Fall Nails Colours

When I saw that Essie's new fall nail collection was out I couldn't help but to take a quick trip to the Boots to grab some. They have introduced five shades, which are; dress to kilt, fall in line, take it outside, the perfect cover up, style cartel and partner in crime. I truly love every single shade, but had to control myself not to purchase all of them as my bank account would not agree.

I am so grateful for Boots's 3 for 2 offer on Essie's nail colours, as buying 3 x £7.99 nail polishes is brutal.
After some thinking in front of the Essie stand, I opted for dress to kilt, fall in line and the all in one nail care.   

I have painted my nails with dress to kilt and I am in love with it. It is a very rich and elegant rouge colour, and would go very nicely with any outfit, adding some glamour to it. 

I can rarely paint my nails due to my course, so when I can, I like to put a lot thoughts into it so I get most out of my "painted nails allowed period" while it lasts, and this colour has not failed me, neither has the quality of Essie's polish and its flawless finish.
I am yet to try the fall in line, which is jade green colour, and it looks like it could be perfect in any season.

Has anyone else tried the new fall collection? If not, what is your favourite shade of nail polish by Essie?

Holiday Essentials

With the end of summer approaching around the corner (a rather short summer for me), I am dreading starting the third year of uni, YES, THE FINAL YEAR OF MY COURSE. Despite feeling like a school kid on Sundays, I am going on a short trip to Croatia with my family, Yay!  I am usually a last minute packer and this time was no exception.  Today, I am going to share with you my holiday essentials and an overview of the clothes I'm taking with me.

I usually take unnecessary stuff with me in my handbag and end up not using them at all. This time, I thought I'd keep it nice and simple and only take the absolute essentials.

1. First, the most important of them all: The handbag. It is not very clear in the photo, but I have recently purchased a black nylon backpack from TOPSHOP (£28.00), as I thought It'll go well with the clothes I want to take with me and also I will be doing a lot of walking in Croatia so I thought a backpack would be a better option than a usual handbag. 

2. In TOPSHOP, I have also bought a black felt floppy hat (£28.00) - it was a love at first sight. I don't usually wear hats in my everyday outfits but there was something about this hat that made me want it so much, and I'm looking forward to get some wear out of it.

3. A camera isn't usually my essentials when I go on holiday, as I found the quality of the Iphone camera to be quite good. However, Dubrovnik, the city of Croatia that I'm visiting, is known for its beautiful sceneries and I wanted to go all out and take my Pentax K-r with me to capture them. I have not used it in a while and it's about time I started using this beauty properly!

4. I am sure everyone agrees that handy wipes and/or tissues are undoubtedly the must to take on holidays - or anywhere really. I have a habit of spilling things all over the place (oops) so I would die without some tissues. I find that it can be difficult to find places to wash your hands sometimes, but you still want to keep your hands nice and clean for any food nibbling opportunity arises so handy wipes will be the perfect for the job.

5. Chewing gums. I used to take small packets with me, but I go through so many of them in a short period of time that I got myself a bottle. Only thing is that it makes that rattling noise in my bag which I'm not very fond of.

6. A purse. I tend to have a 'holiday purse', so that I don't have to empty my usual purse out and lose stuff that are already in there. Having said that, my holiday purse always have money and stuff in from the previous holiday, so I still need to empty it and will most likely lose something from there.

7. Lip, skin care. I have been loving La Roche-Posay Nutritic lip balm (£6.00), as it hydrates my skin really well and it's very light and not greasy when applied to my lips. I used to use vaseline a lot, but since staring nursing training, lip balm is a lot easier and more hygienic way of keeping my lips hydrated during placement. I also love Bobbi Brown's lip colour in shade Tull, number 34, (£19.50).

It is a soft pink colour that blends in well with my natural lip colour. I don't tend to wear any makeup when I travel on aeroplanes, but I would wear this lip colour on its own to add some colour to my face. In my previous blog, I talked about having dry/combination skin and my skin definitely gets very dry on aeroplanes. A small Nivea cream is an essential for someone like me, as I can quickly apply it on my face if I need to.

