Friday, 30 March 2012

Polish Post 3

Hi everyone!

I've not done this type of post in a while so I thought I would tell you about one of my favourites at the moment which is w7 nail polish. I got a set of three for Christmas from TkMaxx (I think!) though I have seen them available online for £3.45 per bottle. 


3 large brown nail polish bottles with black lids
From left to right:
Metallic Mars
Metallic Venus
Metallic Mercury

Colour-They're all different shades of brown: metallic mercury is super-dense glitter, metallic venus has purple/blue tones and shimmer and metallic mars is an orangey brown with slight shimmer.

Consistency- My favourite- metallic mercury, has an amazing consistency. One coat and you're done. Metallic mars quite runny though and I think it would be better as an undercoat. Metallic venus has a good consistency too.

Brush- The brush works really well on my short nails and mostly the polish stays on my nail and doesn't 'leak' onto my finger.

Result- I love these polishes as they are gorgeous colours which I would have not considered buying myself. As mentioned, I am particularly impressed with the glitter one- you can see the results below.


brown nail polish bottle with shines of purple through it next to nails painted brown glitter


Durability- As I've probably said in a previous post- I am terrible for biting my nail varnish off if I get the slightest chip. However, this stays at least a few days with no chipping even without a top coat so I resist the urge to bite it.

Rating- 10/10 for the metallic mercury, 9/10 for metallic venus and 6/10 for metallic mars.

Overall, I love these polishes and would highly recommend them. I am excited to try other shades of this brand. Have you tried w7 before? Did you like it?

Thursday, 29 March 2012

Primark Purchases

Hi everyone!

Hope you're all well and are having a good week!

These are my purchases from Primark at the weekend:
white sheer long sleeve blouse
I love the chiffon blouses in Primark right now, they are exactly my style. I have wanted a white blouse for a long time and this one will be perfect tucked into shorts or jeans and will keep me really cool in summer. I think this was £10 which is pretty standard for a Primark blouse nowadays and hopefully it'll last me a while. It is quite sheer though so I'll have to wear a vest top under. 
Black blouse with cream lace collar and cuffs

I think this blouse is AMAZING! It is so cute and really stylish.. The body is cotton and the sleeves are chiffon which I think is a really unusual but lovely combination. The lace collar is absolutely beautiful and very vintage/ Victorian. Unfortunately, they never had a great variety of sizes left and my size (10) wasn't available so I had to get an 8 but it actually fits fine. This was also around £10, I think it might have been £8, which I thought was pretty good as this looks more like a piece from Topshop or Miss Selfridge.

cream lace collar on black blouse

How gorgeous is this lace detailing on the collar and the sleeves? 
cream lace trim on black sheer sleeve
Overall, I am really happy with these purchases. I love not going into Primark for a while then when you do there's a great new collection in. Have you found any treasures in Primark recently?

That's all from me tonight, till the weekend.


Sunday, 25 March 2012

Soap & Glory Haul

Hi everyone!

So if you follow me on twitter, you'll know that yesterday I went a big shopping trip which was super exciting as I feel like I've been stuck in my bedroom for months studying. I went out planning to get a few bits and bobs from my wishlist and I came back with that and much more! I will be telling you all about my purchases/ day in upcoming posts as I feel like I can go into more detail if I divide it up.

So first up, my most exciting purchases- Soap & Glory! As you will know from previous posts (here and here), I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE Soap & Glory! When I went into Boots, I found that they are doing a fab offer- spend £10 on Soap & Glory and get a free 500ml bottle of Foam Call Body Wash worth £6.50! I was amazed and since I was already buying Dr Spot and No Clogs Allowed which came to £19 (or thereabouts) I also picked up a mini The Righteous Butter. So for spending £21.50 on Soap & Glory products I got 2 full-size free bottles of Foam Call. Not bad eh? 
two large pink pump bottles with black and white image of retro woman on phone on front
Free! ^
Tonight I will be trying out the body wash, body butter and face mask and I am beyond excited! Already, I am really impressed with the packaging and smell (I bought the body butter purely because it has the gorgeous Original Pink smell!) I'll post reviews for each (definitely Dr. Spot and No Clogs Allowed) in the course of the next few weeks to let you know how I get on with them!

That's all from me this evening, hope everyone enjoys the rest of this lovely summery evening. As for me I think I better get down to more studying- boo!


