CONFESSION TIME: I'm that girl who stalks your Insta page and blog photos in jealous delusions. If you've ever posted about your makeup storage, guaranteed I've seen it and wept in jealousy and admiration of your stash. Soz if that's put a pure creepy image in your mind, I'm not that bad [promise] - I'm just poor and in desperate need of inspo and that. 


My storage, I hear you ask? Well lads, all my makeup goes in a basket I bought from
B&M Bargains. A high end basket, may I add [before you picture me using like a pure washing basket] with glitter on it and evs. And leather look handles [as leather as you can get for £3.99.] It means I know exactly where to look in a morning, granted, but it can be a right pain in the arse having to wade through about 26000 dead foundations and smashed powder pans to find your lippy lurking right at the bottom.


That is, until Born Pretty sent me this fab little acryllic 24 squared makeup organiser*, which retails at just $6.08 (£4.22 in pounds sterling with FREE UK POSTAGE.] GAME. CHANGER. No longer do I have to waste time rummaging in my makeup stash to find my lippys, I can instead display them in pride. I decided to use this unit to store my matte lip products, as they're my absolute go-to guys at the minute [you can read more about my experience with the Born Pretty glosses  pictured below here and here] and the product I have most of.







I can't believe the quality of this, to be honest; for just £4.22 with free UK Shipping. Granted, delivery can take up to three weeks, as Born Pretty are based overseas, but if you're looking for cheap makeup storage, I definitely recommend having a browse of their site! I'm made up with my organiser; it's definitely another one of the many necessary steps I need to take in making me a better adult / blogger / general human.

And guess what, if you fancy making an order with Born Pretty, I've even got a cheeky dizzy code you can use. Whack in AINH10 at the checkout for 10% off your purchase, as well as free UK Shipping [code only valid on non-discounted items.]

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Have you ordered from Born Pretty before? How do you store your makeup stash?

*This post contains items I was gifted by Born Pretty. All opinions are my own, however - I wouldn't lie to you guys, as it's not big and it's not clever!

I am obsessed with falsies, let's not lie. I wear them every day. I'll put them on to nip to Tezzy [Tesco], the Post Office, work or even to a doctor's appointment [one of the doctors in my practice is a total babe - I can't be caught off guard!] They've become a way of life for me now and I feel I look way too much of a man-head without them.

A few months ago, I discovered LashUnlimited on Twitter. And that was it - game, set and match for me; I'd found the one. Their lashes stole my heart and now, they're the only brand I'll buy. I have worn their lashes everyday since finding them and will continue to buy them for as long as they stock them [guys, please never stop stocking your lashes or I won't be able to cope, okay?] Namely their #9 lashes. These little beauties are legitimate baes [and I don't use that term lightly.]

Their lashes tick all the right boxes for me. They're cheap [as am I], fluttery, easy to apply with a thin band and last for aaaaaaages if you take care of them. I get loads of comments on my lashes, and they're ALWAYS LashUnlimited's #9s.

Anyway, LashUnlimited very kindly sent me some of their new lashes to try out the other day, and I could barely cope. I haven't actually tried them out yet, so this post is all about first impressions. I'll try and formulate better sentences than squealing and saying 'bae' all the time, promise. Though when you see them in a minute, you'll understand why I'm so excited. 

Hands up, right, I'm proper lazy. I won't even lie about it [I'm too lazy to even try to.]

Can I be arsed painting my nails these days? Nope. Can I be arsed to brush my hair, like ever? Definitely not. I'm all about life hacks; the inventions, techniques and general know-hows on how to make living easier. And massively oversleeping and resembling a mad tramp for the majority of my existence, snoring away through a chorus of about 12 iPhone alarms.

The biggest beef I have with painting my nails, is the amount of time the whole bloody procedure takes. First, I'll apply the initial coat, that always dries quite well and is pretty sound - minus being streaky as hell. Then I'll pop on a second coat; which takes about a year to dry, no matter how thin the second coat actually is. As I'm like, a pensioner trapped in a young[ish] person's body, I'll also normally fall asleep during this risky second coat stage, and wake up in the morning with the pattern of my duvet fabric imprinted on my nails. 

If I even manage to muster up the energy to whack a top coat on, this only prolongs the drying process further and doubles the chances of it smudging on me, my belongings and my life. And then, cos my nails are crappy and brittle [and I'm a bit of an obsessive cleaner and spend most of my time with bleach, rather than other humans] within like, a day, one of them is guaranteed to have chipped and broken my soul.

So without me rambling on any further, you can kinda gather my general feelings towards being a proper adult in the nail department, can't you?

Then along came DinkiBelle, who sent me these totes amazing Spring  Blossom nail wraps* to try, and revolutionised my lazy-ass world. You may have seen me posting hundreds of pics of these on Instagram [I regret nothing] and if you haven't, you'll soon see why.

