February Favourites

Hello everyone, I hope you are well! 

Here are my favourite products of last month. 

Face

Nivea Refreshing Facial Cleansing Wipes (normal & combination skin) - Superdrug £2.99
I usually use the Simple Cleansing Wipes but they were out of stock when I went to the store, so instead I picked up the Nivea wipes and I'm glad I did! I have been enjoying them a lot more than the Simple facewipes, they smell amazing and leave my face feeling clean and soft.

Maybelline Colossal Volum Express The Rocket Mascara (Very black) - Superdrug £7.99
I went into Superdrug to repurchase my usual mascara which is the Maybelline Volum' Express Colossal Cat Eyes (the yellow one - these names are far too long for my liking!) When I got to the till I was asked if I wanted to try the Rocket one as it was on offer, after requesting to take a look at the wand before purchasing and with very little persuasion I decided to give it a go! At first I was a little unsure about this mascara as I'm not really a fan of the 'plastic bristle' wands but I find this wand is much more flexible than the other harder plastic brushes I've tried in the past and now I am in love with this mascara! It spreads out my eyelashes without clumping and gives me great volume and length - although my eyelashes don't look quite like they do on the advert!

Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Lash Extending Treatment Mascara - Fragrance Direct £6.50
My boyfriend gave me this as a gift from as part of a Wowcher deal and it was love at first sight! This mascara is brilliant, my eyelashes always look amazing after using this. I tend to use this mascara alongside my main mascara - this is my personal preference as I like the look I get when I layer up my mascaras. However I do wear this on its own on days where I'm not wearing much makeup or if I want a more subtle, natural look.

Hair

Edward Beale Ultra Gloss Argan Oil (normal/coarse thick hair) - TK Maxx £9.99
I found this in TK Maxx last year when I was browsing through the hair care and beauty section. I think this store is amazing, I always find something new to try out and everything I find is usually very reasonably priced!
I have tried many hair oils but it's always nice to try out more! The thing I like about this oil is that it is very lightweight on  my hair and doesn't way it down, it also smells good! I use this on towel dried hair and then go ahead and style my hair as usual. It always feels soft and looks shiny after using this.

It's a 10 Miracle Leave-in Conditioner - TK Maxx £12.99
My boyfriend's sister bought this back from America for me and I fell in love with it, it seriously is a miracle product! I didn't want to like this product as much as I do because it's not easy to get hold of in the UK (as far as I know) and I know I would have been rather upset when it had ran out. Luckily TK Maxx came to my rescue just in the nick of time! I noticed them when I was Christmas shopping in Manchester so decided to stock up on a few! My hair has never felt so good! I use this every time I wash my hair, it detangles my hair in no time and leaves it feeling soft and extremely moisturised.

Lips

I have had extremely chapped lips for the past few months and these lovely products have been getting me through! As well as my homemade sugar and honey lip scrub! 

Nivea Pearly Shine - Superdrug £1.49
I like this lip balm as it gives me a sheer pink tint on the lips which means I can have a hint of colour on my lips at the same time as moisturising them.

EOS Summer Fruit Lip Balm (organic) - Amazon £6.99 
Boots now stock a different version of these lip balms called 'Balmi' they cost £4.99 and contain SPF. I don't know how good they are as I haven't tried them for myself but I'm sure they do the same job if not, better!

Vaseline (with Aloe Vera) - Boots £1.99
This is my favourite Vaseline out of all of them mainly because of the smell!  It also works really well under lipsticks.

Nails

(pictures taken with Canon A3300is)

Essie We're in it together- available at Boots £7.99
I have been loving this nail polish as you probably know from my previous blog posts! (take a look here). The colour is gorgeous and I love how it looks on my nails. I actually got this when it was on offer on the Fragrance Direct website but I'm not sure if they stock this colour anymore.

Barry M Diamond Glitter - Boots £2.99
I love the Barry M glitter polishes, I really need to get more! They are a simple way to jazz up your nails when you don't have time for fancy nails designs and patterns.

