Bourjois Instant Dry - Full Review

Hey lovely people!

So time for another little review. This is a product that I have had on my radar for a few weeks. I went scouring the internet, after smudging my newly painted nails for the millionth time, and in my frustration I found this little beauty on ASOS. 

I don't know if any of you are like me, but I change my nail polish 2-3 times a week, and I have a job, dogs to look after, a house to maintain and a husband to keep so I don't really have the time nor the inclination to wait for my nails to dry before moving!

So anyway, I discovered this little beauty, promising wonderful things in the realm of instantly dry nails and I felt super excited to give it a try. It did not disappoint. 

It is a 9ml bottle of wonder and delight, making the process of painting your nails all the more fun and interesting. All it takes is a single drop from the fabulous little dropper provided in the lid of the bottle. Just one single drop on top of your polish will, I found, dry (not harden) in about 20 seconds. 

It really is quite ingenious... and makes simple tasks like getting dressed and doing the dishes a much easier feat to achieve! You can get this little beauty at ASOS for the bargain price of £5.99... and what a price to pay for finally being able to say goodbye to smudged nails???

Hope you enjoyed this post lovelies and seriously hope, if you're a nail polish addict like me, that you will purchase this fab little life saver. You will not be sorry!!!

Take care lovelies. x

April Favourites

Hey lovely people!

So it's the end of the month, and what a month it has been. I have come very close to bankrupting my poor husband this month with all my purchases, and on that basis I thought I would share my favourite picks of the month with you all, giving a little more detail and a review on each of my favourite items. 

So here we go, with my top 10 favourite items this month:

1. My fave Lipstick!

So I couldn't give just one fave lippy for this month. I had to go with 2, both from Makeup Revolution and both amazeballs!!! :) The first choice is the shade Beloved, which is a pinky peachy sheer tone, which gives the lips a luscious, healthy glow, without being too pigmented. It really just enhances the natural look of your lips and I love it. My 2nd choice is Rebel With Cause, which is the most delicious berry coloured lippy. It's so gorgeous and looks fab with a minimal eye makeup look, as well as gorgeously vamp with a smokey eye. Get yourself a few of these lippy's here. 

2. My fave Nail Polish!

I don't have one particular favourite nail polish this month, but I do have lots of good things to say about the W7 range. Not only are they super cheap, starting at just 69p each, but the formula is amazing and the choice of colours are endless. You quite literally can't go wrong with these little beauties. They are fab!

3. My fave Eye-shadow!

So I have a lot of eyeshadows... and I generally stick with the same neutral tones every time. However, with all of the gorgeous palettes available at the minute, it's hard not to get caught up in amongst all the mattes and shimmers available. This palettte (Iconic 1) from Makeup Revolution is my current fave. It is a dupe of the original Naked palette from Urban Decay, and every one of the 12 shades are gorgeous - particularly the middle 3 shimmers. I have been wearing these a lot over the last couple of weeks. The pigment is just as rich and perfect as it shows above and the staying power is brilliant - with mines generally lasting a good 6 hours without any signs of fading. The palettes can be bought direct from Makeup Revolution or Superdrug and are only £4!!!

4. My fave blusher!

Another Makeup Revolution gem... this beautiful Baked Blush in the shade "Make Love Instead". It's a pot of coral, shimmery goodness, that leaves your cheeks looking naturally flushed and glowing. It's 1 of 6 available shades that cost just £3. 

5. My fave Skincare product!

Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water is the ultimate necessity in any ladies skincare collection. I didn't think that there was such an effective way to remove makeup until I tried this bad boy. It not only removes every ounce of makeup on my skin (waterproof mascara included), but it leaves it feeling squeaky clean and as fresh as a daisy. It is sheer brilliance in a bottle!

6. My fave scent!

This shouldn't be of any surprise to all of you, but I really can't say enough about this scent. I have it in all of the available sizes and it is my one true favourite scent of all time. Its fruity, and fresh and floral, and lasts a good 3-4 hours before a re-spritz is required. It costs just £12 for the 75ml bottle and can be bought in any Next store or online here. 

