monochrome

just a quick post to show you my most recent nail art creation! I was feeling indecisive so I went for a bit of everything! I used the Rio nail art pens which I reviewed here to create all of the designs. They would work well with any colour but I chose black and white because they obviously contrast the most!
I don't like the leopard print ones at all, simply because I know I can do them much better! I should of taken that nail off and started again but oh well.

It's the first of December in a couple of days which can only mean one thing- CHRISTMAS NAILS.

What do you have on your nails right now? Do you have any requests for me to do?

PRETTY EDGY.

the other day I was contacted by the lovely Jessica who owns the online jewelry shop Pretty Edgy to see if I wanted to feature a couple of her lively items on her blog- obviously I said I would love to because it's all so lovely and I wanted to share it with all of you! She sells lots of unique pieces which are really in right now and I wanted to share with you a couple of the items she sells! Oh and everything is really decent prices too and keep reading for a unique discount code!

The items I received were the silver rivet bracelet (currently £6), the wish bracelet (currently reduced to £2) and the angel wings ring (also currently reduced to £2). As you can see these are great prices compared to how much they would cost in somewhere like Topshop and they are more unique than buying them from there! I've worn the rivet bracelet practically every day since receiving it so look out for it in some outfit posts soon!

Everything came really nicely packaged as you can see so they would make such lovely christmas gifts (not long at all now until christmas- eeek!)

They sell everything from bracelets, to rings and even studded iPhone cases so there's something for everyone!

The delivery is very reasonable too with UK and Ireland postage only costing £1.95 which is great!

Now for the discount code! To receive 20% off of your order until the 9th of December (just under two weeks away) enter the code 'ISLAAY20' at the checkout (excludes postage costs) which makes everything even more ideal for Christmas presents for your friends and family (or maybe just a little treat to yourself!?)

once again their website is prettyedgy.co.uk and their twitter is @PrettyEdgyUK

what's in my shower!

I thought this video might be fun to do and you can see what beauty products I keep in my shower and use on a regular basis!
I forgot to show you my nails and I knew I would get questions on them so I included a photo underneath the video! I'll do a post in a couple of days showing you the products I used!

makeup tag!

1. How long have you been wearing makeup?

I remember buying my first ever mascara when I was christmas shopping in year 7! (I would of been 12 then) and I haven't gone many days without wearing it since!

2. What was your favourite makeup product in the beginning?

At the beginning I had literally no idea about makeup- I loved the dream matte mousse which looking back was horrible. I feel loads of people used to use that when they were young but I don't know why!

3. What is your favourite makeup product now?

I agree with Molly on this one! Nail polish would be my favourite but it doesn't count so I would have to say lipstick! It's a great way to completely change your look and there are sooo many different types/colours/finishes etc out there! 

4. What were some of your favourite brands in the beginning?

I used to use natural collection a lot ar first but then I think I went onto maybelline?

5. What are some of your favourite brands now?

I think my favourite highstreet brand for makeup is Revlon and for nail varnish it would be barry M! I'm also growing to love MUA and Collection 2000!

6. How would you describe your makeup style?

pretty natural but I like to go for a bold lip if I'm in the mood for it!

7. What is your everyday makeup like?

Pretty plain- a pink or coral cheek, baby pink lips and natural eyes!

8. What is your going out makeup like?

Similar to my everyday makeup but with more eyeliner and a bolder lip!

9. What makeup look are you known for?

When I was at school I used to get told off by the teachers for my bright lipsticks!

10. What is the worst beauty crime you have committed?

Probably the foundation lips! I used to put concealer over my lips (why oh why) because all the other girls did it.  I have no idea why because it looked awful!

11. What is the worst beauty crime you are proud to have not committed?

Like Molly I always remove my makeup before bed! I used to be rubbish at this but I can honestly say I haven't slept with it on in over three years!

12. What is one beauty trend your were part of but now aren't a fan of?

I'll have to mention the kohl eyeliner once more, I now realise that wearing it in my waterline is not a good look for me and completely closes up my eyes.

