Nails of the Week #7 : Princess Nails

Hello people !

Here we are, for nails of the week n°7 ! I really love doing these posts, I've got so many nail polishes so it helps me to check everytime I put a different one.

I went for something light and pretty glitter over it - "Muchi, Muchi" by Essie, and "Jo is in the House" by H&M !

This Essie polish is one of my favourites. It is a really pale pink, perfect for nude nails with one or two coats, but if you want the colour to be exactly like it is on the bottle, you can go with three.

Unfortunately, like every nail polish, when the quantity diminishes it gets all thick and it is a pain to apply it evenly on the nails. But when it's done, it's worth it !

I felt like I needed a bit of glitter in my life these days. This nail polish from H&M is great for its price, and it goes with pretty much every colour. I tried to apply it in a kind of gradient effect, I find it prettier than applying it on the whole nail.

Kinda looks like princess nails, doesn't it ?

Julia xx

What I'm loving right now : Blogilates

I've never been a huge fan of sports and working out in general. In fact, I'm more of a lazy/"I can't run five minutes without being on the verge of dying" type of person. But last year I discovered Blogilates and the amazing Cassie Ho, and I'm slowly changing my mind about all this !

Blogilates is a YouTube channel run by the lovely Cassie, who is a pilates instructor and makes videos to help people like me to work out. She uploads new videos regularly, for every kind of people, every body part, every working out level. She also makes healthy recipes videos, which I've never watched because I can't be bothered with cooking haha but they must be cool too ;)

What I love most about her channel is that you can find videos with different targets. For example, I try to concentrate on my abs/my belly and my legs/thighs/butt when I work out, and I love that I can choose from many different videos concerning those areas : short "express" videos, longer ones, with different exercises so that I can pick my favourites... 

During the summer holiday last year I used to do some of her videos every single day in the morning, and I definitely saw a change in my body, and in my strength. Unfortunately with uni and my job I had to slow down the rythm and stick to two or three videos two times a week, which isn't enough to make a permanent change again. 

So now that I've finished university I'll have much more time, and I want to get back to it more seriously. 

That's why I thought I would make a blog post about it, it will keep me motivated and make you discover the channel, if you don't know it yet !

Last but not least, here are some of my favourite videos :

This one is a really short video to the song "what makes you beautiful" by One Direction. It literally is a butt killer, I tell you ! Short but veeery effective. 

This one is another "song video" focused on inner thighs. This one is quite easier than the butt one, but it does help your thighs to get a better shape and be more defined.

This one is part of the Victoria Secret Model series. I like it because it's longer than the song videos so you can make more moves and exercises. It is not the most difficult I've done, but to do it on a daily basis I really like it !

And this is one of the more difficult ones I've ever done. It makes your thighs so sore when it's finished ! And, in all honesty, I always have to take small breaks in the middle of the video because I literally can't lift my legs anymore. My goal : to finish it one day without taking any break at all !

If you'd like to know more about Cassie and her working out programmes, check out her blog ! Very useful to find anything about her videos and advice about workouts, food and lifestyle in general !

Julia xx

Nails of the Week #6 : Lilac

Pastel nail polishes are my favourite : baby blue, pastel pink, mint... the only one that I'm not sure about is pastel yellow, but maybe I'll buy one someday to see how it looks on me.

But for this week, I've chosen a nice lilac shade from Kiko :

This colour looks amazing at this time of the year, especially when you associate it with other light colours in your outfits.

Kiko nail polishes are really good, they are so cheap and exist in so many colours ! However, the quality depends on each product, some are great, last a long time and dry quite quickly, but others take more time to dry completely. You have to be lucky when you pick one !

Julia xx

What I watched : Wives and Daughters

I love love looove period dramas. I love the setting, the costumes, the types of characters, the atmosphere... And I'm always discovering new ones to watch. One of the last ones that I saw is Wives and Daugthers, a BBC mini-series from 1999. 

It is the adaptation of the novel Wives and Daughters : An Everyday Story by Elizabeth Gaskell (1864-66). 

The story takes place in the 1830s. Molly Gibson is a young woman living with her dear father as her mother died years ago. But everything changes when Mr Gibson decides to marry again : Molly has to deal with a stepmother she doesn't really like, and meets Cynthia, her new stepsister. Although they are very different in character and behaviour, their friendship grows and they soon become fond of each other. Molly also befriends Mrs Hamley, the wife of the Squire. She is accepted in the house of the family as if she were one of them, and becomes friends with the two sons, Osbourne and Roger. But because of her ties with Cynthia and her stepmother, Molly will be confronted to several intrigues and secrets...

This is a very typical 19th century type of plot, with love affairs, family crises, etc. The character of Molly is very lovable, she represents everything that a young girl ought to be at the time : quiet, nice, polite, pretty, learned...

I also really love the Hamley family : Mrs Hamley, who loves Molly as a daughter (played by the wonderful Penelope Wilson), Mr Hamley, whose age starts to drive him crazy (played by Michael Gambon, a period dramas afficionado !), and Osborne (Tom Hollander, forever Mr Collins to me !) and Roger, the one true gentleman (Anthony Howell).

