Floral Nails

Now that the sun has decided to show itself again, I thought I’d do a floral nail! I won China Glaze For Audrey and Calypso Blue from a Cuti-CLUE-les giveaway (seriously, go check out her site, some really amazing nail art there!). I knew the For Audrey would be perfect background for this.

In sunlight

Inside in natural light

I’m very happy with how they turned out. I applied the base coat, then added splotches of a light purple randomly, then I added some dots of a darker purple on top, did some semi-circles in white around the outside (some of which are more white splotches!) and added some green for leaves.

Background- China Glaze in For Audrey

Light purple- Revlon in Lilac Pastelle

Darker purple- NYC in Lincoln Square Lavender

White- LA Colors in Energy Source

Green- Catrice in King of Greens

will.i.am Suing Pharrell For Using The Phrase ‘I Am’

I don’t often talk about celebrity issues here, in fact I don’t think I ever have. I don’t want to be another blog OMGing and WTFing over, say, North West and how it’s a ridiculous name. But this article on ShortList earlier caught my eye and I’ve been thinking about it all day.

Singer and The Voice UK judge will.i.am is apparently suing artist Pharrell because he’s used the words ‘I’ and ‘Am’ next to each other. Seriously. It’s all because Pharrell has a company called ‘i am OTHER’, which amongst other things, has a YouTube channel (which has the hilarious Awkward Black Girl series, though that’s a whole different post). will.i.am (real name William James Adams, such a normal name right? I think I’m going to call him by that) believes that the fact Pharrell is to use the phrase ‘i am’ as a logo for products will have the following effect. "The registration of the mark . . . is likely to dilute the I AM mark and the WILL.I.AM mark".

What?! Does Mr Adams really believe that people are going to think the above? Look, I get it, will.i.am is a very clever thing for someone called William to do, hahaha. I like the fact he’s even made it his website, it works especially well on the likes of Twitter, where typing will.i.am automatically hyperlinks the website. But he doesn’t own the phrase I Am. What is he going to do? Sue Eimear Quinn for her song ‘I Am the Voice’ (surely people who hear the phrases ‘I Am’ and ‘The Voice’ only thing of will.i.am). Sue Chesney Hawkins for his song ‘The One And Only’ because he believes that only he should have the right to sing ‘I Am the One and Only’? Because honestly I think Simon Amstell did it better.

Or maybe he’ll try sue the pet food company Iams and take it over for himself?

(look, I’m not great at this stuff but you get the idea!). I just find the idea of celebrities getting their knickers in a twist over catchphrases laughable. Take Paris Hilton when she trademarked ‘That’s Hot’ and then sued Hallmark for using it in a card. I suppose it was a clever move by Hilton but not like she needed the money! Or maybe she did, it’s not like I know these things.

Anyway, I am firmly team Pharrell on this case. He looks amazing for 40 years old, I love his music and the music he’s produced, I touched him once at a concert (just on the hand! Get your mind out of the gutter) and he doesn’t have a ridiculous square missing out of the corner of his hair like Mr Adams. Hey, maybe that’s the next thing will.i.am can trademark, his hair do! And finally, to bid you adieu I leave you with one of my favourite songs that contain I Am. Peaceout!

Things that Kids Won’t Know

Call cards

Or even phone boxes in general! I don’t think I ever got to own call cards myself, however I used to love seeing as the new ones that came out, with bands and films on it. So what do you do if you stacks of these at home? Well, you could do what my boyfriend’s brother did, which was arrange them into a frame and make it into art!

Dialling tones to Internet

Imagine having to sit through this bloody thing while waiting for the internet to connect?! Seems like an alien concept these days (while the tone itself sounds like aliens). Though, upon searching for this video, I came across this dubstep remix of the tone. So maybe kids these days do know this tone!

Using a pencil to wind a cassette tape

Oh the humanity of it all! In case you’ve forgotten about this yourself, here’s a handy article on WikiHow on How To Manually Rewind a Cassette Tape.

Walkman

Speaking of cassettes, what about Walkman? I’m sure they don’t even remember Discman (oh, the conundrum of trying to walk and listen to one of these!). Though all this talk of cassettes reminds me of when this happened to me

Blowing into a Nintendo game to get it to work

Ah yes, we all knew how to fix a Super Nintendo that was buggy. None of us remember where we heard this advice though. And it turns out it actually BAD for the cartridges as it blows in moisture and can damage it! I’m shaking my head at 9 year old me for doing this.

This sound

Ah, the sweet, sweet sound of the PlayStation 1 starting up! About 2 years ago I managed to snag a PS1 in a charity shop along with controllers and some games for 10 Euro! There’s so many more games I want to get though that I’m missing (Spyro Games and Crash Team Racing come to mind!). Must start looking on eBay really. I envy people who kept their PS1 games (and their SNES! I really really want one!)

