Birthstone Series Amethyst Nails

So I’ve had an idea for ages now to do nail art based on birthstones. I would have had this first one up last week but I managed to delete the photos like a proper pro! Though it is still February thanks to this glorious Leap Day today, so I’m still on time with my post.

When I was younger I used to love looking at the birthstones in the Argos catalogue. I used to be so annoyed there wasn’t more opals! Anyway, amethysts always bring back nice memories for me. When I was 8 I spent a few weeks in London. My Dad was over helping my granddad and my aunt brought me to Natural History Museum. I fell in love with the gemstone sections, I finally got to see these gems in person rather than on the page! I remember seeing massive pieces of amethysts. I ended up buying some amethyst agate for my Dad as it’s his birthstone.

Amethyst always have lovely ombre colours so that’s what I went for the nails. I used Essence in Hello Marshmallow as my lightest base shadow, a beautiful lilac with purple iridescent flash through it. My next shade was nails inc in St Mark’s Square and the darkest shade was Essence in Purple Cherry. I think all these shades are discontinued but all you need is a light purple, a transition medium shade purple and a dark purple. I sponged on the ombre layers and added a glossy top coat. For the accent nail, I did the ombre circular, with the darkest shade in the centre. I added two glitters on top for dimension Color Club in Tru Passion and Essence Special Effect Topper in Only Purple Matters. I lined the outside of the nail with Revlon in Gold Coin to add to my geode effect.

I’m pretty happy with how this turned out (of course, the first time around I did the ombre it turned out better than this!). It reminds me of a dipped ombre t-shirt I loved when I was 10! Next up will be aquamarine, I have some ideas for all the months but nothing set in stone (ha!) so if there’s anything you’d like to see with this birthstone series let me know below in the comments or on Twitter or Facebook.

Nostalgic Beauty Look #BEDN

Today's Blog Every Day in November theme is nostalgia. I've written quite a bit on here about nostalgia: Things Children These Days Won't Know, My Favourite Things About Being a Child, my NOW CDs posts with Sharon from Behind Green Eyes. But this particular post is inspired by Sharon's Get Ready With Me 90s Style post. Ah, the memories! So I wanted to do something similar myself!

                          

Above are some of the products I used back in the day. I used the L'Oreal Glam Shine polishes and while this one is from a recent enough Miss Candy collection, I added it because I used to have a two toned twisty lipstick from 17 once! Pinky on one half and whitey on the other. I loved the One by One mascara from Maybelline because the brush was tiny. And I completely forgot about the Maybelline Watershine Diamond lipsticks and glosses til I was researching this post! Lollipop was my fave, a pinky shade. Sticking with Maybelline I had the white Cool Effect and prob one or two of the Fruity Jellys. I had two shades of the Rimmel Metallic Cream Shadows: Notting Hill (lilac) and Kennington (silver). Finally Spectacular had such cool polishes, I don't think I really appreciated them! (not pictured above are any Constance Carroll products, probably my very first adventure into makeup, buying clear mascara and lipstick from them from the small tiny local pound shop!)

Now, for this look I tried to recreate what I prob looked like when I was first wearing makeup. I can't remember what base I went for so I used a BB Cream as I probably would have loved those growing up, I hardly even wore base and still don't wear it much today. Everything else I used was either exactly what I used to use or else as close as I could get these days!

After I applied based I did my eyes. Because I couldn't get my hands on any Rimmel or Maybelline products (though you can if you want to pay out), I eventually tracked down this Miss Sporty silver cream shadow. Seriously, cream shadows are NOT in these days! I really wanted to find a more lilacy one as I preferred that Rimmel eyeshadow (because purple brings out the green in your eyes!) but that shade is not in either, only darker purples, On my eyelashes I used Maybelline's Full N Soft. It's a travesty that you can no longer buy it over here, sort yourself out Maybelline! On my cheeks I used Natural Collections Peach Melba, I used to use Natural Collections blush all the time. On my lips was the closest I could find to the Fruity Gelly which was Maybelline's Coloursensational Gloss (thanks to Dealz!). Included above is a Barry M glitter eyeliner. Now, I never used Barry M growing up, it just wasn't local to me at all. I did however used to love glitter, so much so that I remember going to one of the Credit Union quizzes in 6th class and sticking my face into my glitter (which I probably got free from Bliss or Sugar). I remember one of the boys on my team just being bewildered by my face, you could have seen me from space with all the glitz I piled on! The Mini Milk above is also something I didn't use back in the day but I totally would have and now I want a Mini Milk, I haven't had one in years!