7. My fave brush!

This brush has always been a favourite of mine. Its from Sheer Cover and it's a great  brush, that I use primarily for my blusher. The bristles are so soft and velvety on my skin, and it is super easy to clean. As well as that it is just a super pretty brush with its transparent acrylic handle. I just love it so I do!

8. My fave food!

This month I have been obsessed with pizza, to the point where I have been lying in my bed at night and craving it! No I am not pregnant. Lol! But not only has it been pizza I've been craving, but it's been spicy pizza... chorizo, chillies the works!!! I just can't get enough of it... and yes, I had it for dinner again last night!

9. My fave drink!

Now ordinarily, I am a Rosé wine girl. I could drink it until I'm blue in the face... especially on a beautiful warm and sunny day. However, this month, for a change I've been drinking lager shandys (half lager or beer and half lemonade)... And I have found my new love in this drink. It is a dinky little bottle, available in packs of 10 at Asda for the ridiculously low price of £3.50 (ish). Now I would like to point out that I am in fact a sensible drinker and that this is absolutely not intended to encourage irresponsible drinking of any kind. I just love that this is not only a delicious little drink, but is also really affordable.

10. My fave random pick!

Finally, this is my random pick of the month. It is in fact the box set of "Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip". Now, I have mentioned this in a previous post somewhere I'm sure, but I'll say a few more words about it now. This show was made by the same people behind the award winning show, The West Wing. It is just as fantastic (if not slightly better in my opinion) than The West Wing. It stars Matthew Perry, Bradley Whitford and Amanda Peet among others, and is basically takes place behind the scenes of a live sketch comedy show (similar to that of SNL). Matthew Perry plays Matt Albie, the head writer of the show, while Bradley Whitford plays Danny Tripp, the producer of the show. It is sheer brilliance that I cannot properly convey to you in words. Do yourself a favour and buy the box set here. You won't be sorry that you did!!!

So that's that lovely people. One whole month has passed and I have had the best time ever trying out all of these fab products. I'm looking forward to any potential new finds for next month, and will be happy to share these with you all too. Stay tuned to my blog for my collage of images from this months Instagram photo challenge!

Take care lovelies. x

A Nail Polish Overload!

Hey lovely people!

Today I thought I would share my recent nail polish purchases with you all. If you're anything like me, then you will understand the serious problem I have, with not being able to walk past a beauty counter without picking up at least 1 new polish. I am also not one for being fussed with named brands and prices etc... if I have tried it before or heard good things then I will be happy to buy it, regardless of whether its £1 or £10, so you should expect this from all the products I purchase. 

Anyway, here are a few snaps from each of the collections I've bought, with a little bit about how I've found them.

These lovely little pots of gorgeousness were bought from Watt Brothers and they were £0.69 each. Despite this ridiculously low price tag, they produce beautiful colours, with an exceptionally impressive formula, that goes on super smooth and leaves a lovely glossy finish. I have so far tried the grey (middle) and the pastel yellow. Both are just gorgeous, fresh spring colours. They made my nails look so strong and healthy and the W7 range are by far, my favourite polishes at the moment.

These are also available at Watt Brothers, and come in a pack of 3 with a nail art pen at a cost of £2.99 for the pack. They are sooo cute and dainty... just a third the size of the standard bottles above. Obviously with them pot being so small, the brush is also decreased in size which makes applying to the entire nail quite difficult. However, given that this little package comes with a nail pen, the purpose of them is that they are used primarily for that function, and not for painting the entire nail, therefore they do that job quite well indeed.

These little beauties were purchased as part of the recent 6 for £20 Models Own promotion. Due to having always had longish nails and never really wanting to part with the cash at the salon, I was curious if these bad boys would at least produce the lovely shine and durability of the "Gel" nail. They didn't disappoint. I've tried the Red, Nude & Turquoise shade so far and I love them. They last for days and days without even a sign of a crack or chip. However, much like the real "Gel" nail polish at the salon, they are horrendously difficult to get off... even after using an immense amount of O.P.I Polish Remover. I don't suppose that's a bad thing though, and only goes to prove how durable this formula actually is. 

