A Year In Review

Hello everyone!
This is the last blog post of the year, can you believe 2014 is nearly over? What a year it's been, thinking back, a lot happened. 
I went to a lot of parties, met a lot of new people and finished college despite hating it with every fibre of my being. I nearly worked for Visa, I fretted about the decision not to go to uni, I got the job at Debenhams and really enjoy it. I made new friends, I became more independent and now I earn my own money, and I think most importantly, I really developed as a person. 
It's been a very developmental year. I learnt to trust my judgement and that sometimes, being a little bit stubborn works in your favour and I learnt that following the masses isn't necessary to be happy. 
As you know, I don't do resolutions, I do 'Goals'. These were my goals for 2014:

Stag's Head | Christmas Nail Art Tutorial

Hello everyone! 

This week's tutorial is of this stag's head. Not particularly Christmassy, but festive all the same. 

Decorating My Room For Christmas

Hello Everyone!
As promised, here is the blog post showing you how I've decorated my room for Christmas.
Normally I have Christmas stuff spread throughout my room, but this year I've contained it to one area. 

Santa's Hat | Christmas Nail Art Tutorial

Hello everyone!
This week's tutorial is Santa's hat. 
As usual, it's pretty simple and I've broken it down into steps for you. 

Santa's Belt Buckle | Christmas Nail Art Tutorial

Hello everyone!
Here is the first Christmas nail art tutorial: Santa's Belt Buckle!
You only need three colours and one tiny brush, so it's super easy.Let's get started. 

Christmas Light Switch On

Hello everyone!

It's that festive time of year again and on Friday night, in my town they were having the Christmas light 'Switch On' Ceremony, ie. They turn on the Christmas lights. Myself, my mum and my sister, Tash, went along. 

Gold Glitter Chevrons | Nail Art Details

Hiya!

These are the details for the 'Gold Glitter Chevrons' nail art that you might have seen on my nail art Instagram (@nailartnut). 
It's approaching Christmas time so I'm starting to get festive and play around with glitter a bit more plus I was dying to use my new chevron stencils!

Here's what I used:

• Sally Hansen Maximum Strength 
• Miss Sporty Lasting Colour in either 3294 or 160 (I'm not sure which number is the colour) 
• Chevron stencils from She Sells Seashells (see last blog post here)
• Barry M Aquarium Collection in 'Treasure Chest' 

Speak to you on Sunday!

Abi xxx

She Sells Seashells

Hello everyone!

I have been on the hunt for some chevron nail stencils for months. I had scoured the Internet and craft shops and couldn't find anything even close to what I wanted, until now. 

Birthday Make Up

Hello everyone!
I've finally got round to showing you the make up I recieved for my birthday. My birthday was a month ago. (Oops) 
I got lots of lovely beauty bits for my birthday so I might break this post up. Today I'm going to chat about the higher end make up I received, namely the Urban Decay Naked Palette and a Limited Edition Rihanna Mac Lipstick. Aren't I a lucky girl? 

Spider Nail Art Tutorial

Hello everyone!

I have another nail art tutorial for you today (sorry if you're getting bored of them, my blog will be back to normal soon!) 
Today is this incy wincy Spider, you need very little to create him! Let's get started.

Jack O'Lantern Nail Art Tutorial

Hello everyone! Ooh a mid week blog post, how sneaky...
I'm going to post the tutorial today as Halloween is creeping (get it?) up on us and I have a lot of designs I want to share with you before the occasion is over. 
This design is so quick and simple but looks really effective! Let's get going. 

Zombie/Frankenstein Nail Art Tutorial

Hello everyone!

This week, I was hoping to post about the make up I received for my birthday but I just have not had the time to just sit down and enjoying using it and take photos etc, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to start the Halloween nail art tutorials! 

This cute Zombie or Frankenstein is really easy and doesn't require too many colours or tools.  

Let's get started. 

Birthday Nail Varnishes

Hello Everyone!
As nail varnish and nail art is a passionate hobby of mine, I tend to receive at least a couple of nail varnishes or nail themed items for birthdays and Christmases. This year I was lucky enough to get 5 nail varnishes from various family members. It just so happens that all the colours are perfect for autumn/winter too. 

Everyday Make Up Essentials

Hello Everyone!

As usual, I'm going to start with an apology:
Sorry I didn't post last Sunday, I had my job induction all day Thursday and then they wanted me to work 9-5 on Friday and 9-6 on Saturday so by Sunday I was a) absolutely shattered and b) totally unprepared to do a blog post. 
I am prepared this week though! 
Since I've become an adult and go to work each day, I needed to find a make up look that was easy, and professional but still pretty, so here are the products that I use to create that look. 
Basically this is my 'holy grail' every day products!

