Valentine's Day for Couples and Friends and Last

Hey All

So the big Valentines Day tomorrow. I've never really been someone who feels the need to go OTT with the celebrations. I thought I'd share some last minute ideas and what I'm getting up to.

Last year I ditched C and L and I went and visited friends. I think a date with a friend is a great way to spend it and through uni my housemates and I would always buy each chocolate and go for a meal or have a girly night with ice cream and films.  You can't beat digging into a tub if ice cream. I always think of strawberries for valentines day and love a tub of Strawberries and Cream Haagen Dazs. As kids haagen dazs was always a massive treat and definitely be fought over. I'd always pick the baileys one as I thought I was being naughty have boozey one.

For C and I this year we'll ve travelling back from seeing friends so we've grab the Marks and Spencer dine in deal. It's such great value and makes having a 3 course dinner at home hassle free. Plus how good does this dessert look. I'd definitely recommend grabbing it. It's great for friends or partners.

C and I don't really do presents but I wanted to get him something. I loved this book and thought it was a great way to remember all the little thinga we do. This could easily be made today with some last minute photo printing and a book. I gave it too him early as I was excited and he was really touched by it.

What are you getting up to this Valentines Day? Do you celebrate?

Love M

Xxx

What's In My Bag Valentines/Night Out Edition

Morning All

My cough is still trying to defeat me so the post I had planned to do will have to wait! As Valentine's day is here on Friday I thought I'd share what I'd take out on a date with me. It's pretty much the same as I'd take out on a night out.

This year I'm technically single. I'm seeing someone but it's complicated (that's a whole other blog post ;)!) so my Valentines is likely to be a girly night in with my housemates. Not that I mind, it's easier! 

I do still like Valentine's day I think if you are in a relationship it is nice to celebrate that and if you aren't it's a good excuse for a girly night. 

For me whether it's for a date or a night out the smaller the bag the better (this only applies if I can actually walk in the shoe of choice otherwise the bag has to have space for flats!). I like to be able to just forget I have it which is why this Ollie & Nic one appeals to me. A purse and bag in one with space for the essentials that I can put over my wrist! It really ticks all the boxes. The gorgeous bright pink and the floral inside print just make it even better. The purse is also only £15!

In the main pocket there is space for cards and cash which make it easy to find and I like that it's not just floating in the bottom.

In the front pocket I keep a powder. A shiny face is never a good look! I love the vintage powder holder I have. My mum picked it up from eBay. I just pop the middle out of the powder I'm using at the time. Some are easier than others!

I usually carry a hairbrush .Not only does it double for a mirror (the one in my powder compact is usually so dirty I can't see my face) but it's handy for this horrible whether. Windswept and fabulous is not something my hair does! 

Mints are a must for me. Extra strong are the preferred. No one wants smelly breath and I always seem to order a massively garlic dish and forget when I'm on a date.

Nars concealer is something I can't be without at the moment. It's amazing. Creamy, great coverage and perfect for any touch ups that may be needed. Or in my case lately to cover up a pesky spot that's decided to appear.

I always like to carry a perfume on me to make sure I'm smelling pretty. The Ted Baker one is one I recently got sent to test and I'm loving. Perfect handbag size, lasts well, reasonable price and smells pretty! They can be purchased from Boots for £15

Lastly lip product of choice! A night out would probably be a lipstick but if I was going out on Valentine's I'd be picking this lip gloss because of the name! Beso which means kiss in Spanish. I was lucky enough to be given it after an Urban Decay event and have been wearing it non stop since the weekend. Non Sticky (perfect for kissing, no guys wants sticky lip gloss), subtle colour that just makes me lips look better and moisturising! The perfect valentine's lip choice! They are available now for £14

What essentials would you take on a date or night out?

Love M

xxx

   this post contains PR samples but opinions are always honest!

NOTD: Valentine's Day

With Valentine's day on Thursday we thought we'd post some ideas for cute nail art. Any excuse for us to play around with our nail polishes collections as we are both huge nail polish addicts.