8. Chloe perfume - I simply cannot live without. This scent has been my favourite for a while now, and I buy them at the airport duty frees. I already know what I am going to but when I get to the airport... 

9. Ray-Ban sunglasses - I have sensitive eyes and if I don't wear sunglasses in sunny weather, my eyes can become itchy and uncomfortable for some reason, so it definitely is a must for me! 

10. A good book. I read most books on my iPad now, but I do miss having an actual book in my hand, and the smell of the paper. I have chosen to take "How to fall in Love" by Cecelia Ahern with me this holiday. She is the author of "P.S I Love you", and is one of my favourite author. 


Here is a quick overview of my holiday clothes and yes I am very aware of the monochrome -ness of the collection but I just cannot help it! 

Now all I need to do is to actually pack them... I know I have waffled on a little too much but I hope you agree with some of my essentials, and I would love to know what peoples' holiday essentials are :)

Skin Rescue Products

I have dry, sometime combination, skin and I feel like I should alternate my face masks accordingly. There are four face masks that I have bought to try, which are: The Fab Pore (Soap&Glory), Beautiful Skin Hydration Mask (No.7), Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask (Origins) and Rare Earth Pore Cleansing Masque (Kiehl's).

1. The Fab Pore - Soap&Glory  (30 mL - £10.00)

This is a 2-in-1 facial pore purifying mask and peel that has a lovely refreshing minty - zesty smell to it. The texture is light, soft and foamy,making it easy to be spread across the face. It has tiny green beads which exfoliates your face as you wash off the mask, leaving your skin soft. This product is advertised for battling breakouts as well as unclogging pores and preventing breakouts. I bought this to unclog my pores, as my pores become more visible when my skin is more on the combination side. It is recommended to be used once weekly for maintenance and twice weekly for battling breakouts. It is advised to leave the mask on for 15 minutes for it to dry, but I found that I dries quicker than 15 minutes (this may depend on how much you out on). I enjoy the texture of this mask and how it settles on my skin when I apply it. However, I would not say it's a peel as you can't peel the mask off when it is dry. Despite this, my skin feels very soft after it has been washed off and does not leave my skin dry. I didn't notice any difference with my pores after my first use, so I started to use twice weekly and then I started to see some difference. Overall, I am quite happy with my purchase, but I don't think I'll buy this product again when it runs out. I feel like it doesn't unclog my pores as much as I hoped it would and was a little disappointed due to the product not quite living up to the rave reviews. 

2. Beautiful Skin Hydration Mask - No.7  (100mL - £12.50)

No.7 is Boots's own brand, and I have never been keen on No.7 products for some reason, but this product caught my eyes, as it has very unusual look to it. It is in a see through bottle and you can see the pink and clear swirls inside, which reminded me of whipped cream! It looked really pretty and fun, so I thought I would give it a go! This product is clean and easy to apply, as you press down the pump to get the mask so you won't get it everywhere! It comes out as white thick foamy texture, and it spreads so well that I only need a half of a push! When you first apply it, it feels quick thick and wet but after few minutes, you can really feel it soaking into the skin giving an 'intense moisture boost' as it says on the bottle! You can leave it on for 5 - 15 minutes before you wipe off, but even when you wash it off, I feel like there is nothing to wash off as there is not 'drying up' feeling you would get with a clay mask. I am absolutely in love with this mask, as it does what it says and would recommend to anyone with dry skin. It also is a good value for money. 

3. Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask - Origins (100 mL - £23.00) 

I have heard mixed reviews about Origins products, and wasn't sure if I wanted to spend £23 on it. The day my student loan came into my bank account, I took a trip to the nearest Boots (as you do) and found the Origins counter there and I thought to I'd check out what sort of face masks they had. There are several different products for different use, but I opted for the intensive overnight mask as it sounded very hydrating and promising from its name. I was on a hunt for masks for dry skin anyway so it took this opportunity to give it a go. This mask is made up of all natural ingredients, which include Avocado and Apricot oil and Japanese seaweed. It has a sweet scent to it and you can't really smell the seaweed in it - so don't let the seaweed let you off this product! The mask its self is creamy yellow colour and the texture is quite firm. It feels like a normal moisturiser and you apply the product as you would apply the moisturiser. It feels a little sticky to start with but does soak into your skin quite nicely. I like to use this product in the winter more than the summer, purely because my face feels sticker in the summer after applying the mask. I think this product works really well when I have very dry skin and would purchase this again if it ran out - I just wish it was a little bit cheaper! Overall I am pleased with the product and I want to try out the other face masks too. 