E.L.F Make Up Brushes

Hello everyone!


Recently I needed some new make up brushes and as much as I like the Real Techniques brushes, they can be quite expensive. I remembered the eyeshadow brush I have that I've used everyday for years and I still love it just as much. It's from e.l.f, so I thought I'd head over to the website and have a little look. I ended up getting four. Can you believe they're only £1.95 each?! 

Pink With White Daisies | Nail Art Details

Hello everyone!

These are the details for these cute daisies.

• Essie 'Madison Ave-Hue'

• Primark White Striper

• NYC 'Electric Yellow'

• Sally Hansen 'Double Duty Base & Top Coat' 

I was going to do these around spring time, but they're so pretty I couldn't wait!

Thanks for reading, 

Abi xxx

Grey and White, Dots and Stripes | Nail Art Details

Hello Everyone!

Here are the details for this grey and white, nail art look.

• Barry M 'Grey'

• White Striper/Dotting Tool from Primark

I also used a dotting tool dipped into some white nail varnish because the dotting tool is a bit unpredictable on the the striper/dotting tool duo!

This is incredibly easy to do so it seems a bit silly to do a blog post about it but I'mma do it anyway!

Speak soon! 

Abi xxx

Blog's First Birthday!

Hello everyone!
Can you believe that it's the first of September already? 
Or more importantly, that I've been writing on this blog for a whole year?!
Where has that year gone? 
Brace yourselves, I think this is going to be a long one...

Current Favourite Nail Varnishes

Hello everyone! 
Today I thought I'd share with you my favourite nail varnishes at the moment, even better they're all very affordable. 

H&M 'Smoky Eyeshadows' Palette | Review

Hello everyone!
Today I thought I'd do a little review of this eyeshadow palette I bought on a whim, recently.
(Sorry about the weird shadows, it was really sunny when I took the photo!)

My Skincare Routine

Garnier Cleansing Wipes for Normal to Combination Skin | Garnier Pure Active 3 In 1 | Garnier Pure Active Moisturiser | Freederm Gel

Hello everyone!

Today I thought I'd share with you my skincare routine. Its very simple, I know a lot of people have very in depth routines with about seven different products, which takes them half an hour. I do not. I use about four products at best, and even then that's quite rare. My routine takes about 5-10 minutes, depending on whether I am using my clay mask. 

Tiny Polka Dots and Little Gems | Nail Art Details

Hello everyone! 

As promised here are the details for my latest nail art design.  

• Essie 'Madison Ave-Hue'
• White Striper/Dotting Tool from Primark
• Little Tear Shaped Gems from a gem wheel I bought in Primark a while ago 
• Sally Hansen 'Double Duty Base & Top Coat' (for shine and to adhere the gems)
• A wooden skewer dipped in a tiny bit of top coat to help place the gems

Talk to you on Sunday! 

Abi xxx

Paint Drips, Diamond and Yin/Yang | Nail Art Details

Hello everyone!
I know it's not my usual blog post day, but I feel like once a week isn't enough, and I'd like to blog more so I thought that each time I do a new nail art design, instead of just posting it on my nail art Instagram, I'd post it here too, along with the details of what I used etc! That sentence needed full stops!

For this nail art, I used:

• Barry M 'Strawberry Icecream'
• Barry M 'Blue Moon'
• Sinful Colours 'Snow Me White'
• Black and white stripers from Primark
• Dotting tool with a large end and a smaller end
• Sally Hansen 'Double Duty Base & Top Coat'
• Matte Top Coat from Primark

If you'd like any other details or have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

I shall speak to you on Sunday,

Abi xxx

Brogue Style Nail Art | Tutorial

Hello Everyone!
Hope you've all had a fun weekend.
Today I thought I'd do a nail art tutorial as my blog has been very make up and shopping based recently (which I love but thought it needed a change). 
I saw this design on Instagram but as it was just featured and not by the actual account holder, I can't credit it. I'm not sure what you'd call it but it reminds me of the black and white brogues!

Beauty Haul/Review

Hello everyone! 

Hope you've had a fun weekend.
I've done a fair bit of shopping recently so I thought I'd show you the beauty bits I've bought over a couple of shopping trips. A massive bonus is that everything was very affordable and reasonably priced!

I Have A Bit Of An Addiction... | Lip Products

Hello everyone! 
Yep it's true, I have an addiction to lip products so I thought I would show you my favourite ones. Sound good? I might make this a little series because I have an addiction to most make up products! 

