HIATUS OVER

So Hello again :)

I don’t know if any of you will remember me but I run this blog on nail posts and fashion and beauty and whatever else takes my fancy.

Let me start by saying I am so so so so sorry I haven’t posted since December! It really is truly terrible of me and I am using the stress from my A-levels as an excuse.

But good news: I’m back!  And I have loads of amazing posts lined up and planned for you guys including my entire 2014 nail polish haul so far!! It’s gonna be a long post, that one, might split it into parts actually…

So this a place marker before I publish my new posts and gather my stuff and I will be back before you know it (after changing my theme from the stupid Christmas one I still have)

Have fun and you won’t have to wait much longer for new exciting posts from me!

Love ya

GET TO KNOW ME TAG

Hi guys,

So I will be posting extremely unpredictably over the next week(s) this is your warning :)

I saw this tag on http://gingerlovesmakeup.wordpress.com (Ginger’s blog) and well, she tagged everyone who read hers and i had read hers and it’s such a great tag so I had to do it right this second :)

Is your hair naturally curly or straight?
Straight with a flick on the ends (which is incredibly frustrating)

Do you dye it yourself or go to a salon?
I don’t dye it. Never have.

Do you wear the same style everyday or do you change it?
I constantly change it up depending on where I’m going and what mood I’m in. Usually if I’m really sleepy or can’t be bothered with the world it goes straight into a ponytail. 

Do you do your own mani/pedi or go to a salon?
I’ve never had my nails painted by a professional at a salon, I think I’m good enough to give myself a manicure plus it’s way cheaper to do it at home :)

How often do you change your nail polish?
As often as i can when it needs replacing, (i don’t like seeing chips in the polish) usually about twice a week 

Do you polish your toes in winter or just in summer?
I’m lazy. Polish lasts on my toenails so much longer than my fingernails because they don’t do as much so i usually paint my toenails once at the beginning of June, and a second time halfway through august and that’s it. So just in summer really.

How long does it take you to put on your make up?
average day when i’m not in a rush would be 7 minutes i think, i don’t time it.

What do you do first, face or eyes?
Definitely face first. Moisturise then foundation, concealer, pressed powder.

Do you collect make-up or do you just buy what you need and when you need it?
I’m a little mixed on this question. I buy make up when i need it (i’m always running out of mascara!) but if i see a new product that i’ve seen raved about on blogs or just interests me and it’s reasonably priced the i will buy it and try it out.

How often do you wear false eyelashes?
Tried them once on a makeup trial for year 11 prom, didn’t like them and now i just rely on really great mascara ad the length and thickness of the eyelashes i was blessed with :)

Do you do a full-face make-up everyday?
everyday i have to leave the house

Do you wear make-up when you’re home alone or with your family?
If i’m just chilling inside and know  dont have to be anywhere i wont wear makeup because like i said earlier, i’m lazy and there are some days when i just cant be bothered to do my makeup routine. so not always would be my answer i guess.

Would you leave the house without make-up on?
only if i wasn’t warned i had to leave the house and we had to go in a rush/ there was an event going on which nobody told me about until two minutes before i had to leave the house.

How many high-end products do you own?
i don’t know. probably none, i like cheap stuff :)

Do you plan your OOTD every night or when you’re getting dressed?
It’s usually something i think about to help me get to sleep but i don’t lay out and collect all the clothing until the morning.

How often do you change your handbag?
not too often, i have different bags and handbags for different purposes so i have one for when i go shopping and one for when i go to church etc.

What time do you wake up and go to sleep?
Varied. particularly at the moment when i’m doing schoolwork until midnight and not falling asleep until one o’clock and then being woken up by the noisy winds rattling through my windows at 3am and then unsuccessfully trying to fall asleep until around 6am when i finally do. then my alarm goes off at seven. such is my life at the moment.

Left-handed or right-handed?
Right-handed.

How tall are you?
i don’t know. as tall as my mum. that’s not really helpful is it. I’m petite, clothes size 6-8 (UK) i guess around 5’10”

How many pets do you have?
6. I used to have 8 but two of my fish died so now i have six fishies. two really big fat oranda goldfish and 4 little white cloud mountain minnows who are extremely difficult to tell apart.