With the glitter liner added

Also above is some Body Shop Fuzzy Peach shower gel. I got it a few years ago when they brought out of a bunch of retro stuff, I snapped it up so fast! I used to always get Body Shop gifts from my nana and smelling Fuzzy Peach brings back lovely memories. I also recently purchased So...Kiss Me, I LOVED that one growing up, definitely my favourite. You can get them in Penneys very easily these days if you're looking for a trip down memory lane.

I didn't wear a lot of nail polish growing up but I do remember my first Rimmel polish. It was a hot pink 60 Seconds one my aunt bought me one year for my birthday. This one is quite similar, it's Fifty Shades of Pink, a limited edition one for 50 years of Superdrug.

Finally, because I know you want to know where I got my bitchin jewellery from, the necklace and jelly bracelets were both from eBay. However Penneys have been selling the tattoo necklaces and other 90stastic jewellery like mood rings so you might still pick something up. The only thing I'm really missing is some of those glittery butterfly clips! Maybe I'll try buy some of the above stuff I'm missing and put together another look some day. Thank you Sharon for the inspiration to do this, it was so much fun!

NOW That's What I Call Music! Collab with Behind Green Eyes Part 2 #BEDM

My second post in the NOW collaboration with Sharon from Behind Green Eyes (you can check out her second post here). This time around I'm doing NOW 47. I picked it partly because I read a song from it the other day and it reminded me of this particular compilation. NOW 47 was released November 2000, so I definitely got it for Christmas! I had just turned 13 and was in first year of secondary school, still living in a tiny 3 bedroom cottage that had 7 people crammed in, soon to be 8! And it actually snowed that Christmas!

NOW 47 contains 10 UK Number 1s, which is quite impressive. Again, looking at the track listings, I seem to have preferred Disc One over Disc Two.

Rock DJ- Robbie Williams (Disc One)

Disc One, track one! I was a big Robbie fan and really loved the song. It's still a great song to listen to but the video turns very weird towards the end.

Lady (Hear Me Tonight)- Modjo (Disc One)

Lady (Hear Me Tonight) is from French house duo Modjo. I love the funky vibe of the song, which is mainly due to the guitar sample from Soup For One by Chic. 13 years later and another French duo along with the help of Nile Rodgers hit the number one spot (I'm talking of course about Daft Punk and Get Lucky). It's kinda cool to see that my love of that song and type of music probably started by liking a song like Lady (Hear Me Tonight).

I Turn to You- Melanie C (Disc Two)

I always think I don't like dance music but when I go through the NOW CDs, there's always some dance hits that I love. And this is no exception. I still love to listen and dance to this one, I love the energy! This NOW has a song from Spice Girls (Holler) and three solo songs (I Turn to You by Melanie C, Out of Your Mind by True Steppers and Dane Bowers ft Victoria Beckham and Tell Me by Melanie B).

Body II Body- Samantha Mumba (Disc One)

Like many Irish girls my age, I was a massive Samantha Mumba fan. Just listening to this one now makes me want to go listen to all her songs. Body II Body samples Ashes to Ashes by David Bowie. Gotta Tell You is probably my fave song by Samantha Mumba but this follows in second. Though like many Irish people, listening to this song probably reminds you of that car safety ad. While those ads are effective they ruin the songs associated with them!

Body Groove- Architects (Disc One)

This is the song I heard last week that reminded me of this particular NOW CD. It makes me want to listen to all the garage songs I loved around this time!

7 Days- Craig David (Disc One)

You can't mentioned UK garage and RnB and not mention Craig David! Though my favourites by him are What's Your Flava? and Women Trouble by Artful Dodger, which he features in. This one is still a solid track though.

Kids- Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue (Disc One)

Another Robbie song on the same disc! Just shows how popular he was back in the day. This is his duet with Kylie Minogue, who I started to like when Spinning Around came out (I bought the single if I recall correctly!). This song is pretty raunchy! I think I knew it at the time but looking back I probably didn't fully realize it. This song works so well though as Robbie and Kylie have such fantastic chemistry.

