Essie Luxe Nail Polish

Left - Essie 'A Cut Above' Right - Essie 'Stroke of Brilliance'

These are my picks of the Essie Luxe nail polish collection. It's the time of year when all I want to do is paint my nails with glittery nail polish, drink hot chocolate and listen to Michael bublé's Christmas album. I was also tempted to get 'Set in Stone' which is a very pretty silver chunky essie glitter polish but I settled on getting these two as I don't own anything else similar.

Essie A Cut Above is a pretty pink nail polish with various sized chunky glitter, it looks great worn layered on its own, or over a mauve/grey colour.

Essie Stroke of Brilliance is a Frosty blue chunky glitter and perfect as an accent nail over navy nail varnish.

These don't disappoint and both look great over another colour, as an accent nail or layered on their own, the only downside is they are so hard to get off! 

Which is your favourite?

Lush Pumkin bubble bar

Lush 'Pumkin' - £2.75

This little guy smells amazing! Like Figs and Leaves soap, it has a Orange flower and Ylang Ylang scent which is sweet and spicy - perfect for this time of the year. 

Crumbled under running water this gives the bath a pumpkin orange colour and creates soft bubbles, it's definitely one of my favourite bubble bars from Lush.

I've only bought one this year but while they're still available from the Lush website I'm tempted to stock up!

xx

Autumn Make up

I've been wearing this look all throughout September and October and only now am I finally starting to change up my make up! As Halloween, Bonfire night and my Birthday have now all passed, I'm getting pretty excited for Christmas! As I've loved wearing this Make up so much I thought I would share what I've been loving and constantly wearing.

Face - Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation

        - Collection Lasting perfection concealer

        - Sleek Blush in Pixie Pink

        - Mac Soft & Gentle Highlighter

Eyes - Eyeshadow - MAC Naked lunch all over eye, Mac Satin Taupe in crease and Mac Nocturnelle blended under the eye.

        - Loreal Superliner in Black Vinyl

        - Fashionista white eyeliner

        - Revlon Lash Potion Mascara

Lips - Maybelline Babylips in Cherry Me

Nails - My Halloween nails

Halloween Skull / Ghost Nails

I love this little skull design for some halloween nail art, it's easy to do and looks sweet on the nails! I did my nails like this for the weekend and got so many compliments on it! 

This is how I achieved the look:

Step 1 -  Paint the whole nail in the colour of your choice, I chose an oxblood colour but  

             black or grey would also work well! I used 2 coats of OPI Nail Varnish in Mrs 

             O'Leary's BBQ.

Step 2 -  When base has dried, use a dotting tool to make 4-6 large polka dots on each 

              nail, for this I used Barry M Nail paint in 66 Matt White.

Step 3 - Using a smaller dotting tool draw either a squiggly ghost tail or a square on the

             base of the polka dots, again using Barry M Matt White Nail paint.

Step 4 - Eyes! I used the thinnest dotting tool to dot little eyes on my Skulls using Sinful

            colours in Black on Black.

Step 5 - Once the eyes are dry, use a Topcoat to set and to give the nails a nice shine. I

            used Sally Hansen Insta-Dry.

Let me know if you try these!

xx

My First Trip to Philly: Day One

Since I'll be leaving NYC and the East Coast in only 3 weeks, I thought it was about time I went to visit my best friend (who I hadn't seen since I graduated in the beginning of May) who recently moved to Philadelphia. After I move to LA, I may not have a chance to see her again until we're reunited for her 21st birthday next June in Vegas - yes, we're already planning it.

To go visit her, I decided to travel by bus for the first time. I had heard horror stories about buses so I was a little worried, but after looking up the crazy cheap round trip prices (less than $20 there and back!), I figured even if the conditions were absolutely horrible, at such a low price, I could bear it for 2 hours. After looking at a couple options, I went with Megabus - reviews weren't great but it seemed every bus service had less than favorable reviews.

The night before my trip, I went out after work with friends and co-workers and had a pretty late night and had to quickly pack aka throw random items without much thought into my suitcase and hope for the best.

I took a taxi to the bus stop, passing several New York Comic Con attendees along the way. After going to the one in San Diego for the last 7 years, it felt odd not to be attending this one ocurring in the city I currently lived.

To my surprise, the bus was quite lovely! It was clean, comfortable, and spacious - something I was not expecting. It also had power outlets to charge your phone - thank goodness too because my phone was literally dead as I boarded the bus. ALSO, it had free Wifi and it actually worked!! I read plenty of reviews and all of them complained about the usual non-working wifi. My phone is often very unlucky when it comes to free/public wifi but it had no problem on the bus. It was also exactly on time. So maybe I just got lucky with this particular trip, but after this experience, I would certainly recommend Megabus and look forward to using them again!

After my bestie, Colby, and her boyfriend, Justin, picked me up, we drove back to their apartment so I could drop off my things. For only having moved in in August, their well-furnished and organized place had a very cozy, welcoming vibe that seemed like they had been living there far longer. After some BFF catching up, we went out for a dinner at a little bar/restaurant called The Blarney Stone that operated a food ordering service called Fatboy and Slim's out of it's kitchen. I ordered the Fatboy sandwich which consisted of Buffalo chicken fingers served with bacon, onion rings, and mozzarella sticks on a long roll topped with American cheese and chipotle ranch dressing along with Old Bay fries. It was delicious. 

