I Love.... My IPad

I got my IPad from my parents for Christmas, before any one thinks I'm a completely spoilt brat i did sell my old apple laptop and my digital camera to put towards the cost. It is the 16gb white Ipad 2, i don't really need a higher capacity, 16gb is enough for all of my apps, a few music albums, a few films, plenty of books and thousands of photos so I'm all set.

I got this case on Ebay, sorry i cant remember which seller but there are lots of companies selling this exact case in lots of different colours and patterns. I paid 8.99 pound for mine and think it is excellent value for money. The case itself is artificial leather with an elastic strap ( which also protects the camera), inside is a soft artificial suede fabric which helps to clean the screen of fingerprints every time you close the case, it also cushions the screen if you drop it.

As you can see you can use the case as a stand either horizontal or vertical for watching films, TV, photo slide shows or reading books etc, it is sturdy and can be set to different degrees, it is a nice solid case and definitely offers full protection, it also has magnets in the cover like the apple smart cover has so that when you open it the Ipad "wakes up" and when you close the cover it "goes to sleep".

Some of my favourite Apps

IBooks- probably my most used app. There are lots of really good free books in the bookstore and of course all of the recently published books, which i think are overpriced, i have found some really good books for less than a pound though. I also use ibooks for reading pdf´s and magazines downloaded in pdf format. much easier than carrying books around with you and when you get bored of reading one you can just switch to another, i like how you can change the font size and brightness for reading at night as well.

                                                

4OD and ITV player are my 2 most watched TV catchup services, i do have apps

for other TV channels but i don't tend to watch them very often. We do have English sky TV so i only need to use these if i have missed something that i wanted to watch, always handy to have though.

Facebook- i don't think i need to state the obvious here

Twitter- i am quite new to twitter, i still don't really get it, i prefer to update my status on facebook. I suppose if you have lots of followers then the interaction with them would make twitter more appealing but as i don't, i don't find it that interesting, I'm trying to get into it a bit more.

Dropbox- a bit of a geeky favourite app, but it is the easiest way to transfer things from my PC to my ipad quickly and easily especially pdf documents and films etc...

Angry birds- i tried not to succumb to this for so long after everybody declared it addictive, I've had iphones for over 3 years and made sure i did not download this but i couldn't resist on the lovely big ipad screen and after a few games i was hooked.

Lego Harry Potter- I love Harry Potter, when this was reduced for Christmas on the app store i had to get it, it was a discount of about 6 pound and this is the full console version ( same as xbox, wii etc.) of years 1-4 apparently. I love it but it does stress me out a bit and its not a quick game so its good if you have an hour or 2 with nothing to do.

Mahjong Towers HD- my favourite game of all time, i love mahjong and always have, the graphics on this one is brilliant and its great if you only have 10 minutes to waste, you can usually complete one game in that time.

Most of the apps listed were free, in fact most of the apps i have were free, i don't see the point in spending money when there are so many brilliant apps out there for free. i will only pay for those which i think will be worth it. eg Mahjong towers and Lego Harry Potter.

What are you favourite apps? any recommendations?

5 good things

So its Friday already and that means its time for my 5 good things of the week

1. Blogging - i am really enjoying blogging, having an outlet to talk about things i love is really making me happy, even if nobody is reading at least i get to talk about things, having no friends in this country is really hard for me and just getting my views out there and hoping that they will be of benefit to somebody else is making it all worthwhile.

2. Followers - i now have 11 followers and i am grateful to each and every one of you for taking the time to follow me, i am finally starting to feel that i am not just talking to myself.

3. I realised today how lucky i am that my boyfriend does the majority of the housework, i do most of the cooking and a lot of washing up but he does pretty much everything else, i know most girls would love to have that.