Nail Art Fine Painting Brushes - Ebay £2.69
I have been looking around for more nail tools in the hope that if I practice nail designs more often then I'll get better at them. These are really easy to use and the fine brush tips make nail designs much simpler to do if you're a beginner like myself I would definitely recommend getting some brushes like these.

What were your February favourites?

Natasha Carly x

Pretty Little Lives on Facebook / Twitter / Hellocotton 

Follow on Instagram - @prettylittlelives

*Please be aware that any offers or prices mentioned in my posts may have changed by the time you read them.*

Simple Valentine's Day Nails

Hello everyone, I hope you are well!

As it's Valentine's Day tomorrow, I thought I would post a picture of the nail design that I will be wearing.

I have been LOVING  triangle accent nails recently so instead of going for my usual heart designs, I decided I wanted to do something simple and a little different. 

 This is the design that I came up with:-

(Taken with iPhone 4s)

I used a baby pink and a shimmery purple for this nail design. I think the two colours go really well together and I like them of my traditional pink nails with hearts.

The polishes I used are both from the Essie range, I used 'We're in it together' and 'It's genius'. This design is so simple to do and works with many different polishes and colours!

What nail designs have you come up with? Comment below and let me know!

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day! 

Natasha Carly x

 Prettylittlelives on Facebook / Twitter / Hellocotton

Follow on Instagram - @prettylittlelives

We're in it together.

Hello everyone, I hope you are all well!

Today I'm sharing my current favourite nail polish/nail looks with you, featuring Essie's 'We're in it together' - This cost me just £1.99 from the Fragrance Direct Website I ordered a few other colours too as they were such a bargain!

This is such a beautiful colour, to me this is THE perfect pink! I've been enjoying mixing it up with other colours and glitter polishes epecially Barry M 'Diamond Glitter' and China Glaze 'Champagne Bubbles' (as shown below).

(pictures taken with iPhone 4s)

If you would like to see a step by step tutorial of how I did this triangle design then let me know in a comment below. There are many videos on YouTube that show you how to do this but it's really simple to do and I would love to share my tips with you.

What are your current favourite nail designs?

Natasha Carly x

Prettylittlelives on Facebook / Twitter / Hellocotton

Follow on Instagram - @prettylittlelives

Let It Rock!

Hello everyone, I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas holidays!

I certainly did! I ate a lot of food and and spent lots of quality time with my family, just what I needed!

Today I'm going to share a perfume that I got for Christmas that I have been loving!

Vivienne Westwood - Let It Rock 30ml

 (Pictures taken with iPhone 4s)

When I opened this I instantly fell in love with it as the packaging is to die for! The bottle is extremely cute! It's tall with a 'lipstick effect' logo on the front along with the signature Vivienne Westwood orb on top!

This is a very feminine fragrance, which smells sexy and woody - it's divine!

Top notes: bergamot and freesia

Heart:  jasmine

Base: patchouli and amber

Let It Rock is available on the Fragrance Direct website.

Have you tried this perfume? 

What has been your favourite perfume this season?

Natasha Carly x

Pretty Little Lives on Facebook / Twitter / Hellocotton

Follow on Instagram - @prettylittlelives

INIKA - Review

Hello everyone, I hope you are well.

I have now finished all my assessments at university and have come home for Christmas! It has been a while since I last posted as I had so much work to get through.

Today I am going to be reviewing three INIKA Mineral eyeshadows and a skin illuminisor.

Mineral Illuminisor* (3g) £17

(Close-up of illuminisor powder on the skin)

I wasn't overly impressed with the illuminisor, I didn't find it gave my skin a natural glow as I felt it looked far too glittery on my face. I prefer products that are more shimmery than glittery, I did find that the illuminisor worked really well as a highlighter on my brow bones.

Directions

• Apply to the highlight areas of the cheeks, brow bone and temples.
• Dust over cheekbones and decolletage to enhance complexion and create an all-over healthy glow.
• Mix Illuminisor with moisturiser for glowing legs and arms.