Can't Fight the Moonlight- LeAnn Rimes (Disc One)

This song is from Coyote Ugly, which I didn't see at the time it came out but saw it a few years later. My current self appreciates Tyra Banks being in it and I want to rewatch it again because of her! The song is great to belt along to, I still remember the words!

It's Gonna Be Me- N SYNC (Disc One)

I almost typed It's Gonna Be May when typing out the name of the song! I don't remember being a massive N SYNC fan back in the day but I did enjoy some of their songs. I think I appreciate their music more now actually! This video is fun but a bit weird too. Though we do get to enjoy some classic ramen haired Justin.

I'm Outta Love- Anastacia (Disc One)

I saved probably my favourite til last! Though that is a hard choice considering there are loads of songs I love. I love the music, I love Anastacia's voice and I love singing along! I like to think I can sing like Anastacia but let's get real, I definitely can not! It's my favourite song by her as well.

There are others from the CD that I enjoy, like Pure Shores by All Saints, but I've decided to leave it at 10 songs from today. I'll of course post a link to Sharon's post later on, I'm really looking forward to her one! Any of these bring back memories? Would you have picked other songs from NOW 47 as your favourite? Let me know in the comments below!

NOW That's What I Call Music! Collab with Behind Green Eyes Part 1

I love doing nostalgic posts. And one of the best things about them is the fact that Sharon from Behind Green Eyes and I will end up just gushing about all the memories associated with the post. So when I thought of doing a series based off looking at the older NOW That’s What I Call Music CDs and picking my favourite songs from that list, I immediately thought of Sharon and how fun it could be to do some collabs together. Her post should be out today as well and I'll link it when it's out  HERE IT IS!. We both went through our lists of the CDs that we owned and discovered that NONE of them overlapped!! Crazy but true. So today I'm starting with the first NOW compilation I owned, NOW 36. I was 9 when I owned this and it was the 3rd CD I ever owned!

NOW 36 released was 24th March 1997 and included 8 songs that hit the Number 1 Spot in the UK Music Charts. Disc one has a lot of pop and r'n'b songs while disc two is more of a mix of indie and dance (oh and Ant and Dec). I tended to stick more to disc one, it was more my taste at that age! Anyway onwards to the songs that have stuck with me over the years.

Virtual Insanity- Jamiroquai (Disc One)

This song definitely started my love affair with Jamiroquai, though it was another one of their songs on a NOW compilation that sealed that love (oooh, foreshadowing). I'm going through a Jamiroquai phase at the moment and I think listening to this song brought on the idea for this blog series. Plus, the video is super cool too.

I Can Make You Feel Good- Kavana (Disc One)

Oh I used to love this song so much! And how much of a heart throb was Kavana back in the day? *Swoon* I used to have posters of him on my wall! I still enjoy this song, but the video is pure cringe.

Breathe- The Prodigy (Disc Two)

Finally venturing over to the edgier Disc Two! I think I did listen to this on occasion, or maybe I'm just trying to make 9 year old me cooler than she was. Whatever the case, I do like this song now, though when they say 'Exhale', it sounds like 'Egg Sale' to me. Give it a listen and see if you agree.

Don't Speak- No Doubt (Disc One)

I looove this song, it's so emotionally charged. It's a great one to belt along to at the top of your voice.

Natural- Peter Andre (Disc One)

Even though Peter shared poster space on my wall with Kavana and I know I did listen to this song, it hasn't really stuck with me that much. I think I was more of a Mysterious Girl fan! The video above is hilarious though, why is he dancing in an airplane hangar?! And that hair, how was it ever a good idea?

Mama- Spice Girls (Disc One)

I add this song not because I liked it at the time, but because it was a double A Sided single, along with Who Do You Think You Are? and as a massive Spice Girl fan, I was always so annoyed that this was the one on the CD and not WDYTYA as I MUCH preferred it. I could probably appreciate Mama and the sentiment behind it now than I could at 9 years old. Still doesn't top WDYTYA, which made an appearance on NOW 37 instead. Dammnit!

That it's for this one! I probably listened to more of them when I was younger but they just have stuck with me that much. I should give Disc Two a listen actually and see if I prefer it now that my tastes have broadened a bit. 

The other NOW CDs I owned were 44, 45, 47, 49, 50 and 51. I don't know if I'll do a post for all of them, but if there's any one you'd like to see in a post (to compare and contract our picks) then let me know below. Or better yet, join in and do a post too if you think you'd enjoy it!