Motel Rocks and Glossy Box Event!

Hi Everyone!

On Thursday night I packed my enthusiasm and Railcard, once more, and jetted down to London for the Motel Rocks and Glossy Box Blogger event. I was really excited to receive this invite because, as I’m sure you all realise by now, I absolutely love Glossy Box. I also hadn’t heard much from British Fashion Label Motel in a while, so was really glad to re-discover them, in a big way! It was great to meet up with other bloggers, there were some new faces as well as some cheeky, familiar ones (I’m looking at you London Lipgloss!) and we all got to peruse the new Collection from Motel.

The cocktails were flowing and there was even popcorn and CandyFloss! There are some beautiful dresses in the new Motel collection perfect for Christmas Parties. If you’re a svelte, confident bunny there are some amazing Body-Con dresses that my figure would look ridiculous in, but would flatter a toned figure! Here are some of my favourites from the collection, as well as some that Selina (of Motel) described as the gems of the collection:

90's Boyfriend Coat in Check with Black Fur - £84

Laureen Sheer Panel Dress in City Scene - £32.00

Gabby Sequin Dress in Gold £58.00

Motel Freya Cropped Jacket in Forest Green - £65.00

Motel Renee Cage Back Dress in Monochrome Triangle £38.00

Motel Breana Playsuit in Leopard Print £52.00

 Just a handful of my favourites from the night! You can now buy all of these items at the Motel Rocks Website. Here are some other photographs from the night:

 

Fellow Nail Artist/Blogger BOOM Nails was also there, lending her expertise and doing manicures! She also has a fab Nail Art Blog! I already had mine painted, so didn't join her queue of adoring fans, but it would've been great to chat to her! :D

There were lovely drinks and some Candy Floss too, there's me and Rosie from Budgeting Beauty (who is PROPER LOVELY) with our pink beards.

Over at the Glossy Box table there were several treats in store, some edible, some not! Just look at those cupcakes by Lolas Cupcakes - They were sparkly and tasted every bit as good as they look! They were also running a contest to win a Glossy Box by guessing how many items were inside a mystery box. The answer is 17, and I did not win hahaha. It was also great to meet the Glossy Girls, who I chat to all the time on Twitter, they are so lovely!

 

Me and Rosie pretty much spent the rest of the night larking around and chatting to various bloggers, including Kate from Dolly Bow Bow! She was tempted by the Forest Green Cropped Fur Coat, and me and Rosie were thrilled because we were nowhere near brave enough to try it ourselves! Even when Kate looks slightly like Sully from Monsters Inc, she still looks stunning!

I WANT KATES HAIR

 

I also tried on the 90's Check/Fur Boyfriend Coat because a girl can never have too many, and I loved it! I am seriously in danger of buying every single one of my favies from the collection! Sorry Bank Account.

I will show you my Event Manicure tomorrow! I hope you had fun looking at the new things from Motel, as well as getting a look into the Event as a whole. I had a brilliant time and met some absolute BABES. It was interesting doing a more fashion inspired post, I don't claim to be a fashion geek at all, but Motel's clothes are so fun, I feel you don't have to be uber fashion forward to appreciate them. 

Thanks for reading everyone, and remember....

Please note this is NOT a sponsored post, I was invited, and honoured to attend, the Glossy Box/Motel Rocks event and was in no way compensated for my attendance. :)

Fake Bake Hair and Beauty Boutique

I was rather surprised to find an invite land in my inbox to come up to Manchester and check out the new Fake Bake Hair and Beauty Boutique.

Love the logo!

Fake Bake?! Hair and Beauty?!

We all know they’re famous for providing the perfect tan, and widely regarded as one of the BEST false tanning companies out there, but I have to admit I never saw them opening a one-stop Beauty Shop – but I’m SO glad they did. 

Me and one of my best friends (who happened to be travelling up to Manchester anyway) took the road trip up to the north, and he dropped me in the City Centre. The new Salon is located in the Selfridges Department Store in Exchange Square, which is incredibly handy. The idea behind the salon is that it is a “one-stop-shop” for all your Hair and Beauty needs, so if you’re off on a special night out, you can get your tan, hair, nails, facial and even teeth whitening all under the same roof.  They really do offer everything, even Botox.

The interior of the Salon is absolutely gorgeous. Big crystal chandeliers hang from the ceilings, making it a very glam experience indeed! 

Just some of the wide range of treatments offered:

click to enlarge!

After a glass of champagne and a chat with the ever-so-lovely Kerry from MediaHubb, I was treated to a Blow-dry by Hairdresser Gareth (who is n absolute GEM). It really is luxury treatment, I had my hair washed, conditioned and slathered with Moroccan Oil – the holy grail of Hair Products, in my opinion! Using big, barrel brushes, Gareth blow-dried tons of volume into my, often limp, locks and created a gorgeous 60’s style loose wave/curl in the ends. Now, I am absolutely gutted as I write this, because after I pranced around Selfridges, flicking my hair in the face of anyone who I had even the briefest of contact with, I stepped outside to the walk to the train station – right into rain and gale force winds. SO, alas, before I could take any photographs of my glam hair, it was utterly destroyed by the awful British weather. Gutted. But you should imagine something like this, but with my face and not a gorgeous models...:

My hair was so soft, natural looking, bouncy and (pardon the cheese), I felt a million dollars. 