13. What is one trend you are proud to say you were never a part of?

Massively dark eyes when I was younger. I see lots of the year 8s at school experimenting with eyeliner and ending up looking like they have been punched in each eye!

14. What is one look you will never go for?

I agree with Molly again, I would never wear nude lipstick! I have one from elf which I bought years ago (I have no idea why...) and it makes me look completely washed out and gross! A big no no!

15. If you were brave enough to wear any look what would it be?

16. An old Holy Grail product of yours?

When I was about 13/14 I would of said the dream matte mousse foundation. I must of got through at least four pots of it even though it's horrible! If I had to say something which I discovered years ago but still love now it would be the natural collection blush! As I said earlier I used to love their makeup and I still really like their blush and lipstick!

17. A new Holy Grail product of yours?

this is so hard but I would say the urban decay all nighter makeup setting spray! I can't leave the house without spraying it over my makeup- it makes it look so much more fresh and it makes it last like 10000x (slight exaggeration) longer

okay so I thought I would add some massively cringey photos I found on my laptop from years ago so you could get an idea of what my makeup was like! (I think I must of had a bit of a 'thing' for black and white photos... Hahahaaa

*duck pout*

so that's it! I'm sure I will regret the photos at some point but oh well. 

I don't tag anyone in particular because I'm tagging everyone! Link me to your post if you do it because I would love to see it and thank you to Mollie for tagging me!

new phone case!

this is just a quick post to show you all the case which I got for my new phone because I can tell I will get lots of questions on it! I had my eye on this case for ages before I even got my phone- if I could be made into a phone case I think this is what I would look like, it's just PERFECT for me!

I got it brand new from eBay for only £3.99 with free postage. It came from Hong Kong and only took 10 days to arrive which is amazing as the postage was free! Here is a link to the seller I got it from, they also have it in white, black and blue at the moment and they have it available for the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy SIII too if you wanted to take a look! It's made from plastic and the only annoying thing is that when you put your phone down it goes wonky because the case is 3D but oh well!

cupcake nails

hellooooo!
I know you all like it when I show you photos of my nails so here's my latest design! I thought I would go for cupcakes today, I'm not sure why but that's just what I felt like doing!
I'm not going to say they were super easy to do like I normally say because they weren't as there was lots of precision and I there were lots of different steps to them but I'm so pleased with how they turned out!
Personally I think they turned out so much better than I thought they were going to and I even managed to do my left hand (I'm left handed) pretty well too! The only problem is whenever I look at them I instantly want cupcakes!
I've had so many compliments on these from people on twitter/my friends/sales assistants etc and one of the photos I posted to instagram of them has over 50 likes so far, wooo

as always, if you have any questions about the specific colours I used just leave your question and include your twitter name/email and I will let you know!

Barry m 'amethyst glitter' and American Apparel 'peacock' NOTD

I'm in love with these nails- I'm so annoyed the photos don't do it justice though which sucks! Earlier when I was sat in biology the sun was shining on them and they looked so pretty! It's so annoying that it's starting to get dark when I get home because then I can't take decent photos!

the base colour is 'Peacock' by American Apparel (can I just take a moment to say how amazingly pigmented it is?! Seriously it was opaque with one coat!) and on top is 'Amethyst Glitter' by Barry M- the glitter is so dense and again there was only one coat of that too! The polish is part of the Jewel range- there's quite a few more from the collection I want to pick up now!

I've had it on for a day so far and no chips yet!

watermelon nails!

I've done these nails a few times before but never actually tried them on myself! Watermelons are my favourite fruit and I know these are very summery and it's winter now but oh well!

I love these so much and I've had so many compliments on them! I think they would look amazing on a summer holiday by the pool (oh how I wish I was in Italy or something right now instead of cold and rain England!)