Finally, I was drawn to these colours in my local pharmacy. It cost £2.99 for the entire pack of 6 which in itself is a great little bargain. However, it was actually the range of colours and vibrancy of them that made me pick them up. As expected, you do have to put at least 2... even 3 coats on before you see the same results as those in the pots. However, they are gorgeous, summery colours and just looking at them brings a smile to my face. So far, I have tried the mustard yellow (far left) and the lime green (2nd in from the right). They are both gorgeous on and will be ideal for all the summer BBQ's coming up in the next few months.

So there you have it lovely people. Sorry If I went on a bit about them, but I'm just really loving my nail polishes at the minute. My shelves are filled with all different brands and colours, ranging from the more expensive like O.P.I and Nails Inc. to fantastic little bargains like my W7 polishes. I just wanted to prove that you don't have to spend a fortune to find a great nail polish. The proof is shown above.

Take care lovelies. x

Spring Make-Up Tag

Hey there lovely people, 

So I didn't post yesterday as it ended up being a super busy day spent with my niece and nephew, so today I bring to you another Tag and this time it's all about Spring Make-Up... my new favourite topic. So without further ado, here is the tag.

1. Do you change up your makeup when Spring arrives? If so, please explain how?
As I've explained in previous posts, until recently I was very much in the dark about most make-up trends. However, I was always very conscious about keeping my makeup quite light and fresh in the warmer months, and experimented a bit more with deeper, darker colours in the colder, winter months and this continues to be the case.

2. What’s your fave Spring fragrance?
This is an absolute no brainer, it's my favourite fragrance for every season of the year - Just Pink from Next. 

3. What’s going to be your fave accessory this Spring?
I'm super into necklaces & chains again - exploring old costume jewellery I had locked away and forgotten about. So I think a few more purchases might be in order as like earrings, it really does add a little something more to your outfit. As well as that I'm thinking about finally investing in a pair of Ray-Bans. 

4. What’s going to be your most worn item of clothing this Spring?
Mmmm... Probably anything Coral! I'm absolutely loving that colour right now so yeah, probably that. 

5. What are your Top 3 fave Spring nail polishes?
Ok, so I have a Coral shade (did I mention that I like coral) from Sinful Colors which I adore, but I'm also loving the shade Hip Hop from Rimmel and Brompton Place from Nails Inc. They are all super bright and cheerful colours.

6. Do you prefer pumps or sandals in Spring?
Pumps definitely - Scotland is not really warm enough in the Spring to wear sandals. 

7. What's your fave lipstick colour for Spring?
Well red is always my fave and I think it's quite an easy colour to wear in all seasons... but I am loving peachy shades right now too.

8.  Are you a fake tanner or do you prefer the natural sunkissed look?
I am completely hopeless at applying fake tan... not to mention I have quite pigmented skin, so it doesn't go on well anyway... So the natural sunkissed look is the one for me!

9. What is your favourite drugstore and high end Spring inspired piece of makeup?
Fave drugstore make-up at the minute is the MUA lipsticks... they are like £1 and there are loads of beautiful fresh spring colours to choose from, including the Peachy Keen Matte Lipstick I was referring to before. My fave high end piece would have to be my Bare Minerals Powder - It's feels super nice and light on the skin and gives me a fresh and healthy complexion. I love it!

10. What's your fave Spring colour this season & do you have your eye on any specific clothing pieces?
So as I said earlier and several times in previous posts, I love coral this spring! It's just such a beautiful and vibrant colour without being too in your face. I love how even somebody like me, with very pale skin, suits it. Whether it's on my nails or a piece of clothing... It is the ultimate spring colour for me! 

Ok so there's my Spring Make-Up Tag for all you lovely people... why don't you get involved and do your own.

Take care lovelies. x

The Blogger Tag

Hey there lovely people,

Happy weekend to you all. Hope you are having a fabilicious Saturday.

It's that time of the week for another little Tag. They are one of my favourite things to read on other peoples blogs because it's nice to get to know the lovely person behind the posts. 

So here is this weeks choice... The Blogger Tag! 

The Blogger Tag

1. Is your hair naturally curly or straight?

It's naturally straight with a bit of a kink in it.

2. Do you dye it yourself or go to a salon?

Both. If I'm feeling in a particularly "pamper myself" type of mood, I will get a hair cut & colour at the Hairdressers, but most of the time, because my hair is so short I am happy just to dye it myself at home. 