4. Fiesta of Santa Agueda this week - I live in the countryside, but to get to our house you have to drive through a tiny village which is attached to the main village by a long road lined with terraced houses, there is a small church square and every year at the end of January the villagers celebrate with a fiesta for the patron saint " Santa Agueda" The road is filled with stalls selling handmade candles, baskets, jewellery, sweets, olives and other nicknack's and there is a candlelit parade to guide the statue of the patron from the tiny church to the church in the bigger village where there is a full fairground set up. While i am not religious at all its nice to have something to do and see so close to the house. The only downside is i have to park about a mile away from my house and walk there when the stalls are set up because there isn't space for cars to get through.

5. Nails - i infilled my gel nails last weekend and now they look like this

All nice again, i prefer to do french tips, i think they always look clean and smart and when they start to grow out i can paint them and take advantage of my ever growing nail polish collection. Today while catching up on my you tube subscriptions one of the suggested videos in the side bar was for water marbling, so i watched it and was totally amazed!!  i am a qualified nail technician and i had never seen this before, where have i been? living under a rock?  i have to try this, here is the first video i watched, Amazing!!!!

What are your 5 good things of the week?

Jewellery Storage

When my collection of costume jewellery starting getting quite large i started scouring the Internet for ideas on how to store it, all i could find where companies trying to sell special plastic boxes to put things in and wire mesh to put earrings in, but then where are you supposed to store the boxes and mesh???

I like to see my jewellery, if its not in front of me when I'm choosing an outfit i forget about it and just end up wearing my everyday jewellery. so i came up with a solution....

The side of my wardrobe was completely wasted space!

I bought these stick on hooks for about 2€ for 10, you can probably get them in pound shops and places like that, they are ideal for hanging necklaces and as long as you do not put too much weight on them, they stay stuck.

My dangly earrings are hooked over fishing wire attached to a screw-in hook at each end, so i have four lines of fishing wire here (& 8 hooks), earrings without hooks have been left on the plastic so they can be hooked over the wire.

More necklaces on another wardrobe, i prefer to keep my gold coloured necklaces here and the silver on the other wardrobe. i really don't like gold and silver coloured things together. ( yes i know I'm strange)

I keep bangles, cuffs and bracelets in 2 small paper shopping bags, i also keep rings in a small glass bowl but i forgot to take a picture.

I am not trying to brag or show off what i have got, most of this was very inexpensive to buy and/ or bought in the sales, the few more expensive items i have were given to me as birthday gifts over the years, it has taken me years for the collection to grow this big, i don't throw things away.

I keep my real jewellery and watches in a proper jewellery box away from heat and sunlight to protect the precious metals and stones.

I hope this helps somebody looking for jewellery storage ideas.

Review: Sephora eyeshadow quad + liner - Taupe model nº 6

so.. this is my everyday go to eyeshadow, it creates the perfect natural looking sophisticated contoured eye.

The shadows are smooth and silky, all highly pigmented and blend very easily. They also last all day without creasing or fading.

I photographed my spare that i keep at my parents house, i have been using the one i have at home for over a year, almost everyday and have only hit pan on the top left colour.

with flash ( from left B,C,D,A then E)

without flash, in natural light

I use A on the inner corner and brow bone to highlight, i then use C over the rest of the lid, i blend B into the outer corner and along the socket using a soft fluffy crease brush then use D on the outer corner blending into the crease. i am not really a fan of brown liner so don't really use that. ( also wearing Yves rocher liquid liner and flormar mascara)

The eyeshadow quad retails for 18.90€ here is Spain, and i presume the rest of Europe, however as a loyalty card holder i always wait until i get 10% ( or more) discount vouchers and use them against the more expensive makeup items instead of paying full price.

If you go to the Sephora website here it will ask you which country´s website you would like to go to, as far as i know, only the US website offers online shopping. Sorry for those of you in the UK i know Sephora isn't there yet.

Disclaimer: All reviews are my own personal opinion and all products have been purchased with my own money, unless otherwise stated.

Review: Yves Rocher felt tip eyeliner 12h black

I´ve always loved the look of liquid eyeliner, i like the nice clean lines and high pigmentation, although some are messy to apply or fade throughout the day.

This one has got to be my favourite that i have found so far...