Floppy disks

Floppy disks eh? I remember using them in TY to save documents, 8-9 years ago. Though to be fair, they were ‘going out of fashion’ then, for our Coca-Cola Futuristic Fashion entry, we used the plastic shells as armoury.

Den TV

Zig and Zag! Dustin! Ray D’Arcy fighting with Ted! Podge and Rodge and their evil antics around Halloween! And let’s not forget the programmes. Bosco, Echo Island, Draw With Don, The Disney Club. TV just isn’t as good these days.

Prizes in Cereal

Seriously, these are either non-existent these days or just plain shite. Ah, the fights to be the one who got the prize! More pictures here at The Daily Edge.

I could go on and on and on but I won’t. What would you add to this list?

Barry M Confetti Nails

I was at a wedding on Friday and decided to jazz up my black and white tribal print dress with some lime nails. And then I went even further and put some Barry M Confetti on top. Because I could. And it was magical.

Unfortunately that was the only picture I got but you get the idea! It’s a pity the weather is so dreadful, it makes my nail pictures even worse.

Green- essence in LOL

Top coat- Barry M Confetti in Sour Apple

The Sour Apple consists of blue and green stands, though depending on the light (and probably the background polish) the green can border on looking a bit yellow from time to time. Green was my natural first choice for background, what other colours do you think would look good?

YouTube Pick of the Week

It’s been a while since my last one and I have so much I want to share with you!

I loved this spoken word poem by Hollie McNish, about the mathematics of immigrants. I hate seeing people giving out about how immigrants are taking people’s jobs and women! This video helps you see there’s much, much more to that, how life is much better and richer when you stop being a xenophobe.

This video had me cracking up, because I think I suffer from the opposite, the ‘Please talk to me and ask me things’ face. I have a face where people will start randomly talking to me on the bus, asking me for opinions on clothes they are wearing in changing rooms, and approach me on the street either asking for money for charity or trying to give me a flyer. Once when I was in holiday in Spain, I was sick and tried of being given club promotional flier so I tried to adopt a bitch face. It only made it worse, I had guys saying ‘Oh cheer up!’. I do know people with what we call ‘serious resting face’ but I think I prefer bitch face!

I love seeing videos of strangers coming together to make the best of a worst situation. In this video, passengers have been stuck waiting to take off for 5 hours and so they decided to have a bit of a uplifting singsong!

I have NO idea how I didn’t come across Honest Trailers before now but they are seriously funny. I can’t even put into words how funny I found this one, just watch it!

Get Lucky is probably the biggest song for this summer. This video does the entire song but starts from musical style of 1920s and works it way through the decades. Super fun idea.

Last two videos come from Jimmy Kimmel, seriously he makes some funny videos! First video is a piss take of the Blurred Lines video (which I’m not a fan of, but Jimmy had be laughing in this one). The second one is call (I Wanna) Channing All Over Your Tatum, with Jamie Foxx and (you guessed it) Channing Tatum. Parodying innuendos and has a habit of getting stuck in your head!

And that’s it! I probably could have posted a few more but I’ll leave it at that. Have a good week!

Bye Bye Google Reader

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

So with Google Reader going on 1st July, it was time for me to start saving my blog subscriptions somewhere else. I've signed up with Feedly but I've also decided to give Bloglovin a chance, I've heard very good things about it. So if you're an avid Google Reader user, try signing up to Bloglovin and you can follow me there. You can also import all your Google Reader subscriptions as well, which is very handy!

I've actually been meaning to join Bloglovin and to add a button to my page. As well as add an email address for the blog (which is one the top right above the search bar), so if you want to contact me there feel free. While I have a Twitter private account, I was thinking of setting a public one up for the blog and setting up a Facebook page. What do you think? Have you done this with your blog? Do you like seeing blogs with Twitter and Facebook pages? Let me know what you think below!

My Frills Wishlist

So Frillseeker launched last Friday. What is Frillseeker you ask? Well, it’s the brainchild of Kirstie McDermott (co-founder of a Beaut.ie), a site for ‘Accessories, lipstick and really brilliant cushions’. For the little frills in your life that bring you big thrills. Everyone has those little (and big) things that brighten up their life. For me, I love nail polishes, blushers, mascaras, mugs, pretty cushions, bird prints and some 50s glam. In honour of Frillseeker launching, I’ve decided to put together a list of some frills I’ve been lusting after. Do I really need them? No. But would my life be more pretty with them in it? You betcha!

Up first is something flamingo, which if you read my last post you’d know I love me some flamingos! I’ve been lusting after this Kate Spade flamingo iPhone case for a while, it’s soooo pretty! I love loads of Kate Spade things, they are super cute.

Speaking of super cute, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Vendula London bags. I have a bag, wallet and two iPhone cases and I always get compliments on my bag (I have the crossbody bag version of this print). I’ve been wanting this one for ages, I love the print and the size of the bag. Drool!