How do you blog?
Incredibly irregularly at the moment. My aim was one post every other day, but i forgot about schoolwork so now it’s just whenever i can find the time to post something. hopefully i will do some nail art archives soon of art i did on my nails before i started this blog :) 

Do you read comments posted on blogs?
Oh yes! They’re so lovely to read. I really appreciate every single reader who posts any kind of comment on any of my posts, they brighten my day when i see people actually like my designs :)

Do you keep a list of products you see on other blogs?
In my head? yes. on paper? only if i think i desperately need it/ its a product that i can remember what it looks like but i couldn’t remember the name so when i see it on someone else’s blog i write the name down. 

How did you come up with your blog name?
It took a while. originally i was called RoyalBlueZebra as i looked around my bedroom when starting my blog and saw my royal blue prom dress which i love (and will show you guys photos of soon, promise!) and a zebra cuddly toy i’ve had since i was very little. However, when i googled the name (as one naturally does to see how far up the google search results ones blog appears)  found out it was the name of an online lingerie store amongst other things, so i quickly decided i had no wish to be asociated/mistaken for that store and changed my name. Never a plain nail came from the simple fact that i knew my blog would be mainly nail polish posts and my nails are never dull and boring :) so that was an interesting story 

What’s your favorite color?
Blue because my eyes are blue and when i wear blue my eyes pop, purple becuase it’s so majestic and yellow because it’s such a joyful colour :)

Do you swear?
Not really. My friends do but i don’t see the point and dont usually get angry enough to justify swear words.

What are you doing with the rest of your day?
well it’s night now. i was typing up my history essay. I will continue that and then go to sleep

 

And that’s it. It’s a really detailed tag so i hope you all enjoyed reading it and i didn’t just waste your time! Everyone who’s read this well done to you! You are now tagged! I’ve used too many exclamation marks :)

Love, 

Caitlin xx

Hi guys :)

So today I must hang my head in shame. I haven’t posted in ages even though i love making posts and painting my nails.

I have a number of excuses, the main ones being:

• My nail broke and I had to cut all my other nails really short so it didn’t look odd but now i can only do small designs which sucks :(
• A-Levels are so so so so so much harder and more time consuming than i ever could have imagined. I got behind on a few pieces of work about 4 weeks ago due to  school trip and I’m still playing catch up!

So sorry I’ve not posted in ages, I will try to get my act together and start blogging again

Umm so yeah, expect posts in the future but at the moment i cant post 3 per week 

Love to you all,

see you soon

Caitlin xx

Okay guys, here’s another short post for y’all!

The lovely Ines is having a giveaway, which you should try and check out.

It’s a beautiful cold porcelain necklace with a long chain length, have a look/ enter the giveaway here

Good luck to you all and great giveaway Ines!

GINGER’S QUICK AND EASY GETTING-TO-KNOW-YOU-BETTER-TAG

Hi people, I know I said I’d try posting every 2 days, but I love making posts for you guys and I can’t resist making another one :)

This tag I spied on Ginger’s blog this beautiful tag she created and as she tagged anyone who was reading it, I simply had to answer her questions!

1. Chocolate or Vanilla?

Chocolate

    2. Coke or Pepsi?

Pepsi

    3. Coconut or Liquorice?

Liquorice, I hate coconut!

     4. Cats or Dogs?

Dogs 

     5. Cinderella or Pinky and the Brain?

Definitely Pinky and the Brain, my childhood right there :)

     6. Batman or Superman?

Batman, he’s way cooler and richer and has better movies imo

     7. The Beatles or Queen?

The Beatles

     8. Meat or veggies?

Meat. Veg is only good when it’s accompanying meat of some kind.

     9. Night in or night out?

Night in, less stressful :)

     10. Summer or winter?

Depends, when it’s summer i would say winter, not that it’s nearly winter I’m gonna say summer!

And that’s it! You should all go check out her blog, it’s awesome! And I tag anyone who is reading this :)

See you tomorrow with another nail post!! Wooop for nails :D

Miss Sporty Metal Fusion Aurora Borealis Review!!

