July 2013 Favourites!

I cannot believe that we're almost in August already! This year has just flown by! Soon I'll be getting my GCSE results and going to college... now THAT'S a scary thought!! But since it's the end of the month it's time to do my favourites for the month of July! There have been lots of things I've been loving this month and a lot of them are because of the heat-wave we've been having here in England! So, lets get into it!

Holiday Essentials!

Tis the season to get sunburnt! Yes it's summer time and this means it's holiday season so I thought it'd be a great time to do a summer holiday essentials post! These are the things that I think are essential when going on holiday and ensure that your holiday is as best it can be!

NOTW 8: Purple and Polka-dots

When I was planning this weeks nail polish look I really wanted a summery polish but there were no polishes I fancied... until I saw my Sinful Colors' Verbena and knew that that was perfect for what I wanted on my nails! This polish was so easy to apply and had a great texture and consistency! It became opaque in only 2 coats and even then the second coat was only to make sure there were no imperfections! The colour is a really beautiful and I think is a great colour for all year round! I added the polka-dots because I felt that just the purple on its own was a bit too plain. For that I just used Barry M's black and a larger sized dotting tool to add detail to an accent nail. I think it makes the design a lot more fun and summery! I really like this design and even though it's simple it's really fun and great to wear everyday!

OOTD: BBQ in a heatwave!

It's been so hot here in the West Midlands for a few weeks now and the other night me and my dad got invited to a BBQ. Now I don't have many things to wear in the summer because it's never usually this hot! So I decided to wear one of the only day dresses I own... AND I LOVE IT!! This outfit was so breathable and cool in the hot weather and wasn't uncomfortable at all!
The dress: I bought this dress from Primark earlier this year. I was so amazed because it was only £7 and for that price I could not walk away! I's a navy blue rah-rah dress with little hearts all over it and I think it's so pretty and versatile as I would wear this on an average day but I also wear it when I need to dress up a bit. I just change the accessories and my hair and it transforms it so well. It's great for me as I'm a lil' bit chunkier so this pulls me in at the waist so nicely while the layers hide my belly!

The shoes: I recently found out I had no pretty shoes that I could wear with tights So that was my next task and I finally found some really nice ones! These were from Store 21 and were at the amazing price of £4.99. Again they're a navy blue and have little white swallows dotted all over them. They are so comfortable and so pretty so I'm really happy I bought these!

Hair: If you follow me on Instgram (my username is Darkeowl ;) hehe) then you'll know that I was super happy about how my hair had dried... (well that's a random topic!) I loved how it had gone so curly naturally and I didn't want to put it up but I also didn't want it in my face! So I decided to have it both ways and put half up, half down. I used a really pretty flower clip from Claires to secure it and hide the hair band I'd put in it! Overall I think it was a really pretty look!

Makeup: I wanted to keep my make-up really simple because it's so hot! So I just used a little bit of concealer and powder and applied some eyeliner and mascara to my eyes. I also used my new Maybelline Baby Lips in Peach Kiss which tastes AMAZING!

So that is my outfit of the day! I really loved the way I looked going to the BBQ (I know that sounds a little bit vein but I don't usually like the way I look!) and I hope this has given you some inspiration for if you're going to a BBQ! Good luck and try not to melt ;)

Thanks for reading, don't forget to take a look at my other posts and have a look at my YouTube channel too! Darkeowl's YouTube Channel.

NOTW 7: Soul Mate

For this weeks 'Nails of the Week' I decided to try out my new Sinful Colors polish in the shade 'Soul Mate'! It's a really beautiful salmon colour on the nails but in the bottle it's little bit lighter. It's very bright and is a really great natural summer colour. The application is ok, however it seems to be quite thick and gloopy which made it slightly difficult to apply and achieve a smooth finish. After the polish had dried there also seemed to be some bubbling in the polish. These showed up as little lumps in the polish but aren't really noticeable unless the nails are looked at closely. This is a bit disappointing though because I don't expect the polish to have any bubbles in it at all! But overall I am fairly happy with this polish even if the consistency isn't the greatest! The colour is worth the bother as the bubbles can be covered up with a top coat and the application can be sorted out with an extra layer of polish! I think I would repurchase this polish if I needed to so I will say that I recommend it!
Also this month I decided to put my 'New Buys' post on YouTube as I wanted to change it up a little bit! So if you want to see that then please click here!

NOTW 6: Sally Hansen Lacey Lilac

This weeks NOTW is the shade Lacey Lilac by Sally Hansen. It's a really pretty, creamy, pastel lilac colour and perfect for spring and summer! In the bottle it looks more pastel and lighter than it applies but on the nails still looks amazing! The formula is great and applies really easily and evenly, it's almost opaque in one coat! I only added the second coat to add a bit more to the colour. On the nail it is quite a bit more vibrant than it looks in the bottle but is still a really nice colour for everyday wear! I think it's a great colour and I will definitely use this polish quite a bit in the future!