Little NOTD - Mermaid Nails. :)

Just a quick wee nail post for you! The falsies are back on, still not managing to kick the biting habit haha! Here we go:

The aqua is my new ELF in Mint Green and the ring finger is Nicole by OPI Kardashian Kolors in Kendal on the Katwalk (full review on this here). I then added a wee French polish twist using Barry M in Cobalt Blue.

Feels nice and fresh and pretty!

Also thought I'd share some photos from the recent sunny days:

Clockwise from top left: Our little BBQ, me pretending to man the BBQ, the BBQ wasn't cooking my chicken fast enough so we stuck it in the chiminae haha, the cats soaking up the sun, me enjoying some cider and some heat, and the temperature on the way home from work yesterday! :)

How're you enjoying the sun? What do you think about blue/green tone nails?
Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥

Cat shoes!! OOTD :)

I am SO excited.

I have cat shoes.

But first, can I just apologise to you guys for my lack of posts recently - my job just now is seriously stressful, and I have no time for life outside work at all right now, but it's spring break as of Friday, and I should be back to 2-3 posts a week then. Thanks for sticking by me. :)

But back to the main event - CAT shoes. Now, if you're not a cat lover, this may not excite you as much as it did me. But as you might have realised from my blog name, I am a hardcore crazy cat lady and anything cat-related makes me SQUEE. Take my cat dress, for example.

I saw these shoes on another blog and I can't for the life of me remember whose it was - if you know, please let me know so I can credit them! Anyways, you can get them from Missguided here for £23.99 (limited stock left). They're velveteen and just so pretty!

Here's my OOTD featuring these lucious shoes:

Yellow cardi from Primark

Polka dot dress from H&M

Necklace from a market in York

Shoes from Missguided

Here's me and my cats enjoying my shoes:

Top and main pic is Dana, middle pic is Max and bottom pic is Pippa. :)

Hope you're all enjoying the gorgeous weather! I certainly am! So what do you think of my kitty pumps??

Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥

Pastel Nails NOTD

Hi!! :) Today I’m looking at the S/S trend of PASTELS. I’m sure you’ve seen pastels all over the magazines and everywhere in the stores, and it’s actually a trend I really like. The ice cream shades are so pretty and girly! But if you’re not sure you’re ready to rock head to toe pastels, today I’m going to show you an alternative – some pastel NOTDs.

 I actually don’t have a whole lot of pastel nail polishes (I shall be investing soon!) so the following looks are all created with these shades:

L-R Avon Nailwear Pro in Luxe Lavender, Barry M Nail Paint in Peach Melba, Avon Nailwear Pro in Blue Shock, Nails Inc in Haymarket and Nails Inc in Elizabeth Street.

Look One

Candy coloured nails - lovely! I painted each nail a different pastel shade and finished with Seche Vite top coat for a nice gloss.

Look Two

Use a white nail art pen to add random polka dots for a cute look!

Look Three

On my other hand I used ELF Matte Finisher Topcoat to mattify the nails, I think this is a really nice look for pastel shades!

Look Four

Some matte white tips for a cute pastel take on a French manicure!

Look Five

Take it further by adding another stripe for a candycane look!

Look Six

Adding little dots or lines onto the white stripes give your nails a slightly Aztec feel, hitting another trend.

What do you think? Would you try any of these easy looks to add some pastel prettiness into your look? Which is your favourite?

Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥

More! Magazine MEGA Goodie Bag!

If you follow me on Twitter (@CosmeticsKitten) you'll be aware of my horrific few days. I had a car crash into the back of my car on the way to work, I was told my teaching contract was up (it's now been reinstated!!) and I was struck down with bad tonsillitis over the weekend which led me to an Out of Hours hospital appointment. Plus, I had an interview today. Ugh. So apologies for the lack of blogging, THANK YOU for entering my giveaway and HELLO to new followers and CONGRATULATIONS to Sian for winning!!

(you can see this is all it's glory at the bottom of the giveaway post)

But back to today's post.