Hi people :)

So yesterday I thought I would try out the new Nail polish my friend Vicky bought me for my birthday last month. 

 

photo from Superdrug

This colour is really pretty and depending on the lighting and angle your nails look different colours. 

Most of the time they look like the perfect blue for winter.

 

Then they catch the light and BOOM they look shimmery lilac! It’s a beautiful two tone metallic finish.

The bottle itself only holds 7ml, which is a lot smaller than I would have liked. I like me lots of polish :) 

It’s brush is plenty thick and spreads drops of polish all over the nail easily as it fans out when pressure is applied and can cover most of my nail.

Although application is easy, you need quite a few coats to get an opaque finish. I ended up wearing two coats of white polish underneath it as a base coat and even then I needed three coats of the metal flip to cover up the white.

As you can see, tip wear set in straight away. I only painted these last night and I can already see the tips of my nails where the polish used to be.

Overall this is a beautiful colour and I will definitely wear it during winter time as I think it has an element of frostiness about it. Unfortunately it isn’t long lasting and I have a feeling my bottle will run out pretty soon. I think this would work nicely as a top coat over other polishes to add shimmer when held at different angles and will probably wear it more like that than on its own.

But for its price of £1.99 for such a unique colour it’s a great buy and I recommend it to you all this winter.

 

 

PRIMARK HAUL AND NAIL POLISH SWATCHES!!!!

Okay guys, hope you’re all well. I went spending the other day and I thought I’d show you all what I bought. So be prepared for outrageously cheap clothing ahead, yes this is a warning!!

 

So the first thing I bought was this handy little travel set. I think it will be great for when I’m going to Manchester as a residential trip with my geography class. I can transfer part of my big bottled shampoos and conditioners etc into theses easier to pack ones. And they even come with sticky labels so I don’t end up washing my body with shampoo (it’s happened before guys…)

This is part of the Primark beauty range and I bought it for £1

Okay, I realise this looks gold, but that’s because of the lighting and camera flash (so basically my fault). This necklace is actually silver in colour and I already own one of these. I bought my first one when I went shopping during the summer but when I got home, there weren’t enough letters supplied for me to spell what I wanted so the other day I decided to buy another one so hopefully now I will have enough letters! 

The way this necklace works is that you can remove and replace the letters on two separate chains and spell whatever you like, although I find short words settle better around the neck and chest area and unfortunately there’s no charm you can place between words so they often seem to jumble together. But it’s a great necklace and a really creative idea. I bought this one for £2.50 after finding it hidden among the jewellery displays at Primark.

I promise I did buy clothes, I’m just showing you all the less pretty, but equally useful, stuff first :)

These elastics were again from Primark and I wanted them so I didn’t have to try and tie up my hair when it’s plaited in scrunchies not a good look guys!

These were £1 for a pack of 300 and I guess I got what I paid for because i wore one today and it had snapped before school was over :( but at least there’s a lot of them to work through.

 

Right, I’m gonna be super un-detailed with this. It’s a pack of 3 face cloths bought for £1.50. Only two are pictured as the other is currently drying on my radiator. I needed new facecloths and theses were lilac and cheap :) again, Primark was where I got them.

People, just look at these socks, aren’t they cute! I wanted some frilly socks and these are perfect. I found them in Primark for £1.50 and I fell in love. the flower pattern is super cute and they’re really quite thick socks- much thicker than my older primark trainer socks. So I had to get them and I now own them and they look really nice popping out the top of my ankle booties :)

I find primark cable knit tights to be the comfiest cosiest tights in my price range. At the moment they make them in 5 different colours: oatmeal, navy, oxblood red, black and brown. The ones pictured are brown and they kinda meet on the line between brown and grey. They cost me £3. I think they’ll look lovely with some knee high boots and a skater skirt or even just with a baggy jumper on an evening in cuddled up on the sofa with a mug of hot chocolate, ahh winter!

I know, i know, you all think I’ve gone back to showing boring things again. I’m sorry. This cardigan is so figure hugging and the sleeves are just the right length I tend to find sleeves are either too short or too baggy so it’s nice when cardigans get them right :) This may shock some of you but before this shopping trip I didn’t own any wearable black cardigans. They’re seen as such a wardrobe staple and work with almost anything and I didn’t own one! Thankfully the problem has been rectified now largely thanks to Primark and their £6 cardigan range.

