Oh, You Shouldn't Have..

These days after Christmas I find unbelievably tedious. The lead up to Christmas gets me all excited, but once it's over I become restless. With the snow here this year, this boredom has been even more prominent. However, I had a great Christmas and thought I'd quell my restlessness somewhat by doing a post on the gifts I received.

We don't believe in big presents in my family, but what I got makes me happy. I usually get money from my relations, and as I'm going to Paris in two weeks I need to save, save, save.

Liz Earle is my family's obsession and every year I get things from the range. This year I got the shampoo/conditioner set in a gorgeous box, a travel kit and their amazing toner from my parents.As I'm going away the mini set is prefect for me and the shampoo is amazing (they sent me a tester of it a while ago).




 The ultimate present they got me was Estee Lauder's Advanced Night Repair, which I've been wanting for ages. I've been slagged so much for wanting it, as I'm only nineteen but I love it..

Left: Liz Earle Shampoo and Conditioner Set.



Right: Liz Earle Toner and Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair.

Liz Earle Tester/Travel Set Containing: Muslin Cloth, Cleanse and Polish, Instant Boost Toner, Energising Body Wash and Gentle Face Exfoliator.

My sister has moved away, but sent us a parcel of presents. I got a Sephora Eyeshadow set and a mascara. The mascara is amazing, its patent black and has the face of a panther on top. Can't wait to use it!And lastly I got candles from my brother(in photo above, bless him) and a Nivea set from my cousin. Its in the design of a Christmas cracker and contains a mini body wash, body lotion, lip balm and moisturiser.

 

Did you have a lovely Christmas? What little gems did you receive?

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Christmas is Coming..

For the first time this year, I'm in the Christmas spirit. I finished my uni exams today and couldn't be more relieved. Only problem is no one can go out because of the snow, so no celebrating for me for a bit. I hate that its so heavy, can't get anything done, especially in the run up to Christmas. Because it's Christmas, I'll be working a bit more than usual. While this means more money, it also means Christmas Eve doesn't exist for me. Most of my family celebrations are on Christmas Eve, so its really annoying. My sister's moved to Canada and she's the one out of all my cousins and family that is close in age to me so I'll definitely be missing her.  

I've been meaning to record a video for Youtube for ages, but haven't had the time. If you have any ideas about what you'd like to see on it, lemme know! I'm surprised by how much I like doing them, and think I might continue for a bit. Watch this space. I think I'm getting a new camera though soon, so I might wait to see if its better quality. Anyone know of any good ones?

I probably won't have time to blog between now and Christmas, but will have pictures from it as soon as I have the chance. If I don't get the chance to say it, Happy Christmas! Have a brilliant one and can't wait to hear about what everyone got up to! And what presents they got, of course, very important!

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Christmas Time in the Shabby House!

My tree is all pink ornaments, most are homemade



Mom and I made these




Didn't want to hang a wreath so a pink bow went up

 I'm so excited for Christmas! Lil Mr.Shabby has so many gifts under the tree. I can't wait to see his face when Mr.Shabby brings out his little quad. It goes 2 mph. It's so little.
Are you ladies excited for Christmas too? What is your favorite part of Christmas?
My favorite part is cooking dinner. While everyone is enjoying there new gifts, and all you hear is laughter. <3

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Christmas Plaid Konadicure

More Holiday themed manicures!  I love this color, I used Emerald city from Sally Hansen as a base.  I'd been looking for something like this for a while.  I really like Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear, I like their long brushes and their highly pigmented, easy to apply formulas.  This nail polish was no exception, almost opaque in 1 coat, perfect in 2 coats.

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Snow in the Sky

So I was online the other day, looking for a Chanel Riva dupe, and I came across several blog posts that name Hard Candy "Sky" as the ultimate winner.  It is indeed a winner, but a dupe? I don't think so.  Hard Candy was big in the nineties, specially if you were a Clueless wannabe.  And they first hit it big because of a little jewel named Sky.  Alicia Silverstone made it famous, and Hard Candy was an instant hit.  More than a decade later, Hard Candy is now available at your local Wal-Mart, and they just re-released the one that started it all.  So for it to be considered a dupe, seems unfair to me.  Yes, they are very similar (from what I see in pictures, I don't own Riva), but Sky came FIRST!