3. Do you wear the same style everyday, or do you change it?

So as I was saying, I have super short hair, so coming up with different styles is often difficult - but I try my best to change it up as much as I can.

4. Do you do your own mani/pedi or go to a salon?

I do my own. I have always had long nails and so have never wanted acrylics or anything. As well as that on the one and only occasion where I did have a manicure, the lady doing it absolutely destroyed my cuticles with her buffer and they were all bleeding and sore - BAD EXPERIENCE!!! Plus I like to change my nail colour a lot, so it would end up costing me a small fortune if I went to a manicurist every time. 

5. How often do you change your nail polish?

Like I said above, I change my colour a lot. Maybe 2 or 3 times a week. :) I love a fresh set of nails.

6. Do you polish your toes in the winter or just the summer?

Both - I stick to darker shades like 1.Chick Flick Cherry from O.P.I. or 2.Desire from Rimmel which is what I'm wearing just now. In the summer I like bright & pastel colours like 3.Hip Hop from Rimmel and 4.Brompton Place from Nails Inc.

7. How long does it take for you to put on makeup?

So if I'm just having a normal day - food shopping, out a walk etc then 10 minutes. If I have a night out or somewhere fancy to go then it's a kind of whole day process where my makeup can take 2-3 hours. I like to take my time. :)

8. What do you do first? Face or eyes?

Face. I always put my primer and foundation on first.

9. Do you collect makeup or just buy what you need when you need it?

I have a relatively big collection of products that I often forget I have, particularly eye-shadows. So definitely a collector.

10. How often do you wear false eyelashes?

Once in my whole life. I have really sensitive eyes so putting fake lashes and glue on them is a little daunting. However, my sister once put them on me and I loved them... pity I couldn't really see properly the whole night. 

11. Do you do a full face of makeup every day?

Nope. There are maybe 3 days out of the week where I let my skin breathe... and on days like today, where I'm feeling under the weather, makeup is the furthest thing from my mind.

12. Do you wear makeup when you're home alone or with family?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. 

13. Will you leave the house without makeup?

Yes and often too.

14. How many high-end products do you have?

Not a lot... and I'm not entirely sure they are too high end. I have some Smashbox lip products, Bareminerals powders and concealers, as well as Clinique and Liz Earle skincare products.

15. Do you plan your OOTD every night or decide when you're getting dressed?

I always tend to plan what I'm wearing and leave it sitting out and ready.

16. How often do you change your handbag?

Often. I have a handbag addiction, and like to showcase all of my different ones as much as possible. I do, however, have some favourites that I use more often than others.

17. What time do you wake up and go to sleep?

So I go to bed through the week at around 10.30pm, but don't generally fall asleep till about 2am. I wake up anywhere between 8 and 10am in the morning. My nights are slightly longer at the weekend.

18. How often or when do you workout?

Not as often as I should... at all!!!

19. Left handed or right handed?

Right - my hubby is left handed.

20. How tall are you?

5ft 7inches.

21. Do you speak any foreign languages?

I speak a bit of French & Spanish.

22. How many pets do you have?

2 dogs - Oscar & Bonnie.

23. How often are you on Blogger?

Too often - haha! All day, everyday!!! Addicted is an understatement.

  

24. Do you read comments posted on blogs?

Yes - It's nice to read peoples nice words. Reminds me that there are still lovely people out there.

25. Do you keep a list of products to try as you see other posts?

Yes - this has become a bit of a problem for my poor hubby. My spending has increased exponentially since I got more and more into blogging and watching YouTube.

26. How did you come up with your blog name?

It was initially an idea I had for my Photography, that I was telling stories through my pictures - hence "Once Upon A Picture" and when I decided to blog I wanted there to be a consistency with my pictures and my words.

27. What kind of camera do you use for your photographs?

I have a Canon 600D DSLR, but I also have a few point and shoot cameras too.

28. How often do you clean your house?

I try to clean a bit everyday, but have a good clean of the entire house once a week.

29. What's your favorite color?

RED!

30. What is your favorite drugstore/high end makeup brand?

I love Rimmel for their nail polishes, Bodyshop for their foundation and M.U.A lipsticks (they are super cheap and super pigmented). For skincare my absolute faves are Clinique, Liz Earle and I really like Simple.


