New Favourite Nail Colour

I've been neglecting my nails a bit recently, and bending/biting them out of boredom! Hence the slight stumpiness... But I just bought this Rimmel nail polish in Aqua Cool and I love the pastel-blue/lilac shade. I also love how easy Rimmel nail polishes are to apply and how quickly they dry, excellent value for money :)
let me know your favourite nail colours at the moment!
Grace
Xxx

Bronzer Review: Chanel's Soleil Tan De Chanel- Bronze Universel

Hello :) Sorry it's been a while, usual excuses, college, exams, work etc! Tonight I'm reviewing a product I've actually had for about a month, the Soleil Tan de Chanel makeup base/bronzer. This is what it looks like...

Excuse the little brush hairs, it seems to attract them and I don't fancy sticking my fingers in it to get them out.
I either use it after foundation and concealer but before powder, or on top of all 3 depending on how bronzed I want to be! I actually really like the colour of this bronzer when used in moderation. It has a peachy orange tone to it but if you use too much it can be just orange, I wouldn't recommend it for anyone with super pale skin. I'm MAC NC25, Clinique shade no.3 and Chanel shade no.30 at the moment just to give you an idea. I also wouldn't say it's the best for anyone with oily skin as it is a cream product so it could end up sliding right off!

Thats the colour it comes out on the left. And that's the brush I use to apply it. I bought it in Ibiza but I'm sure Real Techniques do one really similar if not better for the job and you can buy them in Boots for a fairly reasonable price.
I'm not normally a fan of cream based products but recently I've been loving this and a cream blush from Maybelline.
I also love the packaging. It looks gorgeous just sat on your dressing table. Although, it is a bit bulky for travelling, it fits in my makeup bag which is average sized but everything has a specific order to fit around it!
Another downfall, at first glance, is the price. The RRP is £29. Ouch. But, you get a massive 30g of product (96p/g), whereas you're lucky to get 10g in a bronzer for about £8 (80p/g) so if you've got the money to spend it doesnt work out that much more expensive in the long run. Plus it lasts forever as you only need the tiniest bit.
I love the smell of it, it smells just like suncream.
I think this is perfect for summer when you dont want to wear a full face of makeup but just want a little colour that will last nearly all day.
I'm wearing a little on my cheeks here
Let me know if any of you have tried it and what you thought cos I know it's had mixed reviews online :) Also if you have any other cream cheek products to suggest i'd love to try them! Thanks for reading guys :) Grace xxx

Jewellery Treat

3 Posts in 3 days! I spoil you! River Island a had 20% student discount event today so me and my friend Shani went in and I picked up a couple bits of jewellery. We both got one of these silver evil eye bracelets.

I love it. I think it's really cute and pretty, I love delicate jewellery at the moment so it's perfect for me. It was £5 with the 20% off which came to £4 which is a right bargain! I'm not sure what to wear it with though, I have a set of bracelets that I wear every single day so I'm going to have to start mixing it up! If you want to know more about the origins of the Evil Eye and what it means click here
I also got a St Christopher necklace that looks like this

It comes to just above my belly button! I love it because my dad has one that he always used to wear and now I have one of my own! To read more about the meaning behind it click here He is known as the patron saint of travel, if you want to take that literally then you can, but I like to think of it in the 'journey of life' kind of way. In the least cringey way possible ;) haha.
Let me know what you think of this symbol jewellery at the moment, have you jumped on the symbolism bandwagon or is it just another fad?
Grace xxx

Aspiring Jewellery Designers?

Hello again! I'm looking for aspiring new jewellery designers for an exciting new project I'm hoping to get started on! If you or anyone you know falls into this category, no matter what stage of the process you're in, then drop me an email to gracehollybeauty@hotmail.co.uk with your name and a bit about you and we can get chatting! Also if you know someone you think might fit the bill then please please pass on my email :) Thanks guys! xxx

Life After Acrylics: How To Treat Your Nails After Acrylics

Hola :) I really hope I'm not the only one who is too impatient to get infills, when my acrylics grow out, I'm guilty of biting/peeling/bending/filing/clipping/anythingelsethatwillpossiblygetthemoff. And everytime I say 'Next time I'll just get infills because this ruins mine so much' and you guessed it, I never do ;). So just yesterday I was on the look out for a way to help my nails recover because they're in a pretty poor state, short, stumpy, dented, peeling and flaking left right and centre and just overall pretty rubbish. I did a bit of research and have combined my findings with what I have done in the past to bring you a step by step guide to beautiful nails again! Bear in mind this is a learning curve for me too...

YOU WILL NEED: ♥Acetone
♥Cotton Wool Balls (these grip better than pads)
♥Cuticle/Nail Oil
♥A 4 Sided Nail File/Buffer Block
♥Cuticle Trimmer
♥Strengthening nail polish
♥Nail polish of your choice
1. DON'T BITE THEM OFF IN THE FIRST PLACE.
2. But if you're reading this, you probably have. So chances are there's the odd bit of acrylic still stuck to your nails, don't pick it off. Get yourself some acetone which you can find in Boots next to the nail polish remover, soak a cotton wool ball in acetone and hold it on the acrylic for as long as you can until you get bored/pruney fingers (not that long). Then wash your handies.
3. Take the cuticle/nail oil, available in Boots, and put a blob on each nail, massaging it into the cuticle and nail edges. Then use a cuticle trimmer (Boots, a couple £'s!) to trim off you're cuticles, giving you a clean base to work with.
4. You should,in theory, have the worst of it off, if you don't, you're going to have to file it off. Try and get your hands on a four-way nail block thing. I got one from the body shop and one from Boots, they're fairly cheap and are perfect for this situation.There's basically four sides to this nail file, 1. file nail, 2. remove ridges, 3. smooth nail and 4. shine nail. You'll need to use the file preferably with a fine grit on the surface of your nail, and no it's not ideal but neither is biting off acrylics haha. Do this until your nail is relatively smooth again, leave the oil on as it acts as a form of protective barrier.
4. Then follow it step by step with the other 3 sides of the block.