The color is beautiful and you won't be disappointed with the final result, your nails will turn heads.  But the application is a whole other thing…. Very streaky, very sheer, needs 3 coats, kind of a bitch to apply.  I wore it alone for a day, I just wanted to admire this shade on my nails.

Today I stamped a snowflake over them with Konad White Special Polish, and added a few details with silver dots and glitter (Finger Paints Easel come, easel go and Kiss Nail Art in Silver Glitter).  I used plate bm14. 

Something else that happened and made my manicure more difficult is that my top coat is half way through so it got thicker and since the bottle is half empty, it's kind of hard to get the brush completely dipped in the polish and that was very annoying.

In the end, I liked the final result. It is cute, subtle, yet Christmasy, and I need to thank my sister because it was totally her idea and I stole it due to lack of inspiration and plane ol' laziness.

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The Christmas Season has officially begun!

Christmas spirit took over the minute I laid eyes on China Glaze's Party Hearty. What a GORGEOUS glitter!  I really didn't wanna mess with it, since it is so adorable and almost overwhelming.

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What's new in my stash

Hey there! I just wanted to share the polishes that I've bought lately and haven't used yet. 

Konad Special Polishes in Green and Dark Purple.
They are much darker IRL

OPI in Tease-y does it and Simmer & Shimmer,
from their new Burlesque collection

SH Xtreme Wear in Red Carpet and Emerald City. SH nail art pen in White.
I wish you could see the tiny glitter on RC, it's beautiful!

Icing- Sparkle me Happy, Icing-Bedazzled, Unnamed Orange Glitter from Hot Topic,
CG Boundless Color - Amethyst Mist and NYC In a New York Color Minute - East Village 

I saved the best for last… China Glaze - Party Hearty from their Holiday 2010 collection

I would love to hear about your recent buys or favorite picks.

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Some Holiday Money (and stress) Saving Tips

I'm a big fan of starting my holiday shopping early.  I consider early like the end of September or beginning of October.  And...yes, I have already started.  What are the benefits of starting early? Money and stress savings.

1. No long lines. 

2. Most of the items are in stock

3.  You can watch through sales throughout the year.

4.  Earn rewards from your shopper cards (like the toys r us rewards r us card for example) then use your rewards to shop for those last minute items closer to the holidays when money might be a bit tighter. 

5.  I'm a fan of mypoints.  Earn  mypoints throughout the year.  I'll be cashing in my mypoints here soon.  With the points I earned I plan on cashing them in for a $100 Gamestop gc to buy my 2 older boys the hot video games this year.  I'll buy them now and they won't be sold out closer to christmas.

6.  I have my kids write their christmas list the beginning of October.  I start getting in mind what they want their main gift to be.  (As well as listening to all those "mommy i want that's" throughout the year)  Don't go overboard though.  If you do it once or twice then can't do it another year there's disappointment.  Also, if you start shopping early it's easy sometimes to say, well, i have the money so maybe I'll go ahead and get this too.  No, stick your plan. 

7.  If at all possible, don't use a credit card unless your planning on paying it off right away.  The big credit card bills I've heard people talk about that come after the holidays is a major stresser.  Budget throughout the year.  Set money aside.  Start a holiday club account.  Whatever you need to do.  Plus you end up paying interest on your purchases.  

8.  I am NOT a fan of Black Friday.  Sure there's some good deals out there but most of the time the deals are limited to so many per store.  Items are out of stock.  People are pushy. Anxiety sets in when you realize they just sold out of juniors top item on his wishlist then you're searching everywhere for it until 5 days before christmas.  To me, not worth it. 

I know, I know, some of you daredevils say it's the thrill of the sales.  I've heard friends and coworkers say "it's a tradition".  Whatever your reason it's your choice.  Me, I like to relax on Black Friday thinking only about the last few stocking stuffers I need to get and when I'm going to start wrapping. 

Free Stuff, Fun Sites, Contests, and More

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