Today's mid-week manicure is a bit of a blast from the past. It is 'Blue Rebel' by Chanel - a dark navy blue. 'Blue Rebel' was part of their limited edition 'Les Jeans de Chanel' collection from 2011.
I chose this from my collection as I was looking for a dark polish, but fancied a change from a burgundy polish (of which I have more than a few!). This applied really well and gave excellent coverage in just two coats. I had forgotten how great this polish was, and in case I needed reminding, the first morning that I wore it, a lady stopped me on the train to ask me where my nail polish was from. She then proceeded to scribble the name in her diary and to tell me that she would be paying a visit to her nearest Chanel counter that very lunchtime to buy it!
Although this polish was limited edition, you can still find it on counters, or at Debenhams.com
If you are looking for something to distract you from the awful weather, then St David's Cardiff Ladies' Night might be just the retail therapy you are looking for.
From 6.30pm until 9pm this Thursday, St David’s is inviting
shoppers to step into a world of fashion and beauty treats, and is offering up to 20% off throughout the
centre!
Over 60 of the centre’s shops, from the flagship
stores of Debenhams and John Lewis, to brands like Kurt Geiger, Reiss, Oasis, Warehouse
and New Look will be offering discounts and freebies on the night. Many
stores will also be offering extra treats such as style advice, in-store
entertainment and giveaways. You can find a full list of the discounts here.
And if you work up an appetite while you are shopping, you can take advantage of a range of discounts in the Eastside food quarter, e.g 40% off at Yo! Sushi.
Here are just some of the events running on the night:
The Hayes
Big Red Beauty Bus (6.30pm – 9pm)
On The Hayes, the Big Red Beauty Bus will be offering makeovers.
Debenhams
Talk Beauty Event(6.30 - 9pm)
10% off all of the beauty brands in store and lots of treats and makeovers for shoppers too.
Kamigata Beauty Pod(6.30pm – 9pm)
Kamigata will be on hand all evening offering relaxing hand and arm
massages, head massages, hairstyling, mini manicures, stress fix rituals and
goody bags.
John
Lewis Holiday Glamour Beauty Event (6pm
- 10pm)
Visit the Beauty Hall on the ground floor for a
makeover, gift bag and refreshments. Tickets cost £5 (redeemable on the night
against any beauty purchase). To purchase tickets visit the beauty department
or call 02920 536000.
To take advantage of the offers on the night, you can pre-register here, or you can visit one of the VIP Registration Desks on the evening. Happy shopping!
I have always been a fan of red nail polish, and often find myself returning to it. However it can be hard to find the perfect shade of red nail polish. Some are too blue, others too pink and others too orange! For me this polish is most definitely a contender for the perfect red.
I first came across this polish when I saw a photograph of the lovely Donna Ida wearing it. Donna always look fabulous, so in addition to wanting her outfit ( and in fact her whole closet!) I had to tweet her to find out what polish she was wearing. The shade in question? Essie's 'Really Red'. Donna told me that she wears this polish every day.
I was really impressed with this polish, it applied really smoothly and I only needed two coats for full coverage.
You can buy Essie polishes from a number of stockists, including Boots, John Lewis and Look Fantastic.
Update: Donna has just told me that this shade is going to be discontinued, so if you like the look of this shade then you better stock up. If you will be stocking up on a few bottles, then you might like to know that you can buy this shade for £5.58 on Amazon.
As you will probably know, the Google Reader service is coming to an end. If you still want to follow my random musings, then there are a number of ways that you can follow my blog, including subscribing by email, liking my blog's Facebook page or following on Bloglovin. If you would like to subscribe by email then just put your email address into the box on the left-hand side of my blog. To follow me on Bloglovin then click on the black and white drawing of the Eiffel Tower below.
I was really impressed when I transferred the blogs I follow via Google Reader over to Bloglovin. It was really easy. Their customer support team were also really quick to answer a query I had in relation to my blog listing.
One of the sections that I always check when I pop into my local branch of TK Maxx is the book section. I always find a great selection of cookery and design hardbacks ( perfect for the coffee table and to dip into) at much reduced prices. Here is my most recent purchase which I picked up for £8.00 instead of the RRP of £42.00. As a reader of a number of Conde Nast titles, I couldn't leave this languishing in the Clearance section. I love using books to decorate my home, but hardback design books like this are often very expensive, so I have to be very selective. However thanks to TK Maxx I can add a few more titles to my collection.
The pages are crammed with an abundance of beautiful and often iconic images taken from Conde Nast titles over the last century. Here are some of my favourites (Solve Sundsbo, Love 2011; Willy Vanderperre, W, 2011; Corinne Day, British Vogue, 1993; Tim Walker, Italian Vogue, 1995; David Bailey, British Vogue, 1962; Guy Bourdin, Vogue, 1958) :
Today's mid-week manicure is a limited edition nail polish, 'Koliary' which is part of the Nars-Thakoon collection of five nail polishes. The shades in the collection have been inspired by the vibrant colours seen in Indian spice-markets.
I decided to apply this shade, when the winter weather re-appeared at the start of the week. I was feeling in need of a burst of vivid colour to brighten things up! If you like the look of this shade, you can buy it at HQ Hair, for £14.50 (free delivery!) and House of Fraser for £14.00.
On Saturday, I attended the second day of the 2013 WOW (Women of the World) Festival at the Southbank Centre, with a group from Cardiff University, where I work. The #WOWWales group was made up of 30 competition winners, who had all submitted entries relating to their experiences of living in a digital world. It was really interesting to see the creative approaches that the competition entrants had taken to tackle this subject: poetry; graphic design; film scripts, and more. You can find out more about the #WOWWales experience here and here.
There were a lot of fascinating sessions running at WOW, but as a fashion blogger, one of the sessions which I was really interested in attending, was the 'Fashion, Beauty and Style' panel discussion. The panel was comprised of The Guardian’s Hadley Freeman, Natasha Pearlman, deputy editor of
Elle magazine and ethical fashion expert Amisha Ghadiali. Topics discussed included sustainable fashion; the contribution of fashion to the economy; the power of women within the fashion industry, and attitudes towards older women in the fashion industry. It was a fascinating discussion, with some great contributions from the audience.
Although my iphone and its rubbish battery life failed me yet again, thanks to the lovely Amy, who lent me her ipad, I was able to capture some of the event in a series of tweets. Here is my Storify of the event.
It has been a while since I have done a nail polish post, so I
thought that I would try and start a regular feature, ‘Mid-week Manicure’.
Today’s polish of choice is Nails Inc ‘Porchester Square’, which they describe
as one of their hero shades. When I first saw this shade, it immediately
reminded me of Chanel’s ‘Frenzy’, one of their latest limited edition releases.
Although I love the Chanel shades, I am trying to be a bit more sensible with my beauty spending (with
the emphasis on the ‘trying’!), so I have been reluctant to spend £17 on a nail polish,
even if I do LOVE all things Chanel-related.
Therefore, I jumped at the opportunity to try this when I
saw that it is on offer in the ‘Latest in Beauty’ online store for £5 (a saving
of £6). Having read a number of reviews of Chanel ‘Frenzy’, the consensus seems
to be that although this shade has a more lavender tone than ‘Frenzy’, they are
still very similar. So, for now I will be getting my ‘Chanel’ fix thanks to
'Nails Inc' and 'Latest in Beauty’!
for £5.58 on 