5. Next shape your nail, and even if you've got a few long ones still standing you're going to have to file them down too! Make sure you only file in one direction (not the band) as your nails are going to be thin and weak enough already. You'll have to keep your nails short until they're a bit stronger otherwise you're not going to get anywhere.
6. If there are any splits right in the middle of your nail, that are literally going to make your nail so short that it's painful, use the nail glue you get in DIY false nail kits to glue them down until its grown out when you'll have to file it off! I'm sure you can buy the glue seperately. No prizes for guessing where from ;)
7. I read a lot of differing opinions, some said to keep nails free of polish, some said to wear a clear coat, so it's up to you but I like to wear nail polish, because they're still not going to look great as they are. Use a strengthening clear base coat, I like the Sally Hansen Miracle Cure one.

8. Once that's dry, you can either leave it as it is or pop on your favourite colour! Darker colours disguise ridges remember ;) and then a clear top coat of your choice!
9. Et Voila! Your nails should hopefully be marginally better. Keep them short for at least a month, if not two, and apply the cuticle/nail oil regularly. Avoid soaking your nails in water, if you have to do washing up then wear gloves, and just take general care not to put strain on your nails.

Let me know if you've got any good tips :) Remember I'm in no way a professional, this is just what I do!
Thanks for reading :)
Grace
xxx

ps. none of these pictures are mine!! I'm writing this at college and so don't have my camera... Remember to follow me by email!! :) xxxxx

Random Blog

So today I tweeted asking what I should blog about, and as usual had numerous replies of 'me'!! One of which from one of my best friends, Ellie Campbell. I think she was joking, but I actually thought it was a great idea! Basically, she's an 18 year old singer/songwriter/guitar-player/amazing friend/absolute plonker/overly sensitive ;)/incredibly talented person. And I know there are loads of people on Youtube etc. who sing/play guitar, and I might be a little biased, but she is in a league of her own.

I don't always show or tell her own amazing she is or how much I appreciate her, usually she'll start singing something and I'll tell her to shut up cos she needs to realise she's not actually good. Because i'm so nice like that. But I hope she realises how amazing i think she actually is.

She's one of those people who sounds so so much better live than she does recorded, and she still sounds amazing then! Here's a video of Ellie and I singing at my 18th!


So this little snippet of blog is just to give her a bit of appreciation/recognition!
This is her SoundCloud http://soundcloud.com/elliecampbellmusic
And her Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/elliecampbellmusic
And her Facebook http://www.facebook.com/elliecampbellmusic

Here's just a few pictures of us to break it up!

Enjoying a cheeky cocktail in the sun

Pre drinking in Majorca last summer

Shameless posing on the beach





Please please please check her out, she has the most amazingly powerful voice (cringe at those words but its true) and I love and appreciate her so much :)

So there you go Elz, my blog about YOU!! Let me know if you check her out or if any of you are singers leave me a link to your Youtube etc!

So proud of you Ellie! :)

Loveee xxx

Super Haul

Hello lovelies :-) and hello to all the nasties ready to leave comments ;)

I recently went to Birmingham for a University interview and thought I'd take advantage of the Bull Ring shopping centre while I was there. If you haven't been to the Bull Ring you seriously need to, it's incredible.
Anyway, I thought I'd show you what I've been buying there and what I've been buying recently!

First up...

I picked up a full size Soap & Glory Clean on Me shower cream because I could only get hold of the travel sized one before and I've been loving it recently.

It was 3 for 2 on Soap and Glory so I also grabbed the minature Daily Smooth Body Butter to try it out and a Hand Maid hand sanitising gel, I'm a big hand sanitiser person! And it smells just like the Hand Food and Clean on Me which= ♥

I also picked up some MAC Mineralise Skinfinish in Soft & Gentle which I have wanted for sooo long but we can't get it anywhere in Exeter. It looks gorgeous as a highlighter on your cheek bones or brow bone.

Making the most of my MAC opportunity, I got a MAC kohl eye pencil in Smoulder. The line on the left is with one stroke and the other is with a few, so you can get quite an intense black colour. So far it's going quite well, not convinced it's worth the £14 though.

Not in Birmingham, but recently all the same ;), I had to get what I like to call a 'tide me over' foundation. Something I'm happy to use in between finding a new perfect foundation. So I got this in Boots and the testers were completely different to the actual shades, I also found it so difficult to match my own shade without having a professional there to help me!
Anyway, turns out I got 51, which is too light, so I mix it with my favourite MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NC41 which is too dark and I'm quite enjoying that little combo at the moment.

This is the kind of finish it gives, nice and glowing with medium coverage!

I've also been looking for a new purse for a while, my old River Island one broke, like the clasp was really loose and all my cards and stuff were falling out. And seeing as I only have one purse at a time, and I only buy one every few years I thought it was worth looking for a good quality one. So I ended up with this one from LK Bennett which was in the sale down from £110 to £45! And the black one in the same style was still full price... random. But I love it, and the zip has LK Bennett engraved in it and I'm in love with little details like that!



So, back to Birmingham, this hasn't been very chronological. I went to Forever 21 and bought some pink leather shorts (yes, i know) and a kind of fine knit light pink crop top t shirt. Phew. So, here I am, standing in my bathroom because it has the best possible light, wearing these items...

Think that's all I have to say! Hope you like this, let me know what you think :-)

Grace
x