Quick Updates & Blog Makeover!

Hi everyone!


Hope you're all good! I can't believe I'm at 42 followers, it's amazing thank you! I've had a super busy week as you can tell with my lack of posts but I'm going to try and pre-write a few tonight so I'll have a few to publish during the week. 

One of the reasons I haven't been posting this week is that I've been working really hard on this new layout. I have honestly chopped and changed about 5 times but I am now really happy with what I have. I am so happy with how it has turned out, I think its more 'me' now!

I've also added my own twitter and bloglovin' buttons in the sidebar, and let me tell you- writing the HTML for those was not a walk in the park!

I only have two more tweaks before I'm finished and that's adding a 'Hair' page and a 'Disclamer' which shouldn't be too much trouble. I've also changed the header (quite an obvious change), the background, the sidebar background (not sure if I'm 100% happy with this yet), I've added a little divider between posts and I've changed my signature.

So I thought I'd mark this little occasion with a post to share the before and after pictures, so here they are:

Before:
 screenshot of Julz Obsessions blog with pale blue/grey background, main menu as pink tabs and header as white writing with pink stroke against three repeated images of pink nail polish, lipstick and jewels
After:
Screenshot of Julz Obsessions blog design with white background and header with pink background, pink and cream floral layer, pastel bunting and Julz Obsessions written in brown

So now that I've got the perfect layout, I'm back to posting yay! Can't wait to get into it as I've got so much to show you all, starting with my Soap & Glory haul yesterday. 

That's all from me for now!


Tuesday, 20 March 2012

Sunday Shopping 2: Primark

Hi everyone!

The little followers count is increasing every time I log on which makes me so happy- thank you guys! My week has been hectic as usual so blogging is my half hour break, though sometimes its longer when I'm distracted with Kardashians!

Today's shop is a classic: Primark. It's one of my favourite shops and when I'm in there's always something that catches my eye. It is extremely affordable, yet has a great range and fab interpretations of current trends. 

I am loving their spring line just now, especially the chiffon blouses. These are a few items I have bought recently:

sheer cream blouse with burnt orange neck bow, nude cream sheer blouse, cream and brown small floral shoulder bag, navy jeans with thin brown woven belt

I absolutely love these neutral shades, they're perfect for the transition from winter to spring. The first blouse is smart and chic and the second is comfy and casual. They are both great tucked in to bottoms. Also, I love the bag as it goes with most of my clothes and it was on sale. Finally, the Ultra Soft Super Skinny jeans are a definite staple in my wardrobe. They are so comfy, flattering and since they stretch they're a fab fit. 

The only flaw that I sometimes find with Primark is that sometimes their quality isn't the best. A few weeks ago I bought some welly-booties and the bows fell off after only a week. However, the store have a great returns policy so they were replaced easily. 

Thats all from me, hope everyone has a good day!

pale pink text with hot pink outline reading 'Julz'


Thursday, 15 March 2012

Perfumes: A Tad Obsessed?

Hi Everyone!

Firstly, I'd like to thank you- I'm now up to 27 followers, which to me is such an achievement :) I'd also like to apologise for my lack of posts, I've been bombarded with studying and I'm afraid over the next few weeks it'll only increase so I'll only be doing a few posts a week.

Anyway, today I thought I would show you all my perfume collection. Like many things, at one point I was obsessed with perfumes, so I gathered quite a collection (to say the least). I have completely stopped asking for perfume for birthdays/Christmas as I am trying to get through all this but honestly, I've got enough to last my whole life. However, when I took it all out of my drawer I thought it looked quite pretty and you might be interested. 

long thin photo of lots of perfume bottles of various sizes and colours

inside of drawer filled with various perfume bottles

I think ultimately my favourite thing about perfume is that each one triggers a different memory. For example, Far Away by Avon is a perfume that may not be very well know, but I am never without a bottle as it reminds me so much of when I was about four and my little cousin and I would go crazy with my mum's bottle. And the Kate Moss perfume really reminds me of a trip to Holland a few years ago. I literally could go on and on! 

inside of white drawer with lots of different perfume bottles inside


However, at the moment, my favourite perfume is Marc Jacobs Daisy. I love all his scents and would buy them all if my drawer wasn't already overflowing. Daisy is so fresh and has a very unique scent that reminds me of summer and holidays. 

Which perfumes trigger memories in you? 