L had picked up a cute Nicole by OPI polish called Have a Heart which is just perfect for Valentine's nail. It's a pretty fine clear glitter that has pink foil hearts suspended through it. 

Over the top of a Essie Lovie Dovie which is a gorgeous medium pink nail polish the hearts really stand out.

As with a chunky glitter and other polishes similar to this to achieve the even effect with the hearts it works best to more dab them on from the brush.

It gives a really cute effect and is perfect for Valentine's day! 

From looking online this polish now seems a rare one! It may be different in the US but if you want this ladies I could only find 3 bottles of it on eBay.

Lately I have been back to biting my nails. I'm so annoyed at myself but just can't seem to stop. Back to the bad tasty polish and stuff I think. Any tips let me know.

For now I tend to keep false nails on as much as possible as it means I can't bite them. I stuck some on Tuesday and was playing around with some designs. After those come off I have bit my nails so low I can't put false ones on at the moment so I only have my playing around ones to show you all.

Image from Get Nailed Facebook.

I had to share this with you. I've recently found this on Facebook. You can like her page here. She hand paints the most amazing nail art designs for reasonable prices and does amazing phone cases too. Once the spending ban is over I'm going to be ordering from her. If you're quick she has a competition to win these ones going on till tomorrow (Monday 11th)

Anyway when I saw these nails I was totally inspired. Especially by the heart tips. I love the simplicity of it.

I started off with a base coat of OPI I'm Not Really a Waitress. I got this in the best of the best collection a few years ago from my other half (who told me the other day he wanted to be referred to as A if I have to blog about him) I tossed this colour aside. It was one of those I didn't swatch and decided from the bottle I wouldn't like it. Something about it in the bottle made me think of a colour for my mum more. I mean a shimmery metallic darker red didn't scream put me on your nails.

I missed judged it. On the nails I love it. It comes out as such a gorgeous shade of red. Bad M judging nail polish on it's colour in the bottle. I was impressed with the quality. After one coat it was perfect but I went with two out of habit.

I tried to use my white Model's Own nail art pen to draw heart tips. Who knew that would be so hard. I didn't like the way it looked so I tried to cover it with glitter. I still didn't think it looked that good. I love the way it looks on Get Nailed's nails but on mine I couldn't get the shape right.

So I tried something different, a little simpler and it worked a lot better. I think this would look cute on just the thumb and ring finger. I used the Nail Art pen again. You could use a dotting tool or kirby grip just as easily. I used three dots to get the heart shape. Sometimes simple is best.

Something I may have to try for my nails though is this design from Polish You Pretty.

I really love how cute this looks.

Hope you like our ideas.

Love M

xxx

Boux Avenue

So today I am sat here feeling pretty sorry for myself after fighting a cold all week and trekking into work in the snow I have finally had to give in.

I'm in my onesie in bed feeling pretty crappy but I took these photos yesterday and looking at them makes me feel better!

I feel I need to share something with you: I'm a massive lover of underwear.

You just have to look into my wardrobe to find 2 massive drawers full of it, beautiful colours in lace, tshirt style bras, plunge balconette etc etc.

Having larger than average boobs it can be a little tricky to get yourself the right fit, in a colour and style to your liking at a price that is acceptable.
However as underwear is a wardrobe essential as a curvy girl I absolutely love shopping for it when I've found the right shop.

Cue Boux Avenue, who opened up their black boudoir style doors in the new shopping centre and enticed me in with pretty window displays and beautiful drawer type storage (which La Senza seem to have something very similar of now!)

For Christmas my nan got me a voucher to spend at Boux Avenue and I was so excited. Because of the spending ban I waited for the sales to be over so I could pick up some new items without the sale rush and also at a time when I really needed to spend some cash and didn't want to break the ban.
Their email telling me of the 'buy the bra and get the knickers free' deal swiftly threw that out of the window and 2 weeks later I'd already spent them!

This however was perfect timing for me, as even though I am a single girl, Valentine's Day is coming up and I full intend on treating myself and being as girly as possible all day!