Before the night ended, we visited a little get together with a couple other Alpha Phi Omega (the co-ed service fraternity we're both in) brothers then went back to her apartment and caught up some more before falling asleep. All in all, a very nice, low-key introduction to this lovely city and I can't wait to see what else the next couple days have in store!

Sorry for the lack of photos in this post! Totally forgot to charge my camera/phone >.<

September Favourites

Maybelline Babylips in Cherry Me - You can see my full review on these in my previous post , this has been perfect as the weather has been getting slightly colder, keeping my lips hydrated whilst adding a hint of colour.

OPI Nailvarnish in Mrs O'Learys BBQ - I have been loving wearing Burgundy nails and this was the first colour I chose to wear in September. It lasts well on the nails without chipping and its a lovely colour for Autumn.

MAC Eyeshadow in Nocturnelle - I've been wearing a small amount of this under my eye and blending it out to give definition, I love wearing a hint of purple under my eyes especially in the run up to halloween!

Revlon Lash potion Mascara - I really like this mascara, its very lengthening and quite conditioning on my lashes. The only downside to this is it can be quite flakey, so I would recommend getting the waterproof version if your mascara tends to flake.

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair - This has been my night time saviour recently, it plumps the skin, helps to reduce fine lines and leaves my skin feeling really soft the next day. I've had this a while and have recently fallen in love with it again. I'm so temped to buy the ANR ll now though!

What have you been loving in September? 

xx

2013 Emmy's Fashion Review

Hey guys! So as usual, I do not have a TV to watch award shows but I DO have Twitter that gives me every little detail the second it happens so it feels like I'm watching it in real time - except there are so many tweets to go through, I'm actually about an hour or so behind so not really. I still got to experience all the ups and down of watching Claire Danes and Modern Family win their respective categories AGAIN (not that it's undeserved or anything, I just like to share the love), Merritt Weaver's hilarious blink and miss it acceptance speech, and overwhelming satisfying feeling of seeing Breaking Bad take home Best Drama (this show is nearly flawless television and in my opinion should win everything).

However, this post is about fashion and that's what we're going to talk about. I usually do a Top 10 Best, sometimes Worst, Dressed List, but this year I found myself commenting on the looks as the pictures showed up on my Twitter feed so I thought I would go ahead and just post my thoughts on a handful of these looks - Parts 2 and 3 will follow. Maybe later I'll round it up for a Top 5 Best and Worst Dressed.

Anna Faris - Monique Lhuillier

Oh Monique (she's my dream wedding dress designer), you make the prettiest gowns. Anna reminds me a little of Emma Stone here (not a bad thing), and I do like the bold yellow color on her but I am not feeling the blunt bangs.

Zooey Deschanel - J. Mendel

Zooey's hair looks so perfect and bouncy (and does anyone else see Alexis Bledel or am I just imagining celebs as other celebs today?), but she can do better than this dress. It's boring, the wrong color, and that thing on the side is so random and tacky. Plus the slit on the side which is supposed to give the conservative-looking dress some sexiness, just looks awkward and unflattering from the side.

Sofia Vergara - Vera Wang

The curve-hugging, plunging neckline, mermaid-flaired silhouette is pretty much Sofia's staple and something we've all seen from her before but she works it SO well so why stop? I do like the added all-over lace detailing and the multi-colored earrings. I usually prefer wavy hair in front of the ears not behind, but I can understand when you're rocking that kind of bling you want to show it off.

Anna Gunn - Romona Keveza

YES YES YES!!! This is what I’m talking about!! STUH-NING!!! Who even knew Skyler White  could look this good?! Love love love!! Hair, makeup, gown, accessories – all a big fat WIN in my book!! 

Rose Byrne - Calvin Klein

Woah, someone's gone blonde! I loved her dark locks, but I’m kinda digging this whole look. It’s so…fresh and soft and girly (although can we please a smile? you're so much prettier when you smile, Rose). Although this dress totally looks like something out of Gwyneth Paltrow’s closet – except she would've gone with stick straight hair instead - I really like it. It's polished and sleek with just the right amount of sexiness with the cropped top.

Melissa Rauch - Rubin Singer

Melissa, you are looking so Taylor here with your cute bangs and pretty smile (I swear I'm not doing this on purpose)…except much more miniature and…and I kinda like it. The teal earrings paired with the royal purple are actually really awesome. And while I don't quite like the mesh on the torso, the color is gorgeous against her lovely pale skin and she just looks so put together and pretty.

Jessica Pare

 What is this?? Okay, okay, I will admit, I love the color, but EVERYTHING else about this gown... Actually, everything else below the shoulders - those shoes?? WHAT THE--??? No. Top too low, sides too wide, too much crinkled wrinkly-looking material, I don't know what's going on with the torso, and again why those black shoes??

Carrie Underwood - Romona Keveza

Carrie!! You are usually at the top of my Best Dressed list!!! Yes, you do look pretty...but you can do SO much better!! It looks like a prom gown or the dress on your Holiday Barbie! Your hair and makeup are flawless and you look good in this color along with every other color of the rainbow but that still does not excuse this decision...but I guess I'll just let you make it up to me next time.

Elisabeth Moss - Andrew Gn

Beautiful! So simple, chic, and classy, and I love the bright red lips and super blonde hair - probably the best she’s ever looked. I guess I’m feeling the black and white trend tonight.

Heidi Klum - Versace

NO. WHY??? #IHateIt It looks like a blood-covered praying mantis/velociraptor is staring at me on your chest/torso and it’s creeping me out. Also, that cannot be comfortable.

What did you think of the Emmys Fashion? Part 2 coming soon!