That's all from me today, I will hopefully be able to post at some point over the weekend. I'm off to spray everything in sight with a scent in the hope of using up some of this vast collection!

Night!

Tuesday, 13 March 2012

Tuesday Tip: No Fuss Super Soft Lips

Hi Everyone :)

This is the beginning of my new series of posts where every Tuesday I'll post some little tip or trick that I have read about/discovered and found it worked for me.

The key to smooth lips is EXFOLIATING and MOISTURING. I have found that the easiest way to fit exfoliating my lips into my daily routine which doesn't involve complicated treatments or even a lip scrub is to brush your lips whilst brushing your teeth (well not whilst as that would be pretty difficult but just after). This will not only take away all the dead skin that makes your lips rough but will improve circulation too. 

In addition, once a day I apply 'Nivea Essential Care Lip Balm' just before I dash out the door to keep my lips moisturised. I have Vaseline and Carmex as back ups but I actually like this best as its a stick form (meaning less germs than using finger-application) and it doesn't slide off easily.


close up selfie of girl with brown hair and shiny lipsblurry photo of blue and white packaged lip balm

This extremely simple routine keeps my lips super smooth and ready for lipstick application. I even found that this winter my lips weren't chapped or dry like they usually are.

Do you have any simple, purse friendly tips for super soft lips? (hey that rhymed!)

Saturday, 10 March 2012

Saturday Shopping 1: Boohoo

Hi Everyone!

This is my first Saturday Shopping post. Every Saturday I will do a shopping themed post which will consist of hauls, favourite shops or favourite trend. Today I will start with my favourite online store Boohoo.

 I have put together a selection of my favourite pieces which are available from boohoo now. I have numbered each item and the links to their pages are below.

collage of online store photos: 1. blonde model wears cream floral top and jeans 2. model wears white and pink pencil trousers and white crop top 3. model wears white skater dress with black collar 4. black wedge ankle boots 5. white sleeveless top with denim skater skirt 6. floral jumpsuit 7. brown haired model wears gun metal grey biker jacket 8. blue and white striped handbag with brown leather trimming

1- Frankie Floral Printed T-shirt 
This top is down to £6 which is a great bargain. It's simple and girly and great for spring.
2- Kate Vintage Floral Skinny Jeans 
These jeans are absolutely gorgeous. Worn with a plain top, these are an attention grabbing piece. 
3- Jen Peter Pan Collar Dress
This is my favourite of today's post. Its simple yet classic and has a contrasting peter pan collar (which I LOVE). This could be worn day or night and is the perfect wardrobe staple.
4- Jen Zip Side Wedge Shoe Boots
These are a lot a slightly more expensive take on my own black wedges. The gold zips make for very nice detailing and these go with almost any outfit.
5- Macy Floral Shell Top
This super cute top screams spring and will literally go with everything because of its neutral colour. Hurry though there's not many left in stock. 
6- Rose Floral Zip Back Playsuit
I love playsuit and I would buy it immediately (if I wasn't trying to save!) A must for any spring/ summer wardrobe.
7- Kara Cropped Wool Coat
I'm currently loving side zipped jackets. This woollen one is probably a piece more suited to winter but there are still a few weeks to get use out of it.
8- Ashely Stripe Twist Lock Satchel 
A great bag that fits all of your essentials, matches many outfits and seems comfortable to wear. A definite consideration for a new bag (which I am in desperate need of!)

Hope everyone has a great weekend. I think mine will consist mostly of studying-yawn. 



Tuesday, 6 March 2012

Much More Than A Magazine!

Hi :)

Today I bought the March edition of ELLE magazine and oh my! Its fantastic- filled to bursting! I see it more as a book than a magazine.

pale blue magazine with white letters ELLE at top and Alexa Chung on cover

I picked up one of the larger, A4 sized copies as I try to do everything possible to get my £3.90 worth. It is packed full of the latest seasons trends, adverts and how to wear key pieces. There are also some great articles about friendship and the work versus life balance. 

