Valentines Day Nail polish picks

Even if you don't have any special plans for Valentines Day there's always the time for nice nails, and nothing says Valentines better than pink and red nails, and here are my valentines nail polish picks.

OPI Innie Minnie Mighty Bow

This is a frosted red with a silver shimmer throughout and is opaque in only one coat. 

OPI Live.Love.Carnaval

This is a bright pink coral, perfect for valentines day and one that will be perfect for the spring and summer. 

OPI Kiss Me I'm Brazilian

This polish is a bright, almost neon pink, which applies evenly in only two coats. 

OPI I Theodora You

This is a sheer milky pink colour, which applies evenly so it can be worn in a thin layer, or opaque with three coats, for a subtle, elegant look. 

OPI Steady As She Rose

This polish is a unique rosey lavender cream polish, which looks very natural and flattering on the nails. This polish is discontinued but it is fairly easy to find on Amazon or Ebay. 

OPI You're Such A Budapest

This is one of my favourite OPI nail polishes, and as a light lilac with very, very subtle shimmer in it, and is an amazing spring and summer colour which looks amazing on both the nails and the toes. 

Essie Splash Of Grenadine 

After my favourite OPI comes my favourite Essie polish. Splash of Grenadine is a magenta, fuchsia pink which I think is flattering on a lot of skin tones, and looks amazing throughout the spring and summer. 

Essie Watermelon

This polish is exactly what the name says, it's a beautiful, bright Watermelon pink/red. 

Happy Valentines Day

Alice xx

NOTD In The Cable Car-Pool Lane

Today's nail of the day is two coats of OPI's In The Cable Car-Pool Lane, layered with Accessorize's Molten copper on my ring fingers. 

Alice xx

Cold Weather Must Haves...

When the weather is cold, there's nothing worse than dry skin, here are my essentials to beat the cold winter months.

One of the worst things about cold weather is chapped lips, that's where my Lush lip scrub and Nivea Lip butter comes in. I exfoliate my lips every night, then I liberally apply the lip butter letting it soak into my lips over night. 

For my face I've been loving the Body Shop's Vitamin E Intense Moisture, this can be worn overnight or under foundation, and leaves my skin feeling thoroughly hydrated, and also helps with some discolouration and scarring for me.

The Vaseline deep conditioning cocoa butter has always been a favourite no matter what time of the year as it leaves my skin looking and smelling great.

Finally in the cold months keeping your hands hydrated is essential, as is a good hand cream. My favourite is currently the Norwegian Formula concentrated hand cream, with this stuff a little goes a long way, and has really helped with the dry skin on my hands. The very last essential for me is along the same lines and is a nail oil. I'm currently loving the Essie Apricot oil, and apply it every evening to the skin around my nails and directly onto the nails, allowing it to soak in a bit before I paint them, this has helped prevent hangnails, and if you keep your nails hydrated they are less likely to peel or break! Another great nail oil is the Sally Hansen vitamin E and cuticle oil, both have done wonders for my nails.

Happy new year! 

Alice x

My Perfect Christmas Nail Picks

This Christmas I have found the two perfect festive glitter polishes, both of which I have been wearing almost non-stop this month.

The first is from OPI's recent Mariah Carey Holiday collection. My Favorite Ornament is a white gold, small cut glitter, which is opaque in two or three coats. This polish looks even better on than in the picture, and I catch myself staring at my nails every time I wear it, and it lasts for almost a week with minimal chipping on me.

The second nail polish was from last years winter collection. Essie's Leading Lady is a red glitter with a darker red base. The only down side to this polish is that the jelly-like base of the polish can lead to it peeling and chipping after a few days on the nails.

I hope everyone is having a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Alice x

Christmas Countdown: Apple Tart

Not everyone is a fan of traditional Christmas desserts, and I am one of those people. For that reason every year I have to either buy or make my one dessert for Christmas day. One favourite of mine is home made apple tart.

Here's how I make it:

Ingredients:

Pastry:
150g plain flour
50g corn flour
100g unsalted butter or block margarine
A pinch of salt
2-4 tbsp cold water

Filling:
2  medium/large cooking apples
125g caster sugar
4-6 eating apples
Juice of 1 lemon
4 tbsp apricot jam (smooth)
2 tbsp caster sugar

Method:

1. Dice the chilled butter into a bowl containing the plain flour and corn flour, and rub together using your finger tips until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. (as if you were making crumble topping)
2. Once the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs add in 2-4 tbsp water and kneed lightly to form a smooth ball.
3. Lightly flour a work surface and roll out the pastry, using your dish as a guide for the size.
4. Roll the pastry over a rolling pin, and transfer it into the pie dish.
5. Line the base of the pastry case with either baking paper or tin foil, and fill with baking beans, or dry rice.
6. Place pastry case into a pre-heated oven at 190C/ gas mark 5, and bake blind for 15 minutes
7. Remove the lining and baking beans, and bake for a further 5 minutes.
8. Peel, core and chop the cooking apples, and place in a saucepan with 125g caster sugar and 2tbsp water and place on a medium heat.
9. Once apples are soft, blend until smooth and fill the pastry case.
10. Finely slice the eating apples and arrange over the filling.
11. Brush the apple slices with lemon juice and sprinkle with caster sugar, then return to the oven for 15-20 minutes until apples are soft.
12. Gently heat the apricot jam in a saucepan and then brush over the apples.

Enjoy!

Alice x

Nail of the Day: Models Own Champagne

Looking through my nail polish collection, I came across an old favourite I hadn't used for a very long time. Models Own Champagne is a beautiful light, champagne gold foil nail polish, which is opaque in only two coats.

artificial light, 2 coats

This polish applies smoothly to the nails, and lasts well with minimal chipping. Definitely a great, festive colour, perfect for the lead up to Christmas.

Alice x