4. Rare Earth Pore Cleansing Masque - Kiehl's (142g - £21.50)

This product is what I would call a clay mask. It contains Amazonian White Clay, Oatmeal and Aloe Vera and has that gorgeous clay smell to it! This is the first product purchased from Kiehls's and I absolutely loved it there! The staff were very friendly and helpful and they don't push you to buy anything, which I usually hate as I find it very hard to say no! They also offer free skin consultation in order to find products that compliments your skin. I was told that I had a combination skin and was recommended this cleansing masque. It absorbs excess oil and can be used on blemish/redness for more balanced skin. It has a very light texture, which I did not expect from a clay mask, and only small amount is needed as it spreads easily. I have been using this twice weekly, or more depending on how I feel. This product takes 10-15 minutes to dry and once its washed, it leaves your skin very soft and smooth. However, I found that it tightens my pores quite a bit and there is a tightness in my face. It also doesn't leave my skin as hydrated as I hoped it would. I feel as though this product is more of a treat product than a daily product and I am not sure if I would repurchase this, but it has helped to balance my skin so I would recommend it to people with the combination skin. 

I am really enjoying using face masks daily and using different ones for different purposes. I think it makes skin care a lot more fun as well as improving your skin - it's a win-win situation!

Has anyone used any of the products before? and does anybody have any recommendations?

More London Free Festival

The city gets visibly vibrant with people wanting to celebrate friday evening - TGIF. My friend Tania and I were no exception, but we wanted to do something different to enjoy our Friday evening. After giving it some thoughts, we decided to check out the More London Free Festival that has been talked about amongst film lover Londoners. 
We are both very keen on watching films and when we discovered that we could watch a film outside, in the central of London for FREE, there was no way we weren't going to take an advantage of this! 

We had been to an outdoor cinema before to see Moulin Rouge (our favourite by the way) in the park near Hammersmith, but this time it was at a place called the Scoop which is located near the Tower bridge, surrounded by modern futuristic offices. Here at the Scoop, they are showing variety of films every Wednesday - Friday (3rd - 26th Sep) at 19:30, and they were showing Life of Pi on the evening we chose to go. 

Tanya and I wanted to be as prepared as we could be to enjoy ourselves, and we got there just after 5pm to secure our seats,  as we heard that due to the popularity of the event, the capacity is quickly reached. It didn't look very busy when we first got there, but a queue started to form within 30 minutes of being there! It wasn't clearly sign posted to say where the gate was, or where to start the queue so we were sat else where whilst the queue quickly formed. Luckily, we realised we waited at the wrong place and join the queue so we were able to secure our seats (the gate opens at 6pm). 

We managed to get good seats! 

We ordered Wagamama's takeway from the nearby Wagamama's and picked it up before making our way to the venue! Also, as you can see in the photo above, there are no cushions on the seats. If you live nearby, it may be a good idea to take some cushions with you - although some people had beanbags with them! Tanya and I did a little research about the day and they said there will be cushions available for a hire for a £1 donation. We managed to get hold of them, but it seemed to run out very quickly! 

There were stores by the venue selling some food, drinks and of course POPCORN. 

The venue was full within 10-20 minutes! 

I really enjoyed the film - it was brilliant! 

We were greeted by this stunning view after the film!

Overall, it was a great night and I would absolutely recommend to anyone, looking for something different but fun to do! If you are interested, more information is available on web: http://www.morelondon.com/ 

Has anyone been to the same event? or any exciting outdoor event like this? 

London is a Beautiful City

This is my first official blog post, and  I thought talking about London, the city I happen to love living in, was very fitting theme!
Few weeks back, when the city was still packed with tourists from all over the world, and when the weather was unusually hot, my friends Charlotte, Grace and I decided to explore the city more in what we called a 'sophisticated way', which obviously included eating burgers...
We started the evening off by going to the Five Guys burger shop in Covent Garden as we all heard so much about it and were dying to try out. 