So there is my Blogger Tag answers. Hope you all enjoyed reading them, and feel free to leave your tags in the comments for me to read.

Take care lovelies. x

Friday Faves - Budget Beauty

Hey there lovely people!

Instead of doing my usual Friday Faves, I thought I would share my current budget beauty faves with you. I've recently bought a few new products and wanted to share them with you, as well as showcasing some of the products I've been using lately.

So here goes... I must warn you, it's a bit of a photo heavy post. :)

I couldn't resist the new MUA Matte lipsticks. I got the shades Totally Nude, Peachy Keen, Scarlet Siren & Pouty Pink.

This is the colours in all their glory. How gorgeous are they??? The colours are lovely and provide a lovely pigment on your lips, but because they're matte, they are quite drying on the lips. To combat this, I suggest moisturising your lips and perhaps adding some lip balm or Vaseline on top of your lipstick. Seriously though, at £1 each, you just can't go wrong with these little beauties.

These are just the standard MUA Lipsticks, in shade 1 (which is the darker of the 2) and shade 13. I already have these lipsticks but use them sooooo much that I needed to stock up on them.  Again they are just £1!!!

I just love them!!! Again, like the Matte ones above, these just feel lovely and luxurious on your lips. Pretty amazing for such a cheaply priced product.

Now because I wear a lot of lipsticks, I need to keep my lips moisturised and nourished, and these little products do that job for me. The Vaseline is a giant tub that I keep beside my bed and use every night. The EOS is a little treat I carry in my bag and the Carmex is a new purchase. I had never tried it before, but my sister-in-law whipped hers out of her bag the other day and the smell was intoxicating, so I had to get myself one. I love it because not only does it smell amazing, but it makes my lips tingle ever so slightly that I feel as though it's improving my pout. Only downside is the taste.

This is a new purchase as I really struggle to take off my eye makeup without my eyes stinging (they are super sensitive). I love Rimmel products and read a few good reviews about this one so I will be sure to report back as soon as I've given it a try.

This is a new product for me too. I currently use the BodyShop Moisturising foundation and I love it, but I wanted to give this a go because of all the fantastic reviews it's gotten from all the blogs and Youtubers I follow. I got it in the shade Light Porcelain because I am super pale, and I must admit, I didn't like it as much as my BodyShop one. It does feel nice on the skin and there is good coverage, but it's not as moisturising as I would have liked it to be.

So I saw somebody recently review this palette and they likened to to the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette. This was the only palette of the 3 Naked collections that I really liked as it's all of my favourite eyeshadow colours, so for £4 I thought why not! I've taken a few swatches, and despite the price they are really nice and quite pigmented. I really look forward to giving them a try & will let you know how I get on.

This is nothing new to my faves, in fact as I've mentioned in previous posts, this is my absolute all time favourite perfume. I know it's probably nothing special to a lot of people, but I just love it! The bigger bottle is actually my miniature version which I use on a daily basis, and despite never really having to top up, I carry my little tester size in my handbag for an extra little hit throughout the day. This is just £12 for the full size and totally worth the money in my opinion!

Finally, this is a current fave of mine from the Soap & Glory collection. It's a moisturising body spray that not only leaves your skin feeling so soft and supple, but smells AMAZING! I just love spraying this over my arms and décolletage after coming out of the shower. It is simply divine! 

So that's my current beauty faves, in all of their glory! I didn't include my Clinique skin care as I spoke a bit about that in a recent post and didn't want to bore you all. Also, they aren't really budget products are they??? 

I'll be giving all of my newly bought products a good and thorough test over the weekend and will definitely be getting back to you with my thoughts and experience with them.

I hope you have a brilliant weekend, and will be back to you tomorrow with my Saturday Tag post!

Take care lovelies. x

My Weekend Condensed!

Hey lovely people,

So, this is just a short little post showing you (in pictures) what my weekend was all about! 

We watched a lot of this show this weekend!

An ENORMOUS tub of Ice Cream!

My almost 3 week old carnations!

You have to have a Guiness for St Paddy's Day!

2 new colours (left) and some nail time!

MUNCHIES!!!

A VET visit with my big pooch!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend and I will be posting again later so watch out for that. 

Take care lovelies. x