Watermelon Nail Art Tutorial

Hello everyone! 
As promised, here is the mid-week blog post of the watermelon slice nail art tutorial! 
Enjoy!

Strawberry Nail Art Tutorial

Hello Everyone!

I have another nail art tutorial today, trying something more summery. If you've seen my Nail Instagram you'll have seen the little summery patterns I have been trying out, if not you can view it here :)

Anyway as you've seen from the title, today's tutorial is this big strawberry.

Superdrug and Primark Haul

Hello everyone! 
Like I said, I did some shopping with my friends on Wednesday and thought I'd show you what I bought.

Easter Egg Nail Art Tutorial

Hello everyone!

Today is the last day of my Colossal Easter/spring Nail Art Week! It's been fun.
Today's look is the Easter Egg design. It's very easy and totally customisable. Here it is.

Bunny Nail Art Tutorial

Hello everyone!
We're nearly at the end of my Easter/spring nail art week! Today's design is the Bunny one. He's really cute and quite easy to do. Let's get started. 

Polka Dots Nail Art Tutorial

Hello everyone! 
Welcome back to day three and quite possibly the most pointless nail tutorial ever! I understand that no one needs a tutorial for this but once I had done the five designs and then the colossal nail art blog post, it was only then that I realised this isn't really a design. Anyway here it is.

Daisies Nail Art Tutorial

Hello everyone !

Welcome back to day two of my colossal Easter/spring nail art tutorials. Today's tutorial is the Daisies design. It looks quite involved, but that's because it's got lots of layers, it's really very simple. Give it a go!

Chick Nail Art Tutorial

Hello everyone!
As promised here is the Chick nail art tutorial. It's simple and very cute, so give it a go! 

Colossal Easter Nail Art Week

Hello everyone!

Happy Mothers' Day!

As usual I've been useless with regularly posting on here, and have been EVEN worse on my nailstagram (yes I actually call it that) but I'm back today! I thought as an apology for being rubbish and because I have been lacking nail art in my life recently, I thought I'd do a spring/Easter nail art week. What I mean by this is that I have five spring/Easter nail art tutorials and I am going to post one a day (starting from tomorrow). Does that sound fun?
You could wear these all together or just use one as an accent nail or you could wear one design across all of your nails, it's up to you. I know the pink and white one is a bit of a cheat but it looks dainty across all of your nails and works well with the other four designs- it adds a bit of calm to liveliness of the others.Those are the designs, get excited, I'll be back tomorrow with the chick design!

See all the Easter/Spring nail art designs: 

Chick
Daisies
Polka Dots
Bunny
Easter Egg

Hope you've had lovely weekends, I'll see you tomorrow!
Abi xxx

I'm Now On Bloglovin'!

Hello everyone! 

Sorry I've been missing in action for the last couple of weeks, been feeling a bit crummy! I'll be back soon with more beauty/lifestyle posts. Just popping in to say that I'm on Bloglovin now and would really love it if you'd follow me! If you don't know what Bloglovin is, it's essentially a website where you can keep track of the blogs you like so you never miss a post, for example I follow Zoella, Tanya Burr and Louise (Sprinkle of Glitter) because they are my favourite blogs to read (and three of my favourite YouTubers, you should definitely check them out if you haven't already). So click the button on the right of my blog that says 'follow me on Bloglovin'', it would make me very happy.

I will be back soon!

Abi xxx

Current Beauty Faves

Hello everyone!
This week is going to be a post about the beauty items I am loving at the moment, some are new items and some are items I've had for a while now but I just thought it'd be nice to share them with you.

Alexa Chung Inspired Nail Art Tutorial

Hello everyone! 

Sorry it's been two weeks since I posted, the week before last I just had nothing to tell you or show you and I wasn't at my best and last week I was ill so the last thing on my mind was my blog! But I'm back now with a little blog post showing you how I recreated Alexa Chung's daisy nails (the photo is on my Nail Instagram). So let's get started!

Happy New Year!

Hello Everyone!
Happy New Year! I can't believe it's 2014 already, I'm so pleased that 2013 is over and done with because it was a horrible year and I'm glad to see it come to a close. I'm doing everything in my power to make this year a good year and I have a couple of nice things lined up already, what with two of my best friends turning 18 in the same week this month, so there'll be lots of celebrations and on the 10th of February I am seeing my all time favourite TAYLOR SWIFT in concert and I am soooooo excited about that! But yes on to my point...