Sparkly Glitter Nails

I've done several tutorials on DIY nail patches in the past but the application I did for new years was by-far the most successful experiment I've done so far.

Firstly, head over to the original DIY nail patches tutorial to get an idea of how it works. Then follow these steps for some special nails:

1. Paint a mid-grey nail polish in two coats for each nail patch, making sure to pay specific attention to the rounded, cuticle edge of the patch, keeping the side borders straight. Remember, this is done on the oven paper, not on your nails!
2. Let the nail polish dry slightly, maybe a few minutes, and then sprinkle fine silver glitter, like you'd find in a craft shop all over the nail patches.
3. Shake off the excess glitter onto a folded A4 paper to facilitate putting the extra back in the bottle.
4. Let dry 1 hour.
5. Coat glitter nails with 1 thick coat, or 2 thin coats of clear nail polish until smooth and sealed.
6. Let dry 2 hours
7. Paint a thin coat of the same mid-grey nail colour on one nail at a time.
8. Before the nail polish dries, peel the corresponding nail patch off of your oven paper and apply it to your wet nail, pressing down firmly and making sure to press the edges.
9. Continue with the rest of your nails
10. Use a fine nail file to file off the excess nail patches at the tips
11. You're ready to party!  Make sure to wait about 20 minutes before submerging your hands in water or doing any hand-heavy activities. You don't have to be as cautious as with a traditional manicure, but it's best not to start constructing anything with wood or preparing chicken for a tiny while.

Voilà!

Holiday Hair Week by THEWONDERFUL Emily M. Meyers

In the middle of this year I fell madly in love with Emily M. Meyers over at The Freckled Fox, a lifestyle blog I've since followed religiously.  Emily not only is gorgeous, but an amazing woman, blogging daily with wonderful inspirations despite having four kids under five years old (the newest of which born only a few short weeks ago!).

If you head over to her blog this week you're in for a treat! She's just finished compiling tutorials for fabulous hairstyles that you can soon your own for a bit of a glamorous holiday look.  I haven't yet decided if I'm going to do the fancy bun or the party bun... I guess we'll just have to see how I feel on the day. Or maybe one or Christmas and the other for New Years?

No-Poo and my other Baking Soda beauty Uses

Some of you might already have read my posts about no-(sham)poo which is an all natural way to clean your hair that I've been adhering to since June. The basic idea is to use baking soda instead of shampoo and apple cider vinegar instead of conditioner and to leave those icky chemicals in store-bought shampoos out of your hair, skin and shower. My hair is longer now than it ever has bee and thicker as well, so I'm sticking to my decision and saving a bundle in the process. I estimate that I'm saving roughly 15 euros a month by switching over to my new natural regime. Since I've recently started cooking with coconut oil I'm also going to try that in my hair as an intensive conditioning treatment soon and will let you know how it goes.

But enough about hair! I've become obsessed with baking soda! I've been adding it here and there to my beauty routine and have come to find that I use it everywhere!

Baking soda deep facial exfoliating (once-twice a week)

--replaces my Clinique 7 day scrub--
Wash your face as usual making sure to remove all makeup. In the palm of your hand combine some baking soda with a bit of water to make a thin paste. Rub this mixture all over your face and neck and then rub some more, adding water to rinse until there is no residue. There won't be any dull, dry skin left either and you will have a smooth and bright complexion. Moisturise as usual.

Baking Soda facial toner

--replaces my Clinique toner--
In a small spray bottle combine a teaspoon of baking soda and water and mist over face. Let dry. Moisturise as usual. (make sure to close your eyes!)

Baking Soda body exfoliation

--replaces my Sephora body scrubs--
Take a small container with 3 tablespoons of dry baking soda into the shower with you, careful not to get it wet. Rinse your entire body using your usual shower gel or soap if desired. Take a bit of dry baking soda into the palm of your hand and rub it on your wet skin working from the top to the bottom paying special attention to dry patches. Rinse completely off. 

This exfoliation is especially effective if you are planning to shave your legs. Use it before shaving and your legs will come out silky smooth.

Try out some of these uses and let me know how it goes! I know that I'm thrilled with the results and am so happy to be protecting the environment, my wallet and myself!

Read more:

No-poo

No-poo week 2

& Other Stories

I dont normally gush about a shop. In fact I often rather dislike shopping and hardly ever manage to go into the centre. Between the congestion charge and the parking it's an investment even to think about venturing into the cerchia die bastoni. On Wednesday however, I let Sera play hooky from nursery on the occasion of my mom being in Milan for a visit and we went into town.

I'm thrilled we did as I found my new favourite shop! & Other Stories only opened this past April and today was the first time I stepped inside, though I'm kicking myself that I didn't line up in the queue for the launch 3 months ago!

Spread over four floors of prime space in the heart of Milan's shopping district (the part at least for people like me who can't afford designers brands) on Corso vittorio Emmanuele, the store has a perfect layout and keeps you circulating over and over again. I was a little overwhelmed at first because I didn't expect the overload of things that I like... Jewellery, bags and gorgeous shoes just as you walk in the door.

On the first floor the elevator opened up onto rows of beauty counters with items of all colours in lovely packaging. I couldn't resist and picked up a gloss in Lemister Peach Lame (on sale @ 50% - €4.50), and a lipstick in Raynes Salmon (€15 euros regular price as its from the new colours).

On the top floor there were loads more styles of jewellery, clothes, tops, dresses, gorgeous lingerie and other accessories. Down in the basement I found an asymmetrical cotton dress for the summer on sale and grabbed that as well. I spent roughly 20-25 minutes per floor just browsing and checking each and very last item they had to offer, even Sera was patient enough to stay and have a look for that amount of time... There was so much to see and displayed beautifully.

The prices are absolutely decent even at full price, but watch out, it does all add up if you can't contain yourself and pick and choose between all the lovely treasures you'll find here. I decided that on this trip I'd limit my purchases a little bit to allow myself something to look forward to on my next visit. I also think that with the great variety of different and very unusual items the may become my first stop when seeking out birthday presents for my friends in the future... Even just a gift card would be perfect.

& Other Stories is located on Corso Vittorio Emanuele in Milan and you can visit them on line at www.stories.com