same buttons and sew them all on. They look really cute now.

I did have a good day out and as I have been so busy lately I haven't had time to just relax. The only thing I forgot was how it's such a mission to just walk down Oxford Street (people aka tourists walk SO slow!)

Peace out for now :)

Products I'm diggin' at the mo'...

I was reading through some beauty blogs earlier and saw this on MeLoveMakeup's Beauty blog and I thought it would be a quick but cool blog to do.

Face
*Cleanser: Neutrogena Invigorating Face Wash
*Toner: Rosewater (bought from supermarket and transferred to a Muji spritzer bottle)
*Cream/moisturizer: Neutrogena Oil Free Moisturiser and Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser in Sand
*Facial mask: I alternate between The Body Shop Blue Corn Deep Cleansing Mask and Soap and Glory The Fab Pore Facial Peel
*Exfoliator: Neutrogena Invigorating Facial Scrub
*Make-up remover: Neutrogena Oil Free Makeup Remover

Body
*Shower gels/soaps: Imperial Leather Body Wash in Cotton Extract and Oat Milk
*Body lotions/creams: Johnsons 24hr Radiance
*Anticellulite/firming treatment: The Body Shop- Body Focus Cellulite Serum and Toning Massage Oil
*Body exfoliator: The Body Shop - Round Body Brush
*Hand cream: Johnson's 24hr
*Lip balm or lip treatment: Palmer's Cocoa Butter/Blistex Relief Cream
*Perfume: Ralph Lauren Romance/Sundus Arabian Perfume Oil/Arabian Oud Perfume Oil - 1000 Flowers

Hair
*Shampoo/conditioner: Superdrug Henna and Chestnut
*Mask or other treatments: Charles Worthington Moisture Seal Rejuvenating Masque/Body Shop Monoi Oil

Make-up
*Foundation/Tinted Moisturiser: Laura Mercier Foundation Primer and Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser in Sand
*Blush: Nars Madly
*Lipstick/lipgloss: Rimmel Nude Delight or Rimmel Foxy with Barry M Glossy Tube No4
*Eyeshadow: Body Shop Shimmer Cubes Palette 06
*Mascara: Urban Decay Big Fatty Mascara
*Eyeliner: Shu Uemura Painting Liner in M Black

I have been using all of these more or less within the past 6 months with some alternatives ( depending on my mood/outfit) :)

I hope you enjoyed reading...

Peace out

Nail Polish Of The Day: GOSH - Miss Sweety

Apologies as I haven't blogged in a super long time. I have been pretty busy at work and preparing for an interview I had earlier this week. I am so glad that I don't have to venture out today! I am having a lazy day purely because this week has been hectic. I am sat in my pj's...catching up on programmes I've missed, sorting out things and updating things aka my blogs :)

I own a fair few nail polishes but to be honest I don't tend to wear them as much as I would like to. Earlier this week I painted my nails with Rimmel: I love Fruities Nail Polish in Black Cherries. I fell in love with the colour when I bought it but not the results. I applied three coats and a clear topcoat and it chipped the next day :(

However today I decided to try out GOSH - Miss Sweety a nail polish I bought a few weeks ago from Superdrug. I was after a peachy nude that didn't make my hands look washed out and I am proud to say I have found it! I had to apply two coats, as the first was a little streaky but the second evened it all out. I topped with Natural Collection Nail Polish in Clear. I know it's not Wintery, I guess I'm diggin' a more neutral look at the moment.



* Excuse the badly taken photo via Photobooth! On a good note I have found my camera and lead so hopefully my blogs will include high quality photos.

I am posting another blog after this one which features 'What I'm using at the mo'...

Peace out