I browsed the website for a whole evening before I finally made the decision to pick up the Tori style bra in baby pink, coral, and black, all with matching knickers in the briefs style:

The Tori style is a tshirt bra covered in lace, where the lace comes up further than the cup so you can see some skin through the lace where the cup joins the strap.

I love lace bras but for my own personal comfort prefer tshirt bras, and this is the best of both worlds!

The colours are absolutely beautiful!

Because of Christmas being only a few weeks previous to my order the gift wrapping was sadly not available but I'm all for saving the environment and so got over it pretty quickly.

These bras are the perfect fit and although are lacy I have worn them underneath my uniform (a fitted t-shirt top) and had no bumps or patterns showing through.

At £24 these may be a little pricey compared to other brands but the bras I bought when their shop first opened up in Cardiff still look new and have kept their shape perfectly.

I love the little details on the knickers, like the little bows, metal tags and also the lace panels across the back.

These knickers should have been £10 so were an absolute bargain for free!

If you buy in store, you can also get student discount.
When I checked last this deal was still on, so get yourself down there and treat yourself ready for Valentine's day!

One thing I will say, do not forget to sign up for their VIP card also! If you become as much of an addict as me then you'll soon be able to redeem them against future purchases :)

I may be single and not planning anything romantic but that sure as hell doesn't mean I can't treat myself and dress up for myself in the mean time!

Have you shopped at Boux Avenue before? What will you be planning for Valentine's day?

L xxx

Lush Sweetheart Soap

On my last trip to lush when I was paying I got given a free sample of their valentines day soap. It's a cute white and pink design, with a fruity fragrance with a hint of vanilla. It also feels so creamy and thick.

When I got home I couldn't wait to try it out. I was very impressed with the size of the sample I got. As with all lush products it's all natural ingredients. I tried this product for the first time today and wish I tried it sooner. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Whether you're a lover or a hater we would like to wish you a Happy Valentine's day, and hope that in one way or another you have been spoiled at some point today :)

If not...there is still plenty of time for some chocolate to be eaten or items to be bought online, race you there!


We would also like to thank you for following us, commenting on our posts and generally engaging with us, we only started a few weeks ago and the support has been amazing :)

L and M xxx

Valentines Day as a couple

So here's the second half of the valentines day post. For me this year I don't want to go out. I'm personally someone who prefers to stay in with a man and have a nice cosy meal together. I'm lucky now, I live with my partner so it's easy for us we have our own place. If I was living at home (like we were last year) I'd want to go out.

Anyway onto this year, we've decided to get the Marks and Spencer deal. We are both working so cooking a nice meal isn't really an option. Plus this way there is no washing up which means more cuddling up with a chick flick (I'm hoping I can persuade him to watch one)

Valentine's Day: As a Single Girl

So I'm sure everyone has noticed the rise of the Valentine's day posters, cards, presents and general adverts EVERYWHERE!

As a couple I'm sure it's lovely to have an excuse to spend the day showering someone else or being showered in presents and the excuse of going out for the day or night.

However as a single girl it can be a little bit daunting and depressing! Particularly if all of your friends (like mine!) will be spending it with their other halves.

Personally I'm almost looking forward to it as an excuse to buy myself a few presents ha!

Seeing as it's a Tuesday, I will most probably be spending my day in Uni and then the evening I'll be spending it totally on me!

I fully intend on having a pamper night so will begin by having a bath, most likely with a Lush bath bomb like their Leap Frog Bath Bomb or Magic Mushroom Bubble Bar:

Then I will probably work my way through the absolutely amazing Soap and Glory Big Splendour set.

After a good scrub and moisturise, I will also probably fake tan as I always feel so much better with a bit of colour! And then spend some time painting my nails and toe nails, I haven't decided what shade yet as I plan to buy some new ones!

If I have the time though I will probably try out a design found on another blog as I'm new to the nail art world and will probably need some practice.

I like this one from Polish You Pretty :