DinkiBelle wraps are designed to be affordable, durable, pretty and as an added bonus - totally non-toxic. With each pack, you get 5 free nail wraps [perfect for if you cock up, like I always do] and each application can last up to 14 days, rivalling some UV gel nail polishes [which I can't afford these days.]

They're also insanely quick and easy to apply, even for total nail novices like me. 

I am absolutely in love. I applied these wraps a week ago as I write this, and they're still going strong. They've ever so slightly began to show a few signs of wear [however, this is definitely my own doing, as I had a fight with my piece of sh*t tin opener, which I have regularly tweeted about and now left the most scathing review possible for on the Asda website. The fight in question involved it being its usual, inadequate self and me having to saw into a can of tuna with a knife and hella swearing, which I think may have caused minor damage to one or two of my beautiful nails *sob*. However, this was not a usual situation, or one I hope to find myself in ever again. The tin opener has firmly hit the bin] but there's no way that any nail polish I own, even when covered with the strongest gel top coat, would have lasted me this long. 

I can wake up in the morning and head out, confident that my nails don't look trampy as hell. It's done and ready to go, professional looking nails applied in the comfort of my own home, with none of that awkward salon chat with the girl who does my Shellac. And if the worst does happen [though I pray noone else's tin opener betrays them as heavily as mine did] you have five spare wraps you can use to replace any 'whoops' moments.

If I can afford to book a holiday this year [poor people's probs] I will 100% put a DinkiBelle order in; as after trying this product, I am confident that it would last me for the duration of my stay abroad. And it's way cheaper than getting Shellac. Plus, if the worst was to happen, it's the quickest thing in the world to fix, with no drying time and risk of smudging. 

I used to find painting my nails such a chore. Touching them up when they chipped, waiting for them to dry, having to pure build up layers of colour with paler shades to make them look remotely okay. These fab DinkiBelle nails have given my anxiety-ridden mind one less thing to have to worry about doing, and I LOVE them. They're so pretty, I can barely believe they belong to me.

And here's the best bit... YOU CAN WIN YOUR OWN PACK

Do you love these as much as I do? Do you wanna be nail twinnys? You can legit win the pack pictured below in Spring Blossom, posted from me to you with love. Alls you need to do is get involved with the Rafflecopter widget below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

T&Cs

The Competition will end on the 30/04/16. No purchase necessary. This competition is open to all UK residents. To those under the age of 18 - please seek parental permission before entering. Duplicate, incomplete or spam entries will be removed. You can enter as many times as you want. The first entry is mandatory; you can then enter as many times as you want to get more entries. The winners will be drawn at random using the Rafflecopter widget. One winner will be drawn and contacted as soon as the competition is over. Open to UK residents only.


*This post contains items I was gifted by DinkiBelle for review. However, all opinions are very much my own; I wouldn't lie to you guys - it's not big and it's not clever!

I am a shiny beast. Well, more specifically; my fod becomes a shiny beacon of hell if I don't regularly tame it with makeup. 


Few products can live up to the challenge, but one product I use daily [and have done for like, at least 5 years] is Rimmel's Clear Complexion Clarifying Powder, £3.99.



It sets my makeup in place, a quick top up during the day keeps the dreaded shine at bay, it's reasonably priced [and often on special offer at Boots, perfect for cheapskates like me] and it gives you the perfect base to work from.


It's lightweight, soft and doesn't crease much [I've noticed sometimes it creases around my eyes, but then again, I am pretty old #FossilProbs.] The only downside with this product is that when it starts to run out, it always, ALWAYS shatters into about a million pieces and spills all over your bag, floor and life when you try to apply it. I have so many half empty pans in a graveyard type basket arrangement in my wardrobe. But that's just life, I guess. And it's a minor downside to contend with, given all the massive positives of using this product - namely, making my face look more acceptable to human society [which is a pretty big job.]



I will keep buying this product forever, as although I've tried other brands [and even other powders from Rimmel] for me, nothing compares to this total babe. The long-term relationship we have has surpassed all those I've held with males and although sometimes things can get a little messy between us [namely when I'm proper broke at the end of the month and trying to apply powder from a shattered pan] I will always keep coming back for more <3


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Have you tried this product before? What's your go-to powder? Do you have any tips for keeping the dreaded shine at bay?


You know those pure amazing 30 second videos on Instagram, right, where people paint that mad liquid stuff around their nails and then they attack their talons with nail polish & stamps & roller things & stickers and are left with these proper amazing nail art designs? And then they peel the liquid stuff off from around their nails and with it, off comes the overspill and any mess they made mid-creation? That stuff?

