Shellac disaster!

Okay so about two months ago there was a group-on deal offering Shellac for £14 at a salon near me, Laser Studio in Southampton. Although I had got my nails done multiple times before I had never got Shellac so I jumped at the chance. I booked an appointment for both me and my friend. 

Since I had never had Shellac before I didn't know what to expect, and was disappointed at the lack of colours the salon offered but I figured it was because they were just starting out so I chose the closest colour to pink there was, orange. I loved how it looked, shiny and pretty. 

12/02/14

 These are what my nails looked like after. 

I loved them, the colour wasn't exactly my favourite but I liked the way the looked. Over the next four weeks they didn't cheap but they started to look tacky as my nails grew and I started to hate the colour. 

At the beginning of March I was planning to go to London to stay with a friend and so what better time to get my nails done. I found a beauty service that comes to you at a reasonable price and booked a shellac appointment. 

When she arrived I told her it was Shellac and so she dipped cotton pads in acetone, placed it on my fingers and put foil around it. As this is how Shellac should be removed, 10 minutes later she checked and there was no difference. Shellac should easily crumble off, that's why it's better for you nails than Gel which you have to soak off. An hour later, after repeating the steps we still had little success, she was chipping away at it with cuticle pusher amongst other things and eventually we got the orange off but they were left with a yellow gel like substance. No matter what we did it wouldn't come off. 

06/03/14

After we tried to remove it. 

My nails were very damaged and weak and bumpy as there was no way to remove the glue like texture from them. 

She ended up buffing them down and painting over it in pink which didn't give the most beautiful nails but it hid the disgusting damage underneath. 

On Thursday 3rd of April I got the pink shellac removed and underneath you could still obviously see the damage but despite this I got my nails done again. This time with a pink shellac and foils. I loved it and it was perfect for Spring. 

Sadly after a few days they started to chip until it all looked so bad I had to remove it. My nails were still so damaged that it wouldnt stick as the nails were breaking and were weak. 

Them after I removed Shellac. 

It's been two months since that first appointment and my nails are still scuffed up and weak. This being said when getting your nails done for the first time at a new salon check what products they use and how they do it; for example they shouldn't need to buff them for Shellac, and remember CND is the pretty much the only trusted shellac brand, other brands are most likely to be gel. If you don't you could end up with nightmare nails like mine. 

Love Sarah

♥

Cheap and cheerful lipsticks.

So autumn and winter are over and spring is in full swing! So what better time  to show my four favourite, corally, pink or red drugstore lipsticks for Spring and Summer! 

    

The first three are from the lasting perfection range from Collection, they each retail for £2.99 in Boots and the price varies in other stores. You need to ensure you moisturise your lips before applying because they can be drying dependant on how dry your lips already are. 

1. Sweet Tart

This colour is so pretty. The texture is smooth and the formula is not sheer in the slightest. This is my go to 'Barbie' pink for those days when I'm just not feeling coral. The picture below just doesn't do it justice! 

2. Mango Tango

It's a coral, the name is perfect for this colour. It's not too orange but not too red either, it's the perfect in between. Good formula and perfect for the summer months!

3. Valentine 

Okay, this is more of a deeper red, actually the colour I wore on Valentines day. It's a perfect red and pigmentation is not sheer at all. It's a bold colour which can be worn into the warmer months!

4. Shade 3

This colour doesn't have a name, none of the MUA ones do. This was actually bought for me from a friend. It's the perfect pink and red combination. The lipstick is long lasting but you definitely need to ensure you moisturise before you apply but for a £1 you can't really complain! 

Have you tried these? If not what's your favourite?

Love Sarah

♥

PS. Sorry the quality of the pictures vary it's hard to get perfect lighting. The most true to colour pictures is the first one. Also sorry Mango Tango is squished. ;P 

Living room inspiration!

On July 1st my boyfriend and I will be moving out of our student halls and into a house. This being said this we be our home for the next couple of years and so am really wanting to make this house a home and bring some person touches into the house. Between us we split the rooms and I have been given full rein of the living room. 

The kind of look I'm going for consists of a lot of blues; with the existing cream and dark brown sofa that the room already has and so I'm not allowed to change. 

I aim to use a lot of bright colours, and white to bring light into the room and make it look bigger. 

Below are examples of the colours and ideas that I want to try and include in the room. 

My boyfriend is a fan of dark wood and dark furniture in general and so I want to include that in the room even if it doesn't attract light the way I want to.

After watching a YouTube video I saw a cushion from zazzle. It's grey, has notched corners and the initial in the middle. I loved the style and wanted to buy one for me and my boyfriend to go on the sofa with the blue assortment of cushions but after reading the reviews I realised that the secret custom and shipping costs increased the price significantly and it could've ended up with me paying up to £60-70 for two cushions. That is not affordable in the slightest especially not on a student budget. 

This being said when in Ikea a couple of weeks ago I noticed some grey fabric which I adored, and along with transfer paper I'm going to make my own cushions for a significant of the cost of the zazzle ones. 

I'm a massive fab of candles, the bath and body work ones, yankee, even ikeas own and having candles in my living room is a must. This being said I wanted a way to set them out so that they would look pretty and not just like they were thrown onto the middle of the table. This is going to be done through the candle trays from Ikea! 

The one of the left is more common, having been seen in a ton of YouTube videos that being said I think I prefer the feel of the right one. It's sharper edge and the mirroring means that it will  reflect the light in the room as well as the candles that we display on it. 

I want to introduce floral aspects into the room and to do this I've been looking for suitable vases that will incorporate the blue but don't draw attention away from the flowers. So no big patterns or crazy shapes. 

This vase/jug I have completely fallen in love with. The style isn't extravagant and the blue and the ombré are so soft and with some neutral flowers I can really see it being an attention piece. It was from next but it's sold out, luckily I found it online. 

Love Sarah 

♥