However, the highlight of a magazine, for me, is the freebies! Inside, there was a full size Soap & Glory Thick & Fast Mascara worth £10, an exclusive invitation to your nearest Dior beauty counter to receive an eye makeover and a personalised beauty sample, a sample of Rimmel London's new Wake Me Up Foundation, a mini mag of Derhy's Spring-Summer 2012 collection and a fragrance page of Jimmy Choo. 

two magazines with two small sachets on top with black mascara tube


As you will gather over the coming posts, I am absolutely obsessed with Soap & Glory and I went out to buy ELLE purely because of the free mascara. I also really love how magazines give samples because it allows you to 'try before you buy', and I can't wait to try the Rimmel Foundation and get my Dior eye makeover.

Usually I tend to buy magazines which have more articles, but recently I have came to appreciate how the pictures of styles and trends in the likes of ELLE or Vogue will quickly filter on down to Topshop, H&M and Primark and it's great to spot what's coming into style early, to see which key pieces will be a hit in the coming seasons.

I have only bought ELLE once or twice before, but if every months issue is like this it will definitely become a necessity! 


Winter OOTD

Hi Everyone!

I'm so excited to see my followers slowly increase day by day and I love getting comments from you guys it reminds me that I'm not just talking to myself and someone is actually interested!

red rose covered in water drops with '20 followers - yay!' written on

Today I thought I'd do a winter themed Outfit Of The Day. Since spring is just around the corner I thought I'd put this post up to get the final few uses out of my rainy day clothes (though knowing the weather in Scotland, my rainy day clothes will be lasting me well into July!) 

girl with brown hair wearing grey tie coat and grey scarf tucket in

Jeggings: Primark
Mac: Lipsy @ Next (Sale £80 down to £30!)
Scarf: Accessorize

I love this outfit because it is the perfect combination of comfort, practicality and I think its really nice in comparison to usual waterproofs.

The jeggings are comfortable yet they are a bit loose around the waste and it doesn't help that they don't have belt holes. I opted for braces under the jacket which actually set the outfit off well.

I love love love the mac- it goes with almost everything and is totally suited to winter. However, I had a bit of a dilemma when I first bought this as it was extremely creased and the label said do not iron. I ironed it anyway and it was fine, though I'm still not completely satisfied.

Also, the scarf is great. Like the mac it matches everything and is super cosy even though it looks pretty thin.

So that's all from me today! As ever I'm going to watch some Kardashians before bed. 


Sunday, 4 March 2012

Polish Post 2

Hi Everyone!

Update
  • I'm up to 13 followers, thank you guys :) They say 13 is unlucky for some, and knowing my luck it'll stay at 13 forever, but hopefully we'll just keep growing. 
  • I've had a pretty hectic week, and today was spent sitting in the one position studying for hours! I've decided to take a little break and watch some Kardashians (did I mention I'm obsessed?) and blog!
  • I've been thinking about some regular themed posts and so far as well as my Polish Posts I thought I would do a Saturday Shop one? It'll be made up of my favourite shops, favourite items from shops and hauls. 
  • In addition, after being on the blogging scene for just 3 weeks, I already have a huge list of products and tools that I have seen on other blogs that simply must be mine, so I'll also do a wishlist post shortly :)
Review
Anyway, moving on to the actual post, I have decided to do today's Polish Post on MUA Love Heart Nail Varnish: 'U ROK'.


After seeing this on a few blogs, I decided during my little MUA haul that I would get it, and I am so glad I did! And at only £2 per bottle, you can't go wrong!

Colour: It is a lovely bluey lilac colour, it really 'pops' and stands out yet matches almost anything.


Consistency: The polish is really opaque with two coats and it goes onto the nail really well. Its not too runny or too thick which means hopefully it'll last ages without drying up.

Brush: I've mentioned before that I absolutely love the regular MUA brushed because they are square shaped, which is quite unusual but applies the nail polish really well to my short nails. When I realised this brush was round I was a tad disappointed, but I didn't have to be because the brush is just as good as regular MUA ones! It is slightly thinner which actually ensures I make less mistakes. The brush gathers a perfect amount of polish almost every time so there are no spillages or dreaded leaks onto the finger.


Result: I was very, very happy with the result. I was left with a smooth, shiny finish meaning there was no need for a top coat. 

Durability: This lasted a good few days which was great and lives up to the standard of the regular MUA Polish line. However, as you will notice in the brush picture, I did get a chip on my middle finger the next day. This was easily resolved with a touch up though and I wasn't left with any ugly, obvious layers.

Rating: Overall, I am very happy with this product which is why I am giving it a 9/10!

That's all from me, hope everyone has a great night. I'm off to watch more Kardashians !