This t-shirt is so warm! Just thought I’d tell you that. I really like the design as well (I showed it my nan and she said the girl looked like me when I photograph stuff) and I didn’t even realise this until right now but the girl is wearing a bow in her hair, now it’s an even better top people! This cost me only £3 in primark which I thought was great.

Yep, I bought a summer dress. In winter. Ooopsies! I’d seen this pattern in primark before and loved it but unfortunately I hadn’t loved the cut and fit of the dress it had been on. their was some kind of slit along the back and it didn’t feel right. So I was so happy to see this beautiful print on a dress style I liked! It’s quite tight around the bust area and flows down to just above the knee and I paid only £5 for it. Yes that’s not a typo, £5!!!!

I’m thinking about saving it for next summer when I get to go to ITALY on a school trip!!! But before I put it away, is there any way you wonderful people know how to style it for autumn/winter so I can wear it now? Let me know in the comments, I will be most grateful :)

This has to be one of my favourite dresses at the moment (I will probably include it in my November favourites post at the end of November!). It’s lacy and really really gorgeous. And, thank God, it’s lined! I hate see through dresses and I hate accidentally buying a see through/sheer dress and then having to go hunting for a slip dress to go underneath :( not fun. But this dress is beautiful. It’s so comfy and cute and I can think of so many different occasions to wear it to. I can style it up for a party or dress it down and wear it casually to school one day. Ugh so pretty. And thanks to Primark this cost me only £5. THANKYOU PRIMARK!!!!

NAIL POLISHES  

 

So I managed to restrain myself and only buy four nail polishes for myself when I went spending. These were the first two I bought. I went into Boots and saw they had a three for two offer on most beauty products. So these two and one other that wasn’t for me cost me £7.38 and I think it was worth it. The blue is called “mind the gap, victoria” and it reminds me of a nurse’s uniform as it’s very similar shade I think. The green is called “round and round the garden” and it’s quite a muted tone. I think they’re perfect for autumn and can’t wait to try them out properly. Next on my list of trying out and wearing polishes is a blue/purple metallic polish by miss sporty. My best friend Vicky bought it for me and I want to try it on!! (everybody say hi to vic incase she’s reading this)

This is a beautiful deep green shimmery colour. It’s by Revlon and is in the shade Emerald City. It sparkles but doesn’t shine. This i because it’s a matte suede polish, meaning it has no shine (hence the “matte”) and feels soft and like fabric to touch (there’s the “suede” part). I love it. It’s stunning and such a lovely deep green. The best part? it was another of my Poundland/Discount UK purchases so only cost me £1.  Just £1 for a 14.7ml Revlon nail enamel. A-MA-ZING!

This is another Revlon polish, again from poundland. And yes, it really is as bright as it is in the picture! This is a showstopping colour, guaranteed to earn you many a double take. I love it’s name: Sassy. Seems to me to cover this brilliant hue perfectly :)

Aaaaaaaannnnddd… here are the swatches :) I think it’s pretty obvious what order they’re in but I’ll tell you all anyways. From top to bottom, “mind the gap, victoria” “round and round the garden” “emerald city” and “sassy”

So that’s my shopping haul :D Which item was your favourite? Which polish colour would you buy?

~also gotta say I’m planning a follower giveaway soon, more details later~

Loves you all xxx

 

As promised, the OPI Nicki Minaj Super Bass Shatter review!!!

