Hallowe'ening

This year, I decided to go all out celebrating halloween, as this is a last halloween as a student - just scared myslelf there. 

I started with painting my nails in spirit of Halloween. I used Leighton Denny Colour & Go Monochrome to paint my nails black as a base. I then used Barry M's white nail art pen to draw lines and Jack's face from Christmas before nightmare. I used Essie's all in one base as a topcoat. 

I managed to do my left hand on my own but asked my friend Neelam to the other and she's done a great job! 

We were both proud of our end product and I took a photo with Jack's mug at the end! 

This put me in a very Halloweeny mood, so I proceeded with next thing on my Halloween to do list - pumpkin carving! 

I cannot remember the last time I carved a pumpkin, but I remember it not going so well.  I thought it was only fair for me to follow the theme and carve Jack's face on the pumpkin too, but didn't realise how difficult might that be and until I stabbed a knife through the pumpkin. 

I did the lid in a zig zag star shape to make it more prettier which was quite challenging to do for me. 

Then I had to scoop out the inside and it smelled really bad. 

Instead of making pumpkin soup or pie, I threw the inside away in the bin. I just couldn't see myself doing anything with it to be honest with you! 

Then I drew the face on with a biro to guide me when cutting the face out. 

To minimise the mess, I wore a bin bag on my legs to crave to face, shame I didn't take photo of that... 

Here is the end product! Mine is on the right, and Neelam did the one on the left. 

After this was complete, we had one more thing to do. Dress up for Halloween. I dressed up as a zombie house maid with half Mexican Skelton make up (credit to Neelam) 

I burrowed a simple black dress from my friend, and with her permission, I sewed on the apron and the collars , which you can't really see in the photo. I even made the little maid headban as well! I feel that I have put a lot of effort into it and I had a great fun because of that. 

Deciding what to wear and the makeup was definitely my favourite part of the Halloween and I cannot wait for the next year! 

I hope I have given some ideas to people for Halloween :)

What did everyone dress up as? Did you go trick or treating? 

Croatian Holiday

It has been well over a month since I have been back from my trip to Dubrovnik, and I finally have some time to sit down and write this post! or you might say procrastination when I should be thinking about my dissertation topic...  

Anyway. Today, I am going to share with you some beauty products I have purchased in Dubrovnik and the photos from the holiday :)

Dubrovnik is a city of Croatia, which is located at the bottom of the country by the coast.
The currency is Kuna, 1 Kuna is equivalent to 0.10 pounds and 0.13 euro. Most of the shops and restaurants accept major credit cards and debit cards, but there were some shops and tourist attraction (such as boat ride) only accepted cash. Some shops offered discount if you paid in cash as well.   

In the old town of Dubrovnik, there is a pharmacy called Mala Braca Pharmacy , which is one of the oldest in Europe, but the only one still open! (which practically makes it the oldest right?) It was opened in 1317, and is located inside the Franciscan Monastery. All products are made from natural ingredients, following the original 200 year old recipes. I opted for the rose water, rose face cream and citrus hand cream. Despite the recommendation of the lavender water by the pharmacist, I still got the rose water as rose is one my favourite scent. 

* Aqua Rosae  100 mL / 50 Kn (about £5/6)

 

This rose water has a quiet strong sweet scent to it and I love it so much! The smell is so natural and it makes me feel very feminine every time I use this on my face. I have also been applying this at the roots of my hair when dump, and it leaves my hair smelling nice and soft when dried. For this quality, 50 Kn is definitely a bargain and I would love to go back there and by some more to stock! 

*Krema od ruza  cream of roses 63Kn (about £6/7) 

This rose cream has the exactly same scent at the rose water. The cream itself is very rich, and spreads really well so you only need a small amount to apply on your face. When first applied, it is quiet sticky and oily but it gradually blends into your skin and is very hydrating. I tend to apply more on the areas of dry skin. As the scent is quite strong, I use this mostly at night time - it is such a lovely smell to fall asleep with and it aids my sleep when I'm struggling to fall asleep. 

*Krema za ruke  hand cream  63Kn (about £6/7)

This hand cream has a very fresh citrus scent to it and it is very nourishing. The texture is same as the rose cream, but for some reason I found this to be thicker and oilier so it's harder to spread. This was a life saver during my 4 week placement. Being a student nurse, you are constantly washing your hands whether you need it or not (maybe I'm slightly obsessed?!) and that leaves me with a pair of very dry hands. I applied this hand cream before going to bed, and in the morning my hands were very soft and hydrated. I can see myself using this cream more and more as the cold winter approaches! 

Overall, I am very pleased with my purchases from Mala Braca Pharmacy and would recommend it to any one who is visiting Dubrovnik in near future. As they are all reasonably priced, this would be such a cute gifts for your friends too :) 

I had so much fun exploring the old town, and my words won't do this amazing place any justice, so here are so photos!

The view of old town from city walls 

The view of a cove from the city walls 

Fortress Lovrijenac - my cover photo was taken on the walls of Fortress Lovrijenac 

So much history behind this beautiful city 

Pretty harbour 

The view of old town from panorama cafe on top of mount Srd

Old Town at night 

Yellow post box 

Inside Rector's Palace 

Harbour view from the boat 

It is safe to say Dubrovnik has become one of my favourite holiday destination. 

Has anyone been on holiday recently? Where is your favourite holiday destination?