                         

One thing I’ve lusted after for years is Tatty Devine jewellery, ever since seeing it featured in Elle Girl UK magazine as a teenager. I’m not a huge jewellery wearer but there’s something about this jewellery that stands out. I love these two pieces (fox brooch and Willow necklace), I think they are cute but not too loud (I know Kirstie is a massive fan of Tatty Devine statement necklaces, something I don’t think I’d be able to pull off!)

                                   

Sunglasses are one of my favourite frills and at the moment I have a big thing about cat eye sunglasses. The first pair are from ASOS, classic black that go with everything. The second pair are Kitty Shades from Nasty Gal, I love the bold, bright pink!

                

While I’m not a massive fan of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll (I’ve never read it!), I just adore this brooch by House of Ismay on Etsy. While this one is no longer available, she has loads of different pieces made with real pages of books, such a unique idea. And this book available from Plastic Land, look how pretty it is!! I’d be afraid that if I owned it, I’d stare at the cover instead of reading it!

                     

Sticking with books and Etsy, if I had this pin by Bean Forest, I would wear it as a badge of honour. I think if I was given a chance at a spree in a clothes shop or a book shop, I’d hands down pick a book shop! And this Ms Pac Man necklace from Kittnen is so cute, I love me some nerdy gamer chic!

                   

On to some sweet treats now, these lipbalms by Korean brand It’s Skin are just to die for. TO DIE FOR! They look like macaroons!! They make me squeal with delight! And on the right we have some Tunnocks Teacake coasters by Gillian Kyle. I’ve wanted this print for a while, she has all sorts on her website featuring this print, from cushions to bags to t-shirts.

         

Last but certainly not least are these little home decor pieces. On the left is a cushion featuring an old map of Ireland, from the Etsy site My Bearded Pigeon. There’s loads of other map prints, perfect for cartography nerds. And finally this little wall art from Etsy store Monkeymindesign is just adorable and reminds me that I need to get some wall art for my house.

I could go on and on, but I’ll spare you! There’s loads more over on my Pinterest board.  I might do another post later in the week for my favourite personal frills, things I own that I love. However until then, pop over to Frillseeker to see all the latest new fashion and beauty frills and much, much more.

DIY: Cardigan Facelift

So, I have a thing about flamingos, I love them. I have shoes, necklaces, cardigans, scarves, and glasses, all with flamingos on them. I got this cardigan from Primark when I was in Liverpool in March and the only reasons I bought it was because it was marked down and there was flamingos on it.

It’s a lighter colour in person, as you’ll see in the after picture, I took this hasty picture one night before getting stuck in at colouring in the flamingos! I was originally just going to colour one in here and there but once I started I decided to colour them all in. The result!

I did it with Tulip Fabric Paint in. I’m not sure how long it took me to do, as I did it in two stages. Probably about an hour or so. I only did the front part, not the sleeves or back. I LOVE the pop of colour and how much brighter this looks, it’s really helped pep up the cardigan!

Beauty Trend- Orange Eyes

I was reading last month’s Stellar magazine and they mentioned how bright, orange eyes was the big new beauty trend. Orange isn’t exactly a colour most people would go for in eye shadow but I decided to give it a go one night. Here’s the results!

All without liner

All with liquid liner

I used Sleek’s Carribean Eyeshadow Palette, it’s packed full of super bright colours. I used the orange as the main colour, but added the shimmery white shade to the inner corner and used a light brown on the outer corners to give a bit more depth. The liquid liner I used was Rimmel’s Exaggerate Liquid Liner (seriously THE best liquid liner I’ve tried, so easy). I should have waited to do this during day time so I could get natural light pictures. Oh well, I’ll know next time!

Did I like this? Yes, I did actually! But would I wear it on a night out? Not sure if I’m brave enough. I rarely wear make up, I wear such a minimum on a night out that when I use colours on my eyes it looks strange! I was surprised at how wearable it turned out though. What do you think?

Ice Cream Stamped Nails

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! This weather is perfect for ice cream eating (and making if you are so inclined), so I wanted to do something ice creamy on my nails. I rooted out my nail stamping plates and found the perfect template. Here are the results.

In natural sunlight

In the shade

I love this bright pink shade, it’s amazing. And it’s only E1.35! Though as you can see my stamping skills are perfect yet, I really need to practice more.

Pink- MUA in Strawberry Crush

White- Essence Stamping Polish in White

Nail Stamping Plate- Essence

Nutella Chocolate Ice Cream!

Yes, the title of this post deserves an exclamation mark at the end of it, it totally does. It’s Nutella Ice Cream!! I got The Icereamists book by Matt O’Connor for Christmas and I’ve been looking for an opportunity to make it. So I decided thanks to the hot weather I’d make some homemade ice cream. I visited The Icecreamist shop when it was in Covent Garden last week and treated myself to the From Rocher With Love ice cream, which is the recipe I used. However, I couldn’t find any Ferreo Rocher so I used the next best thing: Kinder Bueno. It worked, it was just as nice!