We arrived there just after 6pm, and there already was a queue!  As we had no back up dinner plans, it didn't take very long for us to decide to join the queue, and much to our surprise, we barely waited 15 minutes to go inside. In fact, it was too short of a queue to choose what to have! I am usually quite indecisive when it comes to food, but I knew what I wanted that day - BACON CHEESEBURGER, which was £8.75 on its own, but you could have free toppings, as many as you wish!, with it so I opted for grilled onions and mushrooms. I have also ordered a regular fries (£4) and a regular drink (£2.50) which you could go and fill it yourself and they had so many different flavours of fanta that we don't have in the UK! I got a little carried away with the options but in the end settled with the grape flavour. Charlotte and Grace opted for the simple yet the best Cheeseburger (£6.75) with small potion of fries. 

There were plenty of seats to sit inside, but the weather was too gorgeous not to enjoy it, so we decide to take a little walk to the Trafalgar square to enjoy our burgers in a grand setting - yes eating these burgers were such a big deal to us! 

Trafalgar Square is only 3-5 minutes walk away from Covent garden and we walked there as fast as we could to get our hands on the burgers! I love Trafalgar Square, I love how grand and historical it looks yet it is in the centre of London. The National Gallery is right by the square, which I love visiting to admire the astonishing arts, and I would happily spend a whole day in this area.
Anyway, Charlotte, Grace and myself found a nice spot on the edges of the fountain to sit down to dig into our burgers we could not have picked a better place!

And this is my beautiful burger trio. There was just enough amount of melted cheese in it to cover the bacon and the patty. The size of the burger was bigger than I expected it  to be, but nothing I couldn't manage of course.  However, I struggled with my fries, as after finishing my pot of fries, I discovered another potful in the bag! Small portion would definitely have been enough for me. Overall, I was satisfied with my burger and I would probably go again but can't make it a regular habit as it is quite pricy for a burger and with student budgeting, this kind of luxury is a poison to my purse. 

After demolishing our burgers, we decide it was time to burn off the calories we have just consumed by taking a walk around the city. We didn't decide on the destination when we left but we were headed towards Westminster, and ended up in South bank / Waterloo! We didn't realise how easy it was to walk there from where we were and really enjoyed the walk there. The sun was beginning to set in far distance when we were crossing the Hungergord Bridge, and the view of London from there was simply stunning. 

We were all stunned by the view and we could not resist to take photos after photos! When we were finally content with photos we took, we carried on walking towards the Waterloo station to end the day and go home. On our way to Waterloo station, we stumbled across a  group of people gathered in front of the wooden gate and we weren't sure what it was to start with. People kept going in there and we were intrigued to know what was happening inside! It wasn't long before we stepped inside to discover this colourful circus like area hidden behind the gates! (free of charge to enter)

We stood there for a while staring at this wonderful space and were very impressed with our finding! It was a circus themed outdoor pub thing ( I really don't know how to describe this place) with music, bars and food.  The place was packed with couples, family and people in business suits. To make the most of our evening before heading home, we all bought a drink to sit down and to enjoy this amazing atmosphere. I have absolutely loved being there, people watching and swaying to some good tunes. I think this place is open until end of September, well I hope it is anyway!, and I would recommended to anyone who fancies a new setting to have drinks with your dates, friends and family. 

This was a great way of ending my fun evening with the girls whilst exploring London, and I am hoping to do more exploring during my holiday!

Where are everyones' favourite places in London? 

Welcome!

Welcome

I have been wanting to start a blog of my own for a while now, as I absolutely love reading other peoples' ! My excuse was always 'no time to do anything' and I usually don't, but as I start my belated summer holiday I have no excuse now! I am studying Mental Health Nursing at the University of Nottingham and am enjoying it a lot. As you can imagine, nursing does not involve writing exciting and creative stuff, so I am looking forward to share things I love with you all and be creative. The blog's main focus will be beauty, fashion and lifestyles (probably mostly about food!) and anythings else that takes my fancy! Anyway, enough about me, I hope you enjoy the posts to come!

Natsumi X



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