Hip Hip Henna Hooray

On Monday, one of my best friends came home from South Korea and it's just been so amazing to see her. She's been over there for just over 18 months teaching English and she's flown over for only one week for one of her best friend's wedding.

I haven't been able to talk to her as much as I'd like due to my dodgy laptop and my blackberry is too old to have Skype but it was as if it had only been a week since we'd last seen each other and I think my mum's right when she says 'that's exactly what it should be like with good friends, you can always pick up where you left off'.

She's been ticking off all the foods throughout the week that she wants to fit in before she flies back to SK on Monday and last night was the turn of Fish & Chips. Neither of us were really that hungry so we settled on chips and made the trek to a nearby village that is apparently 'the best'. They were nice but I don't know what to compare them to as I don't ever really get them, they weren't hard though so I was happy.

I'm in love with Mendhi/Henna and have been for years and usually like to keep something on my feet throughout the summer and Suze saw my feet on Tuesday night and asked if I would do some on her, especially as the wedding she's going to is a Sikh ceremony and they're having a Mendhi party today for the Bride to Be. It's not very authentic, more 'in the style of' but she wanted it all up her arms too which was a bit of a challenge as I kept getting confused!

We used a different henna to the one I usually buy as mine had all run out but this is where I get mine from if you're interested. It's freshly made and arrives very quickly and stains a nice dark colour. You can buy it cheaper but in my experience this is one of the best ones.

This way to Henna heaven

Be careful not to buy the black henna that's on Ebay if you dye your hair as one of the chemicals can cause allergic reactions.

I'm wearing Models Own-Utopia and Suze is wearing Rimmel Pro-Desire

We also used some nail foils to go along with the theme, I've mentioned them in another post but I'm building up a collection of pictures so that I can do a really good post about them because they're amazing!

These sadly aren't my pictures, I wish they'd bring out the iPhone 5 already so I get get the 4S cheaper..I've read it could be September 12th so fingers crossed!

On a different note, has anyone smelt the new Marc Jacobs Dot EDP?

It smells amazing, the nicest I've got a whiff of in a while so I think I will be buying this with my first months salary .

Picture courtesy of Feel Unique

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NOTD Look Beauty Nail Pop- Sequin effect

Happy 1st of September!!

Sorry it's been a while, life has been completely up in the air mental recently and although I've been taking pics for the blog all the time, I just haven't found long enough to sit down and put it all together. I'm planning on replying to all my comments this weekend (sorry it's take me so long, I had been trying to do it on a weekly basis...)

One of the many things flying around at the moment is that I have a new job! I don't know if I mentioned on here that I had an interview well over a month ago? Well, I left feeling that it went pretty badly and when I didn't hear back for a month I assumed I didn't get it, but I did!! I'm so excited because it's my first 'grown up' job, I'm still bottom of the pile, but that's where you have to start isn't it? :) It really couldn't have come at a better time because after that woman I work with had and still has been trying to get me in to trouble I think it was a good idea to jump before I was sadly pushed. I start next Friday, eeek!

This NOTD is one I'd been after for a while now, I had seen a GOSH flakie on another blog quite a long time ago but the polish in question had been discontinued, so when I saw the Look Beauty did 2 versions I was sold!

I really like the Look magazine beauty range, I first saw it before Christmas last year when there was a Superdrug offer 'buy 2 products and get a free polish'. I had wanted the polish and a mascara anyway so I picked up an eye shadow which I actually really like.

The shadow is quite a warm nude metallic, I can't usually wear warm shades without looking bruised but when the light hits this it has a lovely cool shade to it, quite pearly and nice really.

I'm not so fussed about the mascara, it's nice but not 'product heavy' enough for my preference. It says 'Lash extensions in a bottle' and it does separate and lengthen but with a subtle natural look, I think it just depends what you're after.

Eye shadow- CAMI shade 4 , Mascara- STRETCH FACTOR Ultra black shade 1

This was the baby though, I adore this. It looks amazing on, I think it would compliment every skin tone and I received countless compliments whilst wearing it and friends were borrowing it left right and centre. It retails at £5 which isn't a bad price, it's just something in my head wishes it was £4.50, thinking about it, it could be that I don't like round number prices for cosmetics in general. How odd.

Look Beauty Nail Pop in BLING

Right, back on topic now. They do 2 varieties of the flakie glitters; shown below is Sequin effect which leans slightly more to the green and yellow shades in the light and Pearl effect which leans slightly more to the blues and purples. Both were very pretty but I decided I was after the former one.

I layered this over a 17 polish called Mint Choc Chip which I love, it can look quite blue in some lights and I thought they would compliment each other nicely. I have seen them layered on a lot of darker polishes though with quite stunning effects.

I would call this look Baby Mermaid...

1 coat of base, 2 coats of Mint Choc Chip, 2 coats of Sequin effect and 2 coats of top...too thick for me

The effect was really difficult to capture on camera, it looked lovely but next time I would do few coats as I don't like it too thick. Overall I really like this but it isn't going to become my all time go-to favourite. It's definitely fun to play around with different colours it works with though.

