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?