I'm a big fan of More! Magazine, have bought it weekly for years. I'm an active participant on the official Facebook Page and was selected last year to be part of the More! Beauty Hot 100, where we are given opportunity to suggest ideas to the magazine, test products and win prizes. Recently, we were asked to fill out a survey with entry into a prize draw if we did. I completed it but never expected to win.

Except... I did!! (I never win anything haha)

I was expecting maybe a lipgloss or two but BOY was I wrong! I received a huge goodie bag of products, More! were so generous and mega cheered me up!! Sorry about the bad lighting, living in Scotland is like living in a cave sometimes.

DVD is for size comparison. =p

Hair & Body Goodies

(L-R) Nars Make Up Removing Water, Champneys Pure Touch Hand Scrub, Champneys Illuminating Beauty Balm, Anatomicals Facial Toner, John Frieda Root Lift Foam & Conditioner

Lip Products

(L-R for pic on right) MUA Lipglosses inPeach Shimmer, Sienna and Shocking Pink, Miners Lipstick in Icon, Soap & Glory Lipstick in Red My Lips, Collection 2000 Lock 'n' Hold in Rock Steady 3, Vivo in  Raspberry Sorbet 4

Eye Products

(L-R) MUA 3-in-1 Contour Eyeliner in Fresh Mint 3, Bellapierre Eye Liner Pencil in Ebony, Collection 200 Multiplier Mascara in Ultra Black, w7 Big Lash Mascara in Blackest Black, Avon Colour Quad in Mystery, Technic eyeshadow palette in Electric

Makeup Tools

(Clockwise from Left) Urbanista Plucking Genius Tweezer, Clipping 'eck Nail Clippers, POWder brush

Nails

(L-R back) OPI Top Coat, Rebel Nails nail wraps

(L-R middle) w7 nail polish in Sheer Pink and Neon Yellow, Accesorize nail polish in Sapphire

(Front) Body Shop nail file

How lucky am I?? Thank you so more More! :)

As a wee end note, I know it was really self indulgent to ask people to say what they like about my blog to enter my giveaway. But it really made me feel the happiest ever reading all your comments. Thank you, thank you, thank you. :)

So what do you think of my goodie bag?  I luckily actually didn't own any of it previously!! Have you tried any of this stuff?

 Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥

300 Follower Giveaway! :)

So I've reached 300 followers and I'm super happy about this - THANK YOU GUYS!! I'm doing a mini 'thank you' giveaway, don't have a lot of dosh so it's just a little one but I hope you guys like it anyways. :)

I've picked a few products that I love and have raved about, if you're wanting to know more about them or see them in action / swatches I've linked each one to the review I did on it!

So, the giveaway is:

ELF Matte Topcoat

Post here with before/after pics - really freshens up your old nail polishes with a new look!

**the swatches are obviously done with my product, the giveaway product is brand new and boxed**

Models Own Glitter Polish in Emerald City

NOTD with this shade here - so pretty!!

**swatches are obviously done with my product, the giveaway product is sealed.**

ELF False Eyelash Applicator

Stock photo from ELF Cosmetics because it's been ordered but isn't here yet and my own one is so grubby! =p

RAVED about this here (it's honestly a must have for me!)

Barry M Lip Crayon in No2

I LOVE this style of 'lipstick', it goes on so smoothly and easily and is so glossy. I haven't reviewed this although I wear it all the time, I did then buy the Urban Decay version recently cause I loved my Barry M one so much which is posted here!

**swatches are obviously done with my product, the giveaway product is sealed**

MUA Heaven & Earth Palette

Ok, so I haven't actually used this but I can't afford to give away an Urban Decay Naked Palette I'm afraid and this is the closest to it!! =p

Honestly, I specifically tried to pick products that I love rather than just a random selection so remember to check out the links under each product if you want more info. :)

I'm using Rafflecopter for this giveaway, so you must follow my blog and comment below to enter, and then there are some additional entries available too. This is my first time using Rafflecopter so let me know if there's any problems! I know you have to put in your email address to enter, but please put it in the comments too as I don't know if that info is passed to me and I'll need to contact you if you win!

Good luck and thank you again! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Remember in your comments I want to know what you like best about my blog!

Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