                                       

There website says: "Felt-tip liner – high precision tip
A felt-tip liner with an ultra-fine, supple tip for high precision lining. Its highly-pigmented absolute black guarantees a deep, intense look for a full 12 hours. A fluid formula, enriched with soothing Chamomile water that dries instantly and offers maximum comfort.

Beauty bonus : Its supple & fine felt tip for a comfortable, precise application. Tested under dermatological and ophthalmological supervision"

 The tip is very soft and flexible, allowing you to get right into the inner corner of the eye, really close to the lashes and easily create a flick at the outer corner, pressing down harder on the nib easily creates a thicker line.

The staying power is good, it lasts all day on my eyes, as long as i dont rub them or cry, it does tend to smudge if it gets wet but this isnt usually a problem for me and im not sure it backs up their claims of 12 hour wear. but if left untouched it does stay perfect all day.

I bought it from an Yves Rocher shop in C.C. Las Habaneras, Torrevieja but they have shops all over europe and also offer online shopping on their website here 

It is currently in the sale for 8.33€ & the same in pounds

I Love... this!

I saw this on YouTube the other day and just had to share it, This girl is amazing!!!!

If you love Disney (like i do) and if you love makeup (like i do) then you have to watch this.

It took her 86 days to make and a month to edit, she deserves all the recognition in the world.

I Hate... getting petrol

so.. yes i hate getting petrol, i didn't mind it at all when i lived in England, its simple there, you drive to the pump of your choice, fill you car up with however much petrol you want, go into the shop and pay then you can drive off happy that it only took a few minutes out of your day.

But oh no  not here in Spain, some petrol stations expect you to fill up the car yourself, some have somebody there to fill the car up for you, but if there is nobody there waiting to fill cars up then you don't know if you are supposed to wait for them or not and if you start to fill your car up yourself and you are not supposed to they come running over to you looking all angry, like how dare you touch my petrol pump angry. Then they start with the questions: is that the right fuel for you car? how much are you putting in? blah blah blah.

I never know how much petrol I'm putting in my car, and they always want to know, the prices change so much here that if you choose an amount based on price one week, it could be a completely different amount next week. And of course the prices vary wildly from one petrol station to another. It cost me 45€ to fill the tank one month and 62€ to fill the tank another month, how are you supposed to know???

Then it comes to paying, some places expect you to pay before you get any petrol ( for this you need the psychic ability to guess how much a full tank is in euros), some places expect you to walk into the shop and pay after you have got petrol, some expect you to pay the man who put petrol in your car, but then if you want a receipt you still have to go into the shop and ask for one and explain that you paid the man outside.

The whole ordeal just seems like such a palaver to me, especially when you are told you have to wait for someone to serve you and it can take upto 20 mins just to fill you car up because they are helping other people first, or just stood there talking to people while you stand around waiting get increasingly annoyed.

Does anyone else have this problem?

Review: Flormar x10 sculpting lengthening mascara Vs Loreal extra volume collagen

So.. another amazing beauty find from Flormar cosmetics. Usually i only pick mascara from brands that i know well or have been recommended by somebody. With flormar being a brand new to me i was a little apprehensive to try a mascara from them but as i was so impressed with the nail varnish and with the mascara only costing 4.99€ !!! i didn't have much to lose.

The first thing i noticed about this mascara was how similar the packaging was to the Loreal collagen mascara, in fact apart from the branding the packaging is identical. ( the camera angle makes the flormar mascara look bigger but it isn't)

And the brushes? yep identical, the loreal brush is slightly more tapered at the tip, the flormar brush has more product left on it making it look denser but to the naked eye they are the same.

So onto performance, my loreal mascara had run out so i could only photograph the new flormar mascara, here i am without any eye make up, i have not curled my lashes as i wanted true representation of the product.

With one coat

With 2 coats

I Love, Love, Love this mascara. For a measly 4.99€ it is probably the best value for money mascara i have ever used, it stays on all day, does not flake and holds a curl ( if you curl your lashes obviously).