Summary

Pros:

• Non-comedogenic
• Lovely packaging

Cons:

• Too glittery
• Pricey

 Mineral Eye Shadow* (1.2g) £14.50 each

 (Left to right: Coco Motion, Gold Dust, Gunmetal)

I was extremely impressed with these eyeshadows, I have enjoyed experimenting with them and have come up with some really lovely makeup looks.  The colours are highly pigmented, they are easy to apply and they blend beautifully!

Here are the 3 colours I tried out:
Coco Motion -  a divinely earthy matte brown.  Perfect for creating depth and definition. 
Gold Dust - a pale, shimmery gold. Great as a highlighter or blended with other colours. 
Gunmetal - a metallic silver (with a hint of purple) which looks like mercury when applied wet or over black eyeliner.

Directions

• Pick up a little powder, press the product into the brush, tap off the excess and apply as desired.
• Create amazing metallic or iridescent looks by layering one colour on top of another.
• Add water for use as a liquid eyeliner.

Summary

Pros:

• Highly pigmented
• Can be used wet or dry to add different textures
• Multi-purpose can be used as eyeliner as well as eyeshadow
• Blend well
• Natural ingredients - suitable for people with sensitive eyes
• Lasts a long time 
• Lovely packaging

 Cons: 

• Slightly pricey

Overall I've had a good experience with the products, I think the eye shadows are fantastic and I will definitely be purchasing more of them in the future! I like that all the INIKA mineral products are non-comedogenic, this means they don't clog your pores or cause breakouts! 
These products are slightly pricey but for the quality of the product, I think it is worth it. They are in a similar price range to MAC eye shadows and think they are just as good, they will last me a while too as a little bit goes a long way!

Have you tried any of the INIKA cosmetics?

Natasha Carly x

Pretty Little Lives on Facebook / Twitter / Hellocotton

*Disclaimer PR sample - My opinions are still 100% honest

Favourite Autumn Polishes

Hello everyone,

Today I'm sharing my favourite Autumn nail polishes that have been loving and wearing a lot this month.

They are all Essie nail polishes and are the first polishes that I have tried from the collection.

 I have to say I am very impressed with these polishes, the consistency is perfect and they apply nice and smoothly!

This lovely trio cost just £9.99 from Tk Maxx - you can't beat a good bargain so I just had to have them!

I got a few other bits and bobs from Tk Maxx too, if you want to see what else I got then let me know and I will do a post on them!

Here are the polishes:-

                                  

 (Pictures taken with iPhone 4s)

It's Genius 

A violet purple with golden flecks/shimmers.

Brownie Points 

A creamy rich brown.

Mamba 

A warm-toned nude with a hint of peach. 

(It has very fine shimmers that you can see in the light if you look close enough).

I hope you enjoyed this post!

What were your favourite polishes this month?

Natasha Carly x

Pretty Little Lives on Facebook / Twitter / Hellocotton

ASOS Treats!

Hello everyone, I hope you are all well!

University work has been taking over my life lately as there are so many work deadlines to get out of the way before I can relax and go home for Christmas.

So... to encourage myself to battle through my assessments, I decided that I would treat myself to some goodies from ASOS! I don't normally share fashion related items on my blog but these pieces are so cute and I wanted to share them with you!

 (Pictures taken with iPhone 4s)

Pearl Bow Hair Barrette (Cream) - £6.00

Pearl Hand Harness (Cream) - was £12.00 now £6.00

Smooth Ponytailer Hair Tie (Gold) - £10.00

Mini Spike Chocker Necklace (Gold) - £8.00

I absolutely adore everything I got, I have had my eye on them for a while!

ASOS is such a lethal website! They have so many gorgeous things on there right now!

Have you treated yourself to anything from ASOS lately?

Natasha Carly x

 Pretty Little Lives on Facebook / Twitter / Hellocotton

I now have a Formspring profile so if you have a question for me, feel free to ask-

www.formspring.me/NatashaCarly