Nails of the day #2

Rodeo Sweetheart - Urban Outfitters

I was hoping to take some outfit photos today but the weather has taken a turn for the worse here in the UK and all of a sudden it's so dark outside! Tomorrow is meant to be sunny so fingers crossed I will get some time then. This look was created using a nude base and then I painted lilac hearts onto the tips, using black liquid liner I then outlined the hearts again and I really like the finished result, it's perfect for this transitional time of year!

If you like know how I do my nails and where I get the falsies from, you can see the post here!

Let me know what you think of this look :)

Love Ellen xx

Get in my wardrobe #14

Shoes - eBay

Everything else - Topshop

Since I created the image for this post it has become more 'Things that are now in my wardrobe', as my mum treated me to the skirt, the dress and the backpack as a reward for my AS results (yaaaayy). The faux snakeskin backpack will be my new college bag and I loved styling it up with the maxi skirt, a black crop top and vampy lipstick for a grungy A/W look. Personally I think Topshop is killing it at the moment, as more and more highstreet shops begin to trickle in pieces from their A/W ranges; it seems that every time they update their 'New in' page (I check everyday) there's at least 4 pieces I cannot live without...goodbye bank balance, hello A/W wardrobe!

Moving on, you see those gorgeous Unif Vapor dupes? (the original's RRP is $230)

THEY ARE £13.50...WITH FREE POSTAGE...say whuuuttt?! Plus, they're not just an absolute bargain, but in my opinion a much better shape than the Vapors themselves, to me the Unif originals seem a bit corrective and almost like they've been drawn by a small child - it can't just be me?

Let me know what you think of these picks!

Love Ellen xx

Falling for Fall

Skort - Zara

Top - Goodwill

Sunglasses - F21

Leather Jacket - Topshop

Boots - Jeffrey Campbell Cross Damsels

I. AM. OBSESSED with this skort from Zara; I love the mixture of prints, colours and the perfect A/W style, plus, the fact that it instantly makes you look like some kind of layering aficionado is totally fine by me (because I suck at it irl, I know, it's shameful). Surprisingly, I've actually found so many things to wear it with and already want to do another outfit post featuring it (I'll leave a gap don't worry), the mixture of colours in the prints mean that any can be picked out to create an outfit, I've found that it looks so pretty with lilac. With tartan and dark florals set to be huge next season, I'm really happy with this buy! 

Love Ellen xx

America Haul!

Shirt - Goodwill

Faux leather cut-out shorts - Urban Outfitters

Crushed velvet tee - Goodwill

Navy silk t-shirt - Goodwill

Distressed shorts - American Eagle Outfitters

Velvet jumper - Goodwill

Imagine Dragons t-shirt - Concert (IT WAS AMAZING!)

Necklace - Forever 21

Lilac Sparkly Knit - Goodwill

Grey t-shirt with faux leather sleeves - Forever 21

Rings - Forever 21

Nail polishes - Urban Outfitters

Sunglasses - F21

I've been back from America for just over a week now so it's about time I showed you guys everything I got whilst I was there! For those of you who are reading the item list with no idea what Goodwill is, it's like a huge charity shop where everything is $4.99 or less (usually!), we went twice during my stay and as you can see I picked up some absolute bargains - I'm probably most proud of the 100% silk, navy t-shirt that will be so perfect for A/W. Although I was often shopping in the 30 degree heat I tried to pick up mostly basics and pieces for the upcoming season; I always get way too excited way too quickly for A/W and this year has been no exception! I'm in love with these highwaisted laser-cut leather shorts and everything velvet and tartan - I'm also looking forward to trying out all of these new nail polishes, Prairie Rose has vast become an unexpected favourite of mine and Mystic has such a beautiful opal-like shimmer.

Let me know if there's any items in particular here you'd like to see in an outfit post!

Love Ellen xx

Review - Sleek True Colour Lipsticks: Fuchsia, Mystic and Exxxaggerate

 I've been lusting after purple lipsticks for a while now and decided to try out Sleek's Exxxaggerate and Mystic as they receive great reviews on the web. Whilst in Superdrug I also saw Fuchsia (I did not know that's how that word is spelt! Haha) and the bright mid-pink shade practically forced its way into my shopping basket...honestly...

Anyways, I thought I'd do a review for y'all and let you know my thoughts on these products, Sleek has become infamous in the blogging world for high quality make-up at really affordable prices, each of these lipsticks cost me £4.99 and regardless of how they compare to their high-end alternatives, I think that's amazing value for money!

Fuchsia - Sheen Shade 789 - £4.99 at Superdrug

This shade is such a pretty Barbie pink and I've been looking for something like it for aggges; it's the only lipstick I picked up that's a Sheen finish as opposed to Matte and I think I prefer this as it means that it doesn't need a base in order to not feel drying, although applying lip balm before lipstick is always a must for me. Fuchsia actually feels really moisturising and applies like a dream, its staying power is great and I wore it for a few hours without it fading, it was just necessary to reapply after eating. Overall I love the moisturising feel of this lipstick and the shade is perfect - I would definitely re-purchase it and for the price, you can't really go wrong!