The colours I used were:
♥ Barry M '2in1 base and top coat'
♥ Essie (colour unknown)
♥ 2true 'shade 4'
♥ Rio nail art pens in black, white and dark green (*)

HAUL

here is most of the things which I have picked up recently!

the eBay blush pallette

hi everyone, today I have a review of the infamous eBay blush palette. I first saw this on twitter and pretty much purchased it straight away! I usually wouldn't buy makeup from eBay but seeing as it wasn't going near my eyes or straight onto my skin I figured it would be alright.
This arrived literally ages and ages ago but I've been testing it out for a while to give it a fair review and so can tell you my thoughts on it!
The packaging is very compact and simple which is nice and it looks quite similar to the mac palettes. Inside you get ten different colours- both matte and shimmery but none of them are overly glittery which I really like. There are a wide range of shades going from hot pink to orange to mauve. The actual formulation of them is very creamy and soft and does not reflect the price at all!
As I said earlier I was skeptical about trying these as they weren't from a 'proper' brand but my skin has been absolutely fine with them which is great!
If I had to pick my favourite it would have to be number one as I think it suits my skin tone the best but they are all really pretty colours!

Oh and I can't believe I didn't mention the price! It was an extremely bargainous £3.62 with free delivery!
Overall this is a great palette for the price and if you're new to makeup or blush it is a great way to try out different shades to see what suits you and looks good on your skin tone!
Here is a link to the seller I bought it from- it came really well packaged in polystyrene and bubble wrap and all the blushes were in perfect condition when it arrived (delivery was around two weeks from Hong Kong) They have 99.2% positive feedback which is really good and I've just been having a browse through their other items and I'm eyeing up this eyeshadow palette too!

20 steps to how I edit my blog photos!

I constantly get asked how I edit my photos/which programs I use/how I get it in a collage etc, so I thought I would do a post showing you exactly what I do!

Step 1. take your photos (duh). I always take much more than I think I'll need because it's easier to delete some than to go back and take more! For example, outfit posts I usually end up with 50-80 photos, nail photos I usually end up with about 10-15 and  for an empties/favourites post I will usually take about 20-30. This way you're much more likely to get some good ones!

Step 2. go to www.picmonkey.com

Step 3. click on 'create a collage'

Step 4. select your photos

Step 5. change the frame design- I usually go for one of the pinter-etsy or jigsaw ones because they have lots of shapes and sizes

Step 6. resize the dimension width to fit your blog (mine is 650px wide (it doesn't matter about the height))

Step 7. change the spacing/corner roundness. I always go for 10 and 5%

Step 8. add the photos to the collage by clicking and dragging it across to the frame

Step 9. change the sizes of the boxes by clicking and dragging and remove any you don't need (hover over the box and a small 'X' will come up). You can also add more photos by dragging one between two photos

Step 10. click on the save button

Step 11. rename your image and always use the largest file size setting

Step 12. once it's saved click on the small cross in the top right corner and then select 'edit a photo'

Step 13. change the exposure of your image. Depending on the photo I usually make it brighter and increase the contrast of it

Step 14. click on the potion bottle to get the colour filters

Step 15. I always use the 'cross process' effect. Since this is a nail of the day photo and you don't want to change the colour I'm going to increase the fade of it but if I'm doing an outfit post I'll do a 50% fade

Step 16. go onto the shapes icon and add a circle

Step 17. add it to your photo and if you want change the opacity (fade) I set mine to 35% and I use the colour #FF99AD

Step 18. go onto the font bit and add your text. I use quicksand font

Step 19. now all you have to do is save it- click on the button at the top of the page

Step 20. select 'Russel' for the best quality and you're done!

and this is how it looks when it is finished! (you might recognise it from a recent NOTD post!)

this is just a quick guide to how I edit my photos. I don't edit all of my photos exactly this way but probably 90% of my blog photos I do like this! Picmonkey.com is such a good (free) website to use and it's really simple too for people like me who don't have a clue how to Photoshop!

If I haven't explained something very well or you need extra help leave a comment, email me (islay_xx@yahoo.com) or tweet me (@islaay_x) with your questions!