Okay everyone, I’m so pleased with myself for scoring this nail polish at such a bargain I’ve just gotta tell you the story. It was my birthday and we went to Tesco to buy food for lunch (sounds excitin dunnit?) and next door to our Tesco is a Discount UK shop (like poundland) so I went inside Discount UK to buy me some uber cheap polish and amongst all the really cheap polishes I would usually buy, I found this gem. I couldn’t believe it! An actual honest to God real OPI nail polish and it was purple and glittery so I couldn’t resist and I bought it. Here’s the best part, the cost was 100 of your English pennies! (£1) for a flippin OPI shatter polish from the Nicki Minaj range!!! So take a gander and feast your eyes on this beautiful colour :)

So here it is in all it’s glory – I’m so proud of myself hehee :)

I’ve got to say I’m very pleased this polish is in my possession it’s just so beautiful. When I bought it my eye was drawn towards the packaging, the lid design is super effective: I immediately know it’s a crackle/shatter polish. The photograph (taken with my camera because I finally have batteries) makes it look a little more pink than it is in real life. It’s more of a purpley pinky colour with pink sparkles in and I love it. I applied it to my nails and the shatter effect began immediately, and as this is only my second shatter/crackle polish, I’m still feeling that novelty of watching it separate and form jagged patterns before my eyes. It’s a blink and you’ll miss it kind of moment. (DON’T BLINK for any Doctor Who fans reading?!). I didn’t have too long to wait for it to dry which was nice, I think it took a bit longer than usual because the yellow coats beneath were not dry all the way through and were still a bit tacky to touch. Maybe if I’d not been impatient the effect would be even better. Although I can’t suggest any improvements, for me this is an awesome polish and you should all own it as it looks amazing over any colour (although personally i prefer it layered over lighter colours). Let me know in the comments what colour(s) you would layer it over :)

Oh, and to create the look I used these polishes:

Sally Hansen Double Duty seriously people I swear by this as both a base and top coat 

Pink Tease pastel yellow Discount UK £1

OPI Nicki Minaj Super Bass Shatter unfortunately this shade is now unavailable from the OPI website, if you’re desperate for it try amazon or ebay or your local poundland like i did :)

Have a smashing day/night and I will see you guys in two days time!! 

OPI Nicki Minaj Super Bass Shatter review coming tomorrow!!

Hey guys :) just look at this beautiful polish, this is just a quick post to say I am still here, I haven’t forgotten today has just been a bit hectic and I wanted to provide you all with quality posts and not a super quick review. So tomorrow I will reveal my thoughts on this awesome nail polish along with a couple of swatches cos we all love swatches :) have a good day night or whatever you are having and I will see you guys soon! Oh and let me know in the coments about any posts you guys wanna see in the near future, I don’t want this to just be a nail polish blog, there will be other forms of beauty and even some fashion as soon as I can utilise my camera again :)

Rainbows, birds and trees nails!

Hey lovely people :)

So today I thought I’d show you what my mum’s nails currently look like as whenever I paint my nails she gets me to paint hers as well (which I love doing). By the way I’m waiting for new camera batteries so these photos so far have been taken with my phone, obviously when I’ve got my camera the photos will be better and I will be able to edit them and add my URL to future photos and make them look more professional.

For this design I followed Robin Moses’ youtube video called Love Birds on Rainbows (check it out here) (check out her blog here)

For a base coat I used Essie’s first base. [£8.99]

Then you have to use 11 different polish colours.

I used:

1. Rio nail art pen in metallic dark red [gift from mum]
2. Boots 17 in red (part of last years Christmas wardrobe- the label has worn off so I don’t know the shade name) [gift from an aunty]
3. Rio nail art pen in a red-y orange-y colour (again no label left on it) [gift from mum]
4. Revlon colorstay nail enamel in 90 sorbet [£1 found in Discount UK]
5. Boots 17 in gold (again part of last years Christmas wardrobe) [gift from an aunty]
6. Discount UK’s Pink Tease brand in pastel yellow [99p]
7. Collection 2000 hot looks in 33 button moon [£1]
8. Miss Sporty metal flip in 23 (it’s a metallic blue/purple) [birthday present from a friend]
9. technic pretty pastels in moonlit jade [99p bodycare]
10. Rimmel London lasting finish in 198 azure [£1.99]
11. an unnamed brand from Discount UK in dark blue (it’s also a matte polish so adds extra texture) [£1]

For the details I used a cheap black striper and dotter nail art pen from Discount UK [£1]

I finished it off with my Sally Hansen double duty base and top coat.

I really loved painting this design, it looks amazing and wasn’t as hard to achieve as it looks.

Do you think you would want to replicate this design?