I chose the regular lengthening formula but they also offer the same mascara in a waterproof version and a volumising ( opposed to lengthening).

To compare with the Loreal volume collagen mascara i would say they are very similar the loreal mascara tends to start flaking after about 6 hours wear though and for the price of 12.44€ i would rather by 3 of the Flormar mascara´s.

You can buy online from the flormar website here UK website or if you are in Spain you can buy from a flormar shop.

Disclaimer: i am not affiliated with any brand and these products have been purchased with my own money, all reviews are my honest opinion.

5 good things

So here are this Friday's 5 good things.......

1. my lovely boyfriend surprised me with roses this morning, for no reason, just because he felt like it aaaawww

 2. It was my father in laws birthday a few days ago so we are going out for a meal tomorrow to celebrate. Food and getting dressed up = 2 of my favourite things.

3. The weather, its usually freezing here in January, and i bought 3 new coats last year and haven't had a chance to wear any of them yet, however i am certainly not complaining, give me sunshine over a coat any day.

4. I went to the beauty wholesalers to restock my gels so i can do my nails over the weekend, they are in desperate need of infilling, or maybe redoing completely. I love doing my nails, i find it really relaxing, more so with gels than acrylics ( the filing, the buffing, the smell).

5. These arrived in the post this morning, i ordered them a week ago from look fantastic as they were reduced to 70 pound with free international delivery.

I had a pair of GHD´s when they first came out in the UK, a hairdresser put me on the 6 week waiting list for them and i remember them being really expensive when they first came out especially compared to other straighteners, but they were the first of its kind to have ceramic plates and reach such high temperatures and they worked wonders on my really frizzy hair. i used them every day for about a year until they exploded in my face, i sent them back and they repaired them, a year later they exploded again and went in the bin. so 5 years later i am hoping i wont have the same problem.

So what are your 5 good things this week?

I Love..... Flormar repair & care cuticle oil

Cuticle oil is a very important part of my daily routine, if you have artificial nails then it should be part of your daily routine too, even on natural nails i would recommend using it a few times a week at least.

Cuticle oil moisturisers the cuticle and surrounding skin, stopping the skin cracking or peeling, preventing lifting of artificial nails and promotes the growth of stronger longer nails.

I was a bit wary of the yellow colour at first but its smells divine, like lemon sherbet, it is in a nail varnish bottle and has a lovely soft brush, ideal for applying just the right amount. I have had many different oils in different bottles before, squeezy tubes and dropper types are a pain compared to this. I use it every morning after my shower and every night before bed, also during the day at my desk before applying hand lotion if i remember.

This really makes a difference to my gel nails, i don't get any lifting and when they start to grow out and my cuticles don't start to look dry and raggedy like they do when i don't use a product like this.

It cost 4.99€ from Flormar cosmetics, website here i think it is 2.50 pound on the UK website.

Disclaimer: All products i review have been bought with my own money or bought for me as a gift unless otherwise stated. Honest opinions always.

Whats in my bag?

I love these kinds of posts, I'm quite nosy and love seeing what other people carry round with them, so here´s a sneak peak into my bag....

So this is my bag, it is made by Guess and my lovely boyfriend bought it me for Christmas as he knew how much i loved it, i love the suede tassle on the front, it has a back zipped pocket, an inside zipped pocket and 3, sections inside for you phone and other bits, it also (just fits my IPad in it, unfastened) Perfect.

Most important item first, my iphone4, i am still looking for the perfect inexpensive swarovski crystal case for it though...

Makeup bits in one of the pockets, i have, from the top down: tissues, Sephora glass nail file, hair clip and bobble, Barry M lip gloss (toffee), Bourjois corrector pen (brilliant for spots), collection 2000 cream puff (in powder puff 2), Heart shaped folding bag holder, Kiko supergloss (112), Kiko natural concealer (2), mini tweezers, Burts Bee´s lipbalm (acai berry) and Yves rocher chocolate orange lipbalm (ltd edt xmas ´10).