 

Yeah, I wanted some. Purely for the peeling, more than anything. The satisfaction I get from watching these nail technicians / online nail wizards peel that sh*t off when they're done is like no other. So when I spotted it for uber cheap on Born Pretty's website, I obv ordered a bottle. Again, purely for my own enjoyment. I am no nail technician and I would never claim to be haha; you'd shudder in horror at the state of my claws. Oh and fyi, it's proper name is 'Anti Overflow Glue'. Just in case after my mad ramblings, you still weren't sure what the hell I'm on about.




So, how did I get on?


First off, I need to tell you this. In a
non-solvent abuse way, this shiz smells TOTES AMAZING. Not like glue at all; it smells like peaches and summery cocktails. But that's besides the point really, I guess. I didn't buy it to sniff it [even though that's all I do.]


The product works. However, it doesn't peel off as clean and as satisfyingly as it does in those
Insta vids [though it does leave your cuticles smelling fit, if you happen to waft them by your nose.] 


It's a difficult beast to slay; if you put on too much and coat it too thick [like I did the first time I tried it] it never dries and causes no end of difficulties when it starts to bleed into the nail polish. However, if you apply it unevenly and coat it too thin, when you're peeling it off it rips and becomes all stringy. If this happens and you rub at where you applied it however, it does come off and you're left with a neat edge to your nail. But you HAVE to wait until your nail polish has dried before you try this method / even to peel it off, otherwise it's bad news / smudge city for you.


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Although this stuff did work, sadly [for me] it wasn't quite as exciting an experience as I'd have hoped. But if you want to give it a go [or even just paint your hands in it, like everyone does with the PVA in school just for the peeling bants] then you can order your own bottle
here. It costs just $3.99 inc uk shipping; which is about £2.82.


In fact, if you fancy ordering anything from Born Pretty at all, you can whack in my discount code AINH10 at the checkout for an extra 10% off - all with free shipping. For this one miss, I've had plenty of hits from their store - so I'd still recommend checking them out!!


Have you tried any mad little inventions like this?


AGES AGO, right, the lovely people at #PaperHaul sent me one of the cutest boxes of creativity I've ever seen in my life. And because I'm a bad blogger / lazy [delete as appropriate] this post has been a draft in progress for far too long. SORRY GUYS! So now, I'm eating Creme Eggs in bed [not even messing, right, Tesco are selling off boxes of 12 for £1.97... drop everything and get there now, this is not a drill] and ready to tame the beast. Let's do this.

Check out #PaperHaul's website [as well as sign up to receive their monthly boxes of triumph, which you'll totally want to, after you've seen the pics below.] Their monthly offerings are described as subscription boxes for creative people; so if that's you, definitely check them out. You won't be disappointed.

Although I've tried beauty subscription boxes in the past [before I became too poor to live... but never too poor for Creme Eggs] I've never tried anything like this before - and I've ALWAYS wanted to. I proper heart stationary and all the craft-y creations I see you guys come up with, I get pure jel. Also Bullet Journals?! Someone please link me to a post / vlog on what I need to do to join this bandwagon plz. 

ANYWAY. #PaperHaul very kindly sent me their February 16 box*. I was well excited to try out my first creative subscription box, and this excitement was [at least] quadrupled when I realised that the designs featured this month were from our very own Dorkface!! I frigging heart our Jem [she designed my blog header and blog button, FYI #talented] so seeing her designs printed and boxed up in this way was totes amazing. 

The box itself was literally the gift that kept on giving. As I picked items out, more items just seemed to pure pop out from all over the show. There was just so much!! And all so cute and inspirational; with tons of cute Dorkface blog vibes. I was proper made up and planning in my mind what I'd use every single item for. A little notebook, cards, tags... the box even had a sneaky little roll of washi tape, which I was buzzing about tbh. I proper want to get into scrapbooking etc and all the creativity from one box alone pure inspired me. Anyway, prepare yourself, cos here come the [millions of] photos so you can make your own mind up. 


I personally think that Jemma's designs, the concept of this box and the whole experience was pretty...

Do you agree?

I loved my first #PaperHaul experience. It's the gift that keeps on giving - the amount of stuff packed into this box was insane. I've since used some of this stationary to wrap and send a postal delivery to a friend and I know plenty of crafty creatives who will BUZZ when I tell them about the #PaperHaul concept. 

#PaperHaul also donate 10p for every box they sell to the charity PostPals which is a really lovely cause, supported by truly lovely people. If you don't already, give these guys a follow on Twitter. The price of these boxes is so reasonable and you're helping a great company and great designers build a name for themselves. And Jemma - hats off to you, I have no doubt you and Luna will take over the world one day ;]


Have you ordered a #PaperHaul box before? Do you subscribe to any creative subscription boxes?


*#PaperHaul very kindly gifted me this little box of glory, but as ever, all opinions are my own. How could I NOT love this, anyway?!
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