The miniseries is divided into four episodes, so it is not a long show - it doesn't get boring at all, and you directly fall in the spirit of the story and want to know what's happening next to the characters. The ending, obviously, is happy (period drama tradition !), but the story isn't a fairytale all along... 

If you're into this kind of films, I really recommend you watch it, also it's a bit dated (1999 seems ages ago now !), the images are great, the setting is neat and timeless, and the characters really interesting. Another BBC wonder !

Julia xx

My Empties #2

Hello everybody !

I've been finishing a lot of products lately, so it's the perfect time for an empties blog post ! I've got hair products, face products, moisturisers... Quite a few essential items ! But are they good ? Let's see...

1/ Dove Hair Therapy Intensive Repair mask

I heard of the quality of Dove products through Faye's blog. She said their range of skin and hair products were really good, so it made me curious. After all, they're quite cheap so if they are efficient, that must be worth trying !

I went for their Intensive Repair mask, as my hair is dry I want to moisturise it as much as possible. And it is indeed a good product ! It leaves your hair shiny and soooo soft, that's amazing. I already bought it again !

2/ Huile Prodigieuse by Nuxe

(The label has come off but I hope you recognise the iconic bottle !)

Everybody knows the Huile Prodigieuse, I'm sure - and so you all know how good it is. It is a dry oil that yoy can use for pretty much everything : your skin, your face, your hair. It smells really good, and what I love about it is the fact that even though it's an oil, it sinks in the skin very quickly. It works very well as a hair treatment : you can use it as a mask, leave it for a few hours, and it definitely moisturises your hair. 

I bought it again because I can't live without it, and I'm thinking about buying the glittery oil for the summer, it would look absolutely wonderful on the skin under the sun!

3/ Moisturising hand cream by Sephora, cotton flower

I'm always trying new hand creams, because my hands are dry all the time and I like to take care of them. I had never tried a Sephora hand cream before, and I've got mixed feelings about it. The thing that I love the most about it is its smell : I love anything that smells like cotton or light flowers.

For the moisture however, this cream is not the most effective : it does give you some moisture at the beginning, but it is not enough for me, especially during the winter when you need a super protection from the cold. This cream is more of a "light spring hand cream", but as it is not moisturising enough, I won't buy it myself (I got this one for my birthday from a lovely friend).

4/ Nivea Aqua Effect refreshing cleansing gel

I've already made a blog post about how I love this cleanser, so I won't be too long for this now !

This Nivea Aqua Affect cleansing gel works so well for me, it really purifies my skin and leaves it soft and clear. It's the only cleanser that I'm using at the moment, and I've probably bought it over four times already, but I'm happy with it so I'll stick with it until I find one even better !

5/  L'Oreal Skin Perfection 3 in 1 Purifying Miscellar Solution

I made a review about this miscellar solution a few months ago saying how good it was, so if you haven't read it made you should check it out, if you're interested :)

This is a very nice product, it does its job well and if you're looking for a nice, neutral makeup remover, this is the one for you ! By the time I'm writing this, I've already finished my second bottle and I've repurchased it again haha.

6/ Garnier Moisture Match, combination to oily skin

The Moisture Match range has a lot of different creams, for all types of skin. The green one is for combination to oily skin. I'm always on the hunt for a good mattifying cream, and even though this one is nice (smells good, quite light and moisturising), I'm not impressed by it and it doesn't really have any mattifying power. I didn't rebuy it, but it is a nice product anyway, it would suit combination skin better I guess !

7/ L'Oréal Ever Pure Shampoo, colour care and moisture

I dye my hair red, and it is one of the most difficult colours to keep. And I heard that sulfate-free hair products helps the colour to stay bright longer, and of course this L'Oréal shampoo was mentioned as a good product to use. Now that I've tried it myself, I'm quite disappointed because it didn't do anything more than the shampoo I used before. The colour didn't stay on longer than before, my hair wasn't smoother nor healthier, as it was supposed to be because of the absence of sulfates.

I didn't repurchase it, and I'm still hoping I'll find the perfect shampoo for coloured hair one day !

8/ Kiko Invisible Powder

To end this post on a more positive note, I really recommend this powder if you're in a country where you can find Kiko stores (I konw they aren't everywhere yet).

It mattifies the skin very well, sets the makeup on and gives a really nice finish to the skin. Also, it lasts a long long time, I've had this one for more than a year before running out of it. I don't remember its price but I can tell you it's cheap (nothing like the HD powder by Make Up Forever !) and the quality is really good compared to the price. Needless to say, I bought it again already and I can't go out without having applied it on my makeup !

***

Well, that was a long one ! I've been collecting these over the past few weeks, but still, I think I have never finished so many products at the same time before haha.

I hope this can be useful to you, to give you an idea of what could be worth buying and what is not !

Julia xx