Nails & lashes

nail magic - c/o  jica.com *

a rare beauty post from me today . . . i love having nicely painted nails and am often seen rocking a simple nail art design. but all this nail polish and nail polish remover along with having a pretty hands on job, takes its toll on the health of my nails. i'm blessed to have nails that grow quite long and quite quickly but I go through stages of really brittle and flakey nails too. as you can see from the above pictures i'm going through that kinda stage right now. so i'm trying out this 'nail magic' a hardener and conditioner that hopefully will strengthen my nails over the next few weeks. I'm using it as a base coat and topcoat once / twice a week . . .  so stay tuned to see how well it works for me. 

jica lash - c/o jica.com *

i was also lucky enough to be sent this very interesting natural fibre lash product, designed to add volume and length to your lashes without using any chemicals or damage. as you can see from the above picture it is literally tiny little fibres which you apply over the top of your mascara and then seal with another coat of mascara. i'm always sceptical about products like this especially as i'm not the best at applying any kind of make up. please excuse my brows in the below pictures, in my defence I have a long fringe that usually covers these atrocities but for the purpose of showing you the effects of jica lash I had to unleash the beasts . . . anyway the eye on the left is jica-ed and the right is just mascara. 

in the pictures you can see that the lash with jica applied (left) does look slightly more fuller and longer and i promise in real life you can really see a difference, I really like the effect and will be continuing to use it on my lashes when i get all dolled up to go out. the only thing i will say is, it can be quite messy, the little fibres drop onto your cheeks quite liberally, so apply the rest of your make up (spesh concealer and foundation under the eyes) after you have done your lashes. My lashes generally are pretty short and flat and i'm not so skilled at applying falsies, so I love the effect and volume this product has created with very little effort, see more in the below pictures. 

both lashes have jica applied

check out the jica website to find out more about these products and more, i definitely recommend the lash fibre extensions if your own lashes lack that little oomph you require and like me you can't cope with the faff of falsies. If you fancy purchasing either of these products before May 1st, then you can also use this code NMCO1 at the checkout to receive a free sample of nail magic cuticle oil with your order. 

thanks

x

Nail art: Double dots

Having found a new love for all things Pinterest I've been checking out and pinning lots of fab nail art ideas, which means then creating them myself. I also recently acquired a set of nail art tools from a lovely friend. I always thought I could create nail art deigns just using a steady hand and being imaginative with the brush but turns out dotting tools are amazing and I can't wait to try out lots more designs. I'll be posting them on here every so often too.

So this one is fairly simple but very effective... using a desired colour firstly paint all your nails and patiently wait for them to completely dry.... Next create a line of dots along one side of you nail and another line directly next to it. I liked using two different shades of the same colour for a bit of an ombre effect. Once all dry finish off with a slick of top coat. 

Thanks
x




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Nail art: Chic triangles

i always get a lot of insta love for my nail art so i thought i would bite the bullet and re introduce a bit of beauty to my blog and slip in the occasional nail art tutorial. i'm going to start with an easy one that simply requires one nail polish of choice, a fine nail brush and a steady hand, although as you can see, mine aren't the neatest so don't worry if you wobble a bit (they always look better from afar anyway).

firstly choose a colour and on each nail draw a cross with a fine brush. then simply fill in the rest as you would normally paint your nails, taking care to stay within the lines.

once dry seal with a top coat and voila simple yet chic and effective nails.

hope you like these kind of posts, would you like to see more?

Thanks

x

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Volume boost

I'm always trying to find a miracle product to boost my fine, flyaway hair, sadly i don't think there is such a product. Recently i attended an Italian themed party, which meant i got to dress up all fancy like. The original plan was for me and the husband to go as Mario and Luigi... but the other half vetoed this idea... boo sucks to him. So in the end we went as ancient Romans meaning i got to look all grand. So this little can of root boost helped me to create a bouffant of sorts.

Tigi 'Catwalk' root boost spray - c/o Hairtrade *

Now I'm not great at 'doing' hair by any stretch of the imagination. My signature look is beachy waves/dragged through a bush/never looks how it does before i leave the house. But somehow a little  spray of Tigi catwalk root boost, a dally with some rollers and a dot of back combing I managed to transform the barnet into a creation an actual Roman Empress might be jealous of.

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Festive nail art

Its christmas tomorrow!!! Eek.... how did that happen? If you follow me on instagram (@lazy2lovely) you'll have seen my festive nails at the weekend, they are super duper easy so i though i would share with you here on the blog too. Simply paint all your nails a nice Father Christmas red apart from your ring finger. With this nail, paint a line of red across the top and then another line going down the right side to about 3/4 of the way down the nail. Once the red is completely dry ( i advise leaving it about 30 mins to be sure its dry ) add a dot of white to the end of the hat and a white line along the bottom of the red line at the top. Finish off with top coat and you're all ready for a glass of mulled wine to celebrate a job well done.

Rapunzel, Rapunzel... let down your hair

You lovely readers always comment on my hair and I get a lot of hair loving from you all on Instagram so I thought I'd do a post dedicated to the barnet. I cannot take any credit for how my hair has looked over the past 3 months, in May I got hair extensions. I've always wanted thicker hair as naturally it's very fine. . . very very fine! My natural hair length wasn't really an issue it was just the volume and us gals always want what we don't have right? I have previously researched hair extensions but decided against them because I would never want to damage my own hair and consequently have to have it really short once they were taken out. Well luckily a few months ago a new hair salon, Arabella Rose, opened up near my home town offering a technique that is non damaging to your own hair. . . Now I'm not gonna lie, its expensive. . . but its quality and non damaging, which is the only way I would ever commit to having hair extensions. So I decided to go for it and see what it was like and its safe to say I'm a big fan of long flowing locks. . . .

I've shown it here in the three styles I tend to wear it in, being straight, in a low side plait for work and my personal fav beachy waves. Arabella Rose spent a long time creating the perfect customised extensions for my hair tone and colour. I have naturally brunette hair with flashes of light brown and slightly lighter tips (due to my ombre do circa 2012). Not only did they figure this out in my consolation but continued to add and perfect the colour as they were fitting the extensions.

They say '' Once the bespoke hair extensions are made, we then use an attachment technique which is free of any glues, heat, chemicals, sewing or braids - resulting in no damage to your own natural hair.

The method combines strands of natural hair with the hand made extension hair and is then sealed and locked into place using tiny, undetectable rings. To remove them, we simply loosen the lock and the extension hair slides out. ''

When they first got put in it did take me a little while to get use to them, it felt heavy (compared to my usual hair) and the only way I can describe it is saying they felt like dreadlocks (not that I've ever had dreadlocks). I struggled finding a suitable style for work as working with children I absolutely have to have my hair up all the time but I found the side plait works well. I do miss being able to just shove my hair up in a high pony tail or a bun on top of my head (you can't do this as the copper rings will be on show) but I barely notice them now and absolutely relish having long, thick hair. I have my maintenance appointment on Saturday where they take them out, re tip and re apply, so I'm definitely going to keep them in for the wedding in November then I might have a bit of a break but I'm sure I'll have them again as the lure of long locks is too tempting.  

If you fancy being Rapunzel yourselves or want to find out more about Arabella Rose then visit their website here or alternatively follow them on twitter,  Instagram and Facebook for regular updates, images and special deals on blow drys and beauty treatments. 

Thanks

x

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