Look what's turned up in my local Boots!?! An Essie stand, woohoooo!

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MUA Makeup Academy Lipstick- juicy shade 15

I picked up a few things in Superdrug on my lunch today, I really went in for a flakie nail polish from Look Beauty and was just browsing, wishing the 3 for 2 offer was still on and I saw this:

I liked the colour and for £1, even if it wasn't right- who could complain?

It has basically turned into my favourite lipstick ever and no matter how much I've been trying recently, I just can't find the lipstick that's right for me. THIS IS IT.

I would almost describe it as a pale neon? It does go on slightly pinker than the orange it looks on the stick. The only thing is, it is cheap and if your lips aren't smooth as a baby's behind then it will show (you can see it slightly on mine in the picture above) but I am normally so covered in lip balm that this doesn't bother me at all.

Honestly, just go and buy it tomorrow.

Obviously, I was distracted and bought other bits

£6- Accessorize

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Terrible Tuesdays round II and Retail Therapy

Well, today has been bloody terrible as far as Terrible Tuesdays go. I won't bore you with too many details but my day at work was horrendous because the woman I have recently been paired with has monumental mood swings and tries to stitch up everyone she works with and today she succeeded in stitching me up a treat. I looked like a royal waste of space and I found it really upsetting because I like to think I'm a hard worker that doesn't let people down.

What did cheer me up massively though, was that when I looked at my little blog I saw that I had 

99 followers!

That's right, 1 off 100.

I couldn't believe it, that's like 14 extra followers since the weekend and I know that there  are newer blogs with more followers but this isn't one of those, this is my blog and I am so so thrilled that 99 of you are following me. Thank you all so much for reading my ramblings, I haven't even replied to everyone's comments yet and I promise I'll start posting more frequently ♥

I went into H&M at the weekend and I couldn't believe how good their jewellery is at the moment, especially the necklaces... cue low quality, blurry & sneakily taken phone photo:

This is what I came away with but I will be going back very soon and coming out with much more I think

I LOVE this quilted make up bag, I'm going to buy another one and use it as a clutch bag, the colours are amazing in real life. 

I wasn't too sure at first but I think I will try and make the front a little less dangly and it will be perfect with lots of different outfits... ♥ a statement necklace.

All my stacking rings have gone brassy so these will be great until I find some as dainty as my previous ones

So these products below are obviously not from the wonderful Hennes & Mauritz but I thought I would give a try:

£10, I'm currently trying this out so I can give a good review of it...currently undecided.

 I know, I know, who knows how many years late on to the bandwagon I am but I thought I would try a teeny bottle and see if I wake up looking like a goddess after a months use. I look forward to the results.

Right, do you know what? I think I'm going to do a giveaway, I'll do a post about this at the weekend!

I hope you have all had a better Tuesday than I have today :)

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Silver Anniversary NOTW Nails inc Electric Avenue and Edinburgh Gate

The other week we had amazing weather and it was a family celebration at chez dolliepop. My grandma was visiting from Germany and it was my parents 25th Wedding Anniversary, which meant one thing- lots of silver!!

What to do in order to mark the celebration had been discussed for months on end and because it had practically been winter until (sods law) that week, the garden party idea was off. So once I knew all the friends & neighbours would be having a meal at the local Italian on the Saturday I had to plan my nails & outfit...surely that's what everyone does?

I had wanted to try a less obvious silver and go for Topshop's Zodiac for a metallic look but instead I started with Nails inc Electric Avenue which is a silver micro glitter polish.

One coat of Electric Avenue

I really liked this and I'm not usually a silver sort of girl but in the sunlight it looked amazing, the pictures don't really captures how brightly the shone.

This has great coverage and one coat could almost be enough, dries in a flash too.

Sparkling in the sunlight

A little bit plain? A little bit of an obvious choice?

That is exactly what I thought so I saw this polish...

Nails inc Edinburgh Gate

Silver, Blue, Red & Green pieces of glitter

Now, I don't actually like this polish, every time I look at it I think 'why?' 

I don't like the colours in it together at all but for some reason I looked at it this time and thought 'yes'.

I used this as my second coat over Electric Avenue and it was just perfect, I might even go as far as saying it was love at first sight. It added a different depth to the plain silver before and was just right for a party.

You'll have to try it in person to see just how amazingly they worked together! I went without a top coat as I quite liked the textured look.

♥ all the champagne and flowers, if only every weekend could be so much fun!

Everyone came to our house for pre drinks and the atmosphere at the restaurant was amazing with nearly 30 of us there basically loving life, the waiters were hilarious and our neighbours were even funnier. My friend and I went out after the meal and went to bed fairly early compared to the rest of the 'oldies' who didn't leave ours until 4:30 in the morning. I guess they were showing us how it's done!

My fingers don't normally look like obese Witchetty grubs, I swear
Bag- Accessorize

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Cider in the Sunshine

Now, this is going back a couple of Saturdays and there isn't anything that interesting for you but I have some pictures and I like to put a bit of my 'life waffle' in my posts so they're more personal for any of you guys reading them.