Also there for the press day was World Renowned Tanning Expert James Read:

With his own range of Tanning products named after himself, he has tanned many celebrities and believes that the key to a great tan is making it look as if you aren’t wearing any. Perfect for a fake tan-a-phobe like me! Because of the time of year (and because I had nowhere special to go – boo!), I didn’t indulge in a tan, but listened, fascinated, to James as he talked me through the evolution of his company, different types of tans, and the amazing effects you can create with the right tan contouring. I implore you to check out his website/blog as it is an absolute hive of information for anyone with an interest in self-tan – including how to match the tan to your particular colouring and top tips of the trade. Click HERE to check it out! There's SO MUCH content on the pages, including how-to videos, aptly called Tan-TV.

All in all, I had an absolutely fantastic time and don’t have a single bad word to say about the experience. The salon is such a gorgeous glam environment with a really relaxed, friendly atmosphere, and the range of services offered is astounding. You can get all your Beauty necessities under one roof, and if I was in Manchester with a special occasion coming up, I would definitely book myself in for the works – the whole place just makes you feel special.

 xxx

Cath Kidston Nails

I wouldn't describe myself as a girly-girl, but I really like Cath Kidston Prints! I would never paper the walls with it, but I love it on accessories. It will always remind me of my friend Alice as well, because she is obsessed! I'm not sure how internationally well-known Cath Kidston is, but she's a pretty well established High End brand over here in the UK. A British Fashion Designer, Cath Kidston is famous for her signature, nostalgic floral patterns and home furnishings. I decided to incorporate my favourite print of hers into a manicure:

Here is the original print I based the design on, and I think it's as intricate as I can get it, seen as nails are SO SMALL.

For the accent nail I switched up the base colour from blue to Leighton Denny Babydoll - my new favourite Pink from the October Glossy Box.

I created the design by painting a base of either Bootie Babe Blue Baboo (see below) or Leighton Denny  Babydoll, and painted the large white flower shapes and polka dots with Claire's White Nail Art Pen. I then added a blob of MUA pink in the centre of each one. Now, I reckon I'm quite well known for my freehand work, and although I seem to be able to do an alright job on Dinosaurs or Super Mario (like in my previous posts), I have never been able to get the hang of drawing roses - I just have no idea why! Because of this I enlisted a bit of help with this design from Bundlemonster Image plate BM04, stamping the rose image on top of the MUA Pink circle using American Apparel Coney Island. After transferring the image to the stamp, I dipped a cotton swab in varnish remover and cleaned off the edge of the image, leaving only the heart of the rose, because I needed the design to be so small. After I had stamped all of these, I added some green foliage with a dotting tool and American Apparel Office and Barry M Spring Green. After a coat of Seche Vite, I was good to go!

I'm popping in a review here too, as I've been waiting on these polishes for AGES from brand new polish company Bootie Babe. Their polishes are packaged in novelty "booty" bottles that look like little bums! It's a bit gimicky, but it's fun and I think that is important with cosmetics! I was sent Blue Baboo and noticed that it was the perfect shade of sky blue for my Cath Kidston idea. The polish formula is O.K...it drags a bit and is a little paint-like, but definitely workable. Now, as much as the bottle makes me laugh, and I think it's a fun idea, the handle is almost impossible to use. It is absolutely tiny, and tapered so it slips out of your fingers. I gave up after a couple of nails and used a different brush to apply it. All in all, I like the idea and the novelty, but the quality of the polish and the handle design could be improved. Here is Blue Baboo on its own, as well as some shots of the bottles!

See how small the bottle handle is compared to my fingers? Very fiddly. You get just over 9ml of polish in these bottles.

A lovely shade of blue and not quite like any other shade in my arsenal. I would definitely head over to their website and check them out, there's loads of other great shades to get hold of.

I hope you like this one guys! I realise I don't post as much as I used to, but I think the posts I put up these days have much more crammed in to them, and have A LOT more time spent on them! I have some great designs coming up for you all :D

In other news, the Winner of my Glossy Box contest from 2 weeks ago was Vicky at Manicured Maniac - Congratulations to her! She has been notified and her very own Glossy Box is on it's way to her! WOOP VICKKKYY!!!

Glossy Box are also hosting a Nail Art competition, and I urge you all to get involved to win the OPI Muppets Collection! Emily's Nail Files also has a mention as a place to go for inspiration! Well, you're already here so you're one step ahead of the game! I'd love to see some of you enter, I know you're all SO creative xxxx

Happy Halloween! Spooooky Nails

...I realise Halloween was two days ago now, but I hope you all had a good time! These were my spooky, themed nails for the occasion!

For the haunted house accent nail I started with a base of American Apparel African Violet, used a sponge to dab on Barry M Cobalt Blue over 3/4 of the nail, then sponged on Topshop Celestial onto the top 1/4 to create a gradient effect to act as a 'night sky'. I then freehanded in the pale, yellow moon with Rimmel Lemon Drop with Collection 2000 Angel Wings for detail. I freehanded in the 'hill' with Claire's Jade Green and a small brush before stamping the house image from BundleMonster image plate BM224 with Konad Black Special Polish. I added Barry M Mushroom brown paths and outlined the house with Claire's Silver Nail Art Pen. I stamped the bat image from BM213 and freehanded in the little ghosts with Claire's White Nail Art Pen. I smoothed it over with Seche Vite!
For the rest of the nails I started with a base of Natural Collection White, sponged on Rimmel Lemon Drop and Collection 2000 Angel Wings, sporadically, to make them look a bit old and crusty (yuummmm). I then stamped on the spiderweb and spider images from BM13 with Konad Black Special Polish before adding a coat of Seche Vite.

There is a lot of steps involved in this Manicure, but it didnt take too long!

I hope you all had a great halloween!