Nutella Ice Cream with Kinder Bueno Chunks

Adapted from The Icecreamists by Matt O’Connor

Ingredients

250ml Full Fat Milk

125ml double cream

2 egg yolks

88g caster sugar

225g Nutella (or any hazelnut chocolate spread)

1 Kinder Bueno Bar, chopped into chunks

Edible gold balls, to decorate

Chocolate sauce

Method

1. Heat the milk and cream in a pan on gentle heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture begins to steam. DO NOT LET IT BOIL!

2. While the milk and cream are heating, whisk the egg yolks in a heat proof bowl until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until pale and slight fluffy. Once the milk and cream mixture is ready, pour it gradually into egg mixture, whisking continuously to prevent scrambling.  Place the mixture back into the saucepan and heat over low heat, stirring frequently until the custard mixture thinly coats the back of the wooden spoon. Again, do not let boil!

3. Take off heat and add 150g Nutella to the custard and blend with stick blender. Pour the mixture back into the bowl and leave to cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes. It is important that the hot mixture is not placed into the fridge straight away.

4. Once cooled, cover and place in fridge, cooling for at least 6 hours but preferably overnight. To hand churn, pour mixture into a plastic container, cover with lid and freeze for 50 minutes. Remove from freezer and beat with electric beater or stick blender. Return to freezer. Repeat this step every 30 minutes for 2-3 hours. This makes sure the ice crystals that develop are small and evenly dispersed. Large ice crystals leave a gritty, sandy mouth feel and are no desired! If you have an ice cream machine, churn according to manufacturer’s guidelines.

5. Once churning is complete, heat the remaining Nutella (75g) in a microwave for 20 seconds and fold into the ice cream along with Kinder Bueno.

6. Return to freezer with lid and freeze for another at least another 2 hours or until mixture reaches scooping texture.

7. To serve, decorate with chocolate balls and chocolate sauce. Enjoy!

Essence Special Effect! Nail Art Toppers Part 2

So about a year ago I did a post on some of essence’s Nail Art Toppers and it’s been my most popular post to date. You can check it out here. I’ve been meaning to do a post with the others ones I got but it kept slipping my mind. It wasn’t until I bought some new ones in Penneys a few weeks ago that I committed to finally doing it.

Left to Right: It’s Purplicious, Hello Holo, Copper’ize Me, Holo Topping, Please! (2 coats)

The baby finger looks wrinkly because I put on the essence Peeling Base coat but obviously didn’t wait long enough to apply polish on top of it! Oh, ever the impatient silly cat I am. It’s Purplicious is the second version, they first released it to be a chunkier glitter like Glorious Aquarius but changed it before I had a chance to get my hands on it.

Left to Right: Cool Breeze, Glitter On Me, Mr and Mrs Glitter (2 coats)

I had the same thick, gloopy issue with Mr and Mrs Glitter that I had with Evil Queen from their Snow White Collection, it’s hard to apply! Glitter On Me kinda reminds me of Dollish Polish Heart of Glass, and Cool Breeze looks to be similar to a Revlon polish I saw in Boots a few weeks ago but for the life of me I can’t find the name online!

Of course, I had to test these as toppers as well.

It’s Purplicious with OPI You’re Such a Budapest

Copper’ize Me with Rimmel Lycra Pro Finish in Sea Green

Hello Holo with Nails Inc Motcomb Street

Holo Topping, Please! with essence Prom-Berry

I love the look of the purples together, I was never a huge fan of Copper’ize Me until I put it over this colour and it changed my mind! Motcomb Street and Hello Holo are hypnotic, reminds me of a starry sky. And I’d like to try Holo Topping, Please! with another shade, I did like it but I wonder what it would be like over a cooler, paler colour like a silver or pale blue.

Mr and Mrs Glitter with essence C’est La Vie

Glitter On Me with Catrice No Snow Petrol

Cool Breeze with essence Miss Universe

Cool Breeze sandwiched with Catrice Hugo Moss on baby finger

Again, you can see the trouble I had with Mr and Mrs Glitter, it just can’t work with it! I did like Glitter On Me much more after I applied it over colour. Cool Breeze gave me mixed feelings. I think I picked a polish that had too much shimmer in it and it got a bit lost in that (though it kinda reminded me of a mermaid’s tale or something), I must try it over another colour to get a proper feeling for it. I did like it sandwiched with Hugo Moss, the results showed up much better in person.

And that’s it! Phew, long post. Originally there were other ones realised, probably in Germany and not over here in Ireland, that aren’t out any more that I would love to get my hands on! Alas, I’ll just have to wait for more to come out here.