Moo had their 30% off summer sale so I took advantage and ordered my business cards and of course, stickers too!! I placed my order on the Friday and they arrived the following Saturday morning, it was like Christmas morning when our postman rang the doorbell. My only gripe with their website is that the prices are before VAT, so you can get a bit of a shock when you get to checkout and your not too cheap cards are even more expensive and the postage isn't a bargain either. Saying that though, they only took one week to arrive and considering they had to print them all and they're just what I wanted, so really I should just be happy.

What's inside...

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Tadaaa!

Overall, I'm so pleased with all the cards and stickers, there are a couple of pictures that I won't be using again but I didn't know that until I ordered the first lot and everyone's been lovely about them all! Then again, I have been giving them to my friends and colleagues so they were only ever going to be nice...

It was an amazing morning, so sunny and anyone in the UK right now know how rare it is. I met up with my lovely friend that I haven't seen in a couple of months (I've been really bad at keeping in touch recently, it's not like me and I'm not sure why but oh boy have I been making up for that since then!)

Here's a quick accessory check for the day:

I bought this necklace over a month ago in New Look and wasn't sure if I should have or not but I definitely love it and it's a real statement piece, especially glistening in the sunshine! 

It has that funny metal smell and I don't know how to stop it because I don't think clear nail varnish will sort this beast out. Does anyone have any ideas??

New Look Limited gold drape necklace £14.99

Available here

Old turquoise ring
M&S Limited Collection nails in Pink
Topshop tee

Annnd then there was Saturday afternoon...

My friend lives behind a pub in the village nearby and they were putting on a Beer & Cider Festival. In the sunshine. Wahay.

Of course I only condone sensible drinking...know your limits cider drinkers

Now, if you've never had Black Rat cider before then heed the warnings from your friends, it is a devil. I ignored them and the first pint slipped down like apple juice and half way through the second, I was a goner. I should have listened, but having lived in Bristol and had it once before I thought it would be fine. Silly silly me.

Don't get me wrong, no one ended up a mess that night- it wasn't one of those sessions but at one point I was talking to a new friend who's dad had decided to turn stables into somewhere to keep falcons...

3 of us didn't go to sleep and what do you do when you've started in the pub garden at 4pm the day before and not been to sleep? The 3 of you link arms and walk the dog to the petrol station at 6am to buy some bacon for breakfast before bed. Look at the beautiful view on the walk ♥

♥ the song, ♥ the film the clips are from & ♥ the film this song plays at the end of.

M&S Limited Collection Quick Dry Nail Polish- Pink and Lilac

Hey guys, I just don't know where the days go at the moment. It's August already and I just can't keep up! I've been a bit MIA this past week or so at my friend's house. I thought I'd get a chance to catch up on my posts but instead I had even less time than usual as I was further away from work, the gym , pretty much all my friends and the family too...Note to self: don't move to the other side of town.

So, I was in M&s the other week with my mum and saw that their make up has had a bit of an update and they've introduced a Limited Collection range to match the clothing range of the same name. It's aimed at a younger demographic than you might expect when you think of Marks & Sparks, full of up to date colours and quite a range of products too. I'm a massive fan of M&S, especially when I was working there and as always the quality of these are great, they're a brilliant price and they're cruelty free...perfect.

Last summer I picked up a Miami Pop Limited edition 17 nail polish from Boots in Palm beach. I thought it looked like a nice pink, I have so many pink polishes but you know what it's like when it's an ever so slightly different shade to your other 12 and so that makes it OK. Then I wore it and fell in love, it has more blue in it than my other pinks and it reminds me of the kind of pink I would imagine Barbie wearing. You can imagine that I was pretty gutted when half way through the bottle it's started to go gloopy and I can't find a replacement anywhere so when I saw this I was so so happy!

I wasn't sure how close it would be and as it happens I think it's a pretty good dupe.

I picked up two colours, Pink and Lilac (not very original names, I know) for £3.50 each which I think was a bargain really.

L-R, Palm beach, Pink, Lilac

You can see that the Limited Collection pink is slightly lighter in the bottle but once they've dried you can barely tell the difference and I'm really pleased with the shade of it.

L-R, Palm beach , Pink, Lilac

Here's the hand shot. It's paints on very nicely, it has a lovely smooth consistency, opaque in pretty much 1 coat but 2 coats finished it off nicely. It dries very quickly which impressed me and was quite hard wearing too, it probably lasted nearly a week until I went swimming again which just ruins everything...

Next up is Lilac, I was hoping this could be a dupe for Topshop's Chase but it definitely is not. In the bottle it is a medium lilac with a subtle gold glitter/shimmer to it, quite pretty.

I really like this colour but when it's dry it is quite an unusual shade. In some lights it is lilac and others gold and even a sort of greige. If you're looking for a definite lilac then this isn't it but I do really like it. I might try a purple base coat under this next time to see if that makes it a little more purple like I had expected. One coat looked quite ethereal and delicate.

Just as with the pink shade, this dries very quickly and is nice and hard wearing, I would definitely buy more polishes from the Marks & Spencer Limited Collection range!

I can't stop listening to this right now, it's just makes me want to go out all night and not go to bed until the sun comes up...

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