My boyfriend got me this magnifying rose shaped compact mirror as a stocking filler for xmas, its plastic so nice and light to carry around, Kiko (fix wet & dry 02) compact powder foundation.

Alcohol gel ( just in case i need to eat while out shopping and cant wash my hands),  I Love.. white chocolate praline hand lotion.

Tinkerbell gloves, it isn't actually cold enough to wear them yet but i hate having cold hands, so they are in my bag "just in case" .

Hello kitty earphones, my boyfriend got me them last Christmas and they have 3 different size silicone bits you can change so they fit your ears perfectly and this cute little pouch to stop them getting tangled or dirty, a must for listening to music on my iPhone or watching films/ TV on my ipad.

Aaah  my Ipad2 , I'm obsessed with it, i like to take it everywhere with me.

My sunglasses, my boyfriend bout them for me for our anniversary, i was getting my lenses changed in my glasses and needed a new pair of sunglasses, because where i live its sunny every day and i need to wear them everyday, especially for driving i always but the best quality when it comes to eyewear. These are Chanel 5181-B  understated, elegant and completely plastic so i can wear them on my head to keep my hair back when they are not on my face. I hate those metal and rubber bits for your nose, they get stuck in your hair. And i love the quilted case that came with these.

In the back pocket i keep, a mini notepad and pen, a wet-wipe, a folding fabric carrier bag ( so many places don't give you bags now), 2 sachets decaf coffee, 2 fruit teas and 1 redbush tea, just incase i cant get a decaffeinated hot drink while out. ( i don't have caffeine, it causes your body to release insulin therefore creating a fat storing environment rather than a fat burning environment, and i want to burn fat! more on this coming soon! )

In the inside pocket i keep After bite ( for mosquito bites, which i get all the time), tampon, plasters, decongestants, ibuprofen, pepto-bismal, eye drops and 4head stick ( if you don't have one of these GET one!, i would prefer not to put painkillers into my body and this is brilliant for getting rid of headaches, its just a menthol crystal that you rub across your forehead.)

And last but not least.. My Guess purse, almost matches my bag and nearly always empty.

I hope you liked Whats in my bag, would you add anything?

My furry friends

I love having pets, especially cats, i think any furry animal has the ability to calm you down and make you happier just by stroking them. It makes me happy to hear a cat purr when you stroke them, its like they are loving you back, even though you know as soon as they have had enough being stroked they will just walk away.

Unfortunately when i left England i had to leave my cat Bailey behind, he still lives in our old house with my brother who looks after him, he was our family cat and is perfectly happy with my brother and his girlfriend for company. He still remembers who i am when i go home. He is a big, sleek muscular boy cat and prowls around the house like he owns the place.

Next up is Cookie, she just wandered into my parents house one day and refused to leave, she has moved house with them now and much prefers her new house. My dad pretends he doesn't like cats, he never liked Bailey but he loves Cookie. We named her after the cookie-dough colouring of her fur but the colour keeps changing, sometimes she looks pink. We affectionately call her fluff fluff.

Here is my Princess, when my mum went to check a house after the tenants had left to go back to her home country, she found her locked in the house, abandoned so called me to come with her and rescue her. we took her to the vets to be checked out and she was underweight but fine and needed a loving home, so she went to live with my mum and dad. She is a ragdoll cat and just goes floppy when you try to pick her up.

This picture was taken in the summer, as you can see from the next pictures her fur has doubled in size as she gained her winter coat, she is so fluffy and squishable, and completely stupid.

I would love for her to live with me, but my boyfriend has a dog and he wouldn't even think about not eating her if she lived with us.

This was me and princess on Christmas day at my parents house.

And here is Alfie, My boyfriends Springer spaniel. He is noisy, smelly, snores, pushes me out of the way and trips me up, slobbers on me and wakes me up at night. My boyfriend loves him.

The one advantage, i like walking, Alfie likes walking.

Have you got any furry friends?