Mystic - Matte Shade 783 - £4.99 at Superdrug

Out of all the shades this one is my favourite and I've barely stopped wearing it since I bought it! It's slightly more purple than it appears on camera but fades to a bright pink not dissimilar to Fuchsia. This shade is Matte and therefore can feel quite drying when applied, I really didn't like the feel at first, but applying a lip balm beforehand (I use Burt's Bees religiously) makes all the difference. I've found that the Matte shades last longer than the Sheen but also need to be re-applied after eating as I've found myself with that lip-liner type look as the colour rubs off towards the centre of your lips. Another thing I noticed about the two Matte shades, albeit probably because they're darker, is that they stain my lips quite badly, after wearing this shade all day and removing it, I've still been left with stained lips the following morning! It doesn't put me off particularly though as I love the colour of Mystic!

Exxxaggerate - Matte Shade 792 - £4.99 at Superdrug

I think this shade is my least favourite, it's a dark purple that I'm not convinced I can pull off! It's also the kind of shade it'd be better to wear a lipliner with, as it's such a contrast to the natural colour of your lips. This shade lasts a while but fades quite unevenly in places to more of a pink shade and like the others, needed to be re-applied after eating to avoid the 'lip-liner look'. It also stained my lips, probably due to the darkness of the colour but nevertheless this could put people off.

I think this is a fun shade to try but I don't think I'll be wearing it much as I don't think the colour particularly suits me, I would recommend this to others though if they wanted to try a purple lipstick and not break the bank, you may just need to invest in a lipliner too!

Have you tried any of these shades?

Love Ellen xx

How I do my nails - DIY stiletto manicure for under 25p!

This post is long overdue I know, but I recently bought some new nails so I thought why not show you guys now :) 

I get a lot of questions about my nails - where I get them done, how I do them myself and where I buy the nails from, so here is the answer to all of your questions! (I hope...)

All of the nails I use come from an eBay shop called Pink-Candy, they sell plain falsies in all sorts of colours, bundles and shapes; the prices are really affordable and the delivery on many items is free! What more could you ask for? Recently I ordered a pre-pointed set of 120 nails, they arrived packaged as shown in the photos above and cost only £3.20.

As the pre-pointed nails are a new purchase and as a result, I haven't used them yet, I thought I'd also show you the pack I bought previously and the nails that were used to create the looks in the first set of 3 photos. These are incredible value for money - this is a set of 500 long oval shaped nails that I ordered around 5 months ago back in March for £3.75 + 99p P&P... that's about 20 manicures so far and I'm STILL using them! That's under 25p per set! As you can tell from the photos above, the nails are packaged according to size - I only use the middle to the smaller end of the scale and the rest of the nails I give to my grandma (aww) so none are wasted. 

I couldn't resist ordering the pre-pointed nails because of convenience, I often do my nails in a rush and the oval shape required filing and shaping in order to create the stiletto style that I prefer, the value for money is undeniable though and I would definitely order these again.

Once you've got your nails it's also useful to have the following items:

• I like to prep my hands with a moisturiser first, it's also a good idea to push your cuticles down after you've applied it just to give a neater finish, I love this one by Neutrogena, especially for the colder months coming up!
• Nail glue - I have used a few different brands of these but I am loving this one at the moment by Elegant Touch.
• A nail file - sorry this one looks a bit worn! This is useful for shaping nails and just giving a finishing touch.
• Nail scissors - these will come in handy if the nails are a bit too long or you want to change the shape completely and don't want to sit filing for hours! When buying the long oval nails, I would cut them into a rough stiletto shape first and then perfect the look with the nail file.

For the following tutorial I am using the pre-pointed nails:

I admit that this looks kinda weird because of the transparent colour of the nails, but this is what they look like after they've been stuck on! As you can see, the little finger nail is realllly long and the others are a bit too pointy, they just need rounding off a bit with a nail file...

Tadaaa! So this is the nails shortened slightly, shaped and ready to be painted! Now is probably the hardest part of the entire process...deciding on a nail colour! 

I usually keep the same set of nails on for about a week, after around 5 days at least one may have come off but I just keep a spare nail glue in my bag and re-stick it back on!

I hope this post was useful to any of you who wanted to re-create the look - with the pre-pointed nails the whole thing takes about 5 minutes, but shaping the oval ones stretches the process out by about 10 minutes. It's really not as hard as people think and it's definitely worth it for how professionally they turn out!

Love Ellen xx

Haul - Delilah Dust

All items c/o Delilah Dust

I got back from America on Saturday to this gorgeous little parcel from Delilah Dust and couldn't wait to show you all! I received 3 silver pieces (2 necklaces and a bracelet) and they arrived beautifully packaged in bright pink tissue paper with a lovely postcard from Antonia, who makes and sells these pieces. My favourite item has to be the bracelet, it's so simple and pretty, I've worn it every day since and I love the little detail it adds to an outfit. Delilah Dust is one of my favourite jewellery sites and everything they do is such good quality, so make sure you check them out if you haven't already!

Love Ellen xx