Valentine's Day Nails

This was my first foray into nail art, and I quite like how it turned out, so I thought I'd share how I created these Valentine's Day inspired nails. It was actually very easy so if you're a beginner like me, don't be afraid to give it a try! It's probably too simple to even need a tutorial, but I know that I for one am clueless when it comes to nail art, so here's a step-by-step description of what I did. 

1) To start off I simply painted my nails a base coat and then 2 coats of a pale pink polish

2) Once that was completely dry, I used a tooth pick to dot the brighter pink polish into the shape of the heart. I found it easiest to place a little blob of the polish onto a piece of paper, and then make sure I only had a tiny amount on the tooth pick.

3) At this point, I felt like the heart needed a little defining, so I used a white polish to dot around the edges

4) On my index finger, I used the same pink polish to create "Valentines themed" tips - it's supposed to look like the top of a love heart. I found it easiest to do it in 2 strokes, starting from the centre and moving outwards.

5) Then once that was dry I painted over it all with a top coat

Hopefully that makes sense! I know for some people I'm proabably pointing out the obvious, but I often look at pictures on instagram and think "how the hell did they manage to do that!"

The polishes I used were:

Revlon Colour Stay Base Coat and Top Coat

Essie - "French Affair"

Kit Cosmetics - "High Impact"

Rimmel Nail Tip Colour - "Porcelain"

Let me know if you try out any Valentine's Day themed nail art!

Lauren

xxx

My Style Diary - Summer

Hi :)

I'm currently down in Margaret River enjoying a week off from work. It is seriously the most relaxing place... I just find that all my worries seem to slip away when I'm here :) 

This morning we went for a walk along the beach. It was the perfect weather - warm, but not unbearably hot, so a great chance to get some much needed Vitamin D 

(Apparently I am somehow Vitamin D deficient... weird...)

My lovely Mum was kind enough to take a few quick snaps for me. Not really a blogworthy outfit, but I thought I'd include it nonetheless. This is my "style diary" after all, and it would be wrong to exclude my typical summer attire. These shorts were a bargain find for $5 at a Red Cross clothing sale. I love the cute little anchor patterned pockets!

Summer truly is my favourite time of year. I've been slightly envious of all the northern hemisphere bloggers with their beautiful snowy photos, but I know if I was there I would be wishing for the warmer weather. Summer is just so easy, simple... and I need to remember to appreciate it!

Lauren

xxx

Hat - Sportsgirl

Top - Country Road

Shorts - Lee (from Red Cross Sale)

I just had to include one true colour photo :)

Highlights of 2013

Hello :)

So once again it's been rather a long time since my last post. There are a number of reasons for that, the first (and main reason), is that my parents have taken the camera I usually use for taking outfit photos away with them to Sweden (lucky things!) Secondly, everything has been a little crazy due to the usual busyness that tends to accompany Christmas time, and I just haven't had a chance to sit down and blog.

 Speaking of Christmas though, I hope you all had a lovely day with your family and friends! I certainly did, despite the fact that my immediate family left me at home while they went off to have great adventures in Sweden! (I can't really complain too much, it was my choice to stay home and work... although I can't pretend I wasn't kicking myself the day before Christmas when I was still at work and they were exploring Stockholm!)

Anyway, I wanted to do a little post on the highlights of 2013. So without any further rambling, lets hop right in!

Highlight # 1

Kicking off 2013 in Verona

It was certainly a memorable night, which started with a concert in the Piazza Bra, and ended with spectacular fireworks launched off the Arena. We spent the rest of January continuing our adventures around Italy, so it was a great way to start the year!

Highlight # 2

My Graduation

This was by far the biggest highlight of the year! It was an amazing night that I will never forget. It marked the culmination of 5 years of bloody hard work, and despite having some great times at Uni, I was not sorry to say goodbye to life as a dental student. Don't get me wrong, I did for the most part enjoy my time at uni and made some lifelong friends, but if you're a dental student (or know any dental students) you will understand. Earning a dental degree is a rather torturous process!

Hightlight # 3

Starting my first "proper" "grown-up" job. Despite having occasional low points and moments of "What am I doing with my life??" I have, for the most part, been enjoying it. There are moments when I genuinely feel like I'm helping people, and those moments make it worth it! Although I do sometimes question my career choice (and daydream about other possibilities), I'm proud of what I've achieved and learnt this year and plan to continue learning and improving! 

Highlight # 4

Starting this blog! 

One of the benefits of finishing uni and starting work was that I suddenly found myself with rather a lot of spare time. What better way to fill that time than to finally get around to starting my blog! I was a little apprehensive at first, and I've still only told my closest friends about it, but it's been a great little hobby!

Highlight # 5

Weekends down south

I spent some lovely weekends down south in Margaret River with my family and friends this year.

I can't describe how relaxed I feel when I'm down there. Everything just seems right in the world, and they were just some of the most perfect weekends.

Highlight # 6

My 23rd Birthday

To celebrate, I had a little tea party with some of my closest friends, and it was just a really nice day :)

Highlight # 7

Cooking!

This year I've 

actually started to enjoy cooking and am very slowly getting better at it. It's still something I need to work on, but it's been a step forward!

Highlight # 8

Our 4 year anniversary :)

Highlight # 9

Trying out new places to eat!

Tom and I started a tradition of going out for breakfast/lunch on Friday mornings when we weren't working. They were always one of the highlights of my week :)

Highlight # 10

Seeing Taylor Swift

She was amazing. Enough said :)

Highlight # 11

Christmas

Christmas was wonderful. Even though my parents and sisters weren't here this year, I had a really lovely day celebrating with my grandparents and extended family. I was feeling particularly Christmassy too, partly due to the fact that I was watching so many people's Vlogmas videos on Youtube! (They're my secret guilty pleasure)

* * * 

All in all it was a pretty good year! I'm thinking about my New Years Resolutions now and how I can make 2014 even better!

Happy New Year!

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx

Christmas Gift Ideas - For Her #2

I know it's getting a little late, but I thought I would quickly put up my final Gift Guide post seeing as I'd already made the collage!  These suggestions are probably more for the slightly younger, girly-girl :)

Soap and Glory - The Righteous Butter and Hand Food

Available from Kit Cosmetics, I'm sure that any "girly-girl" would enjoy something from Soap and Glory. These two products have the most amazing smell, are really moisturising, and also come in mini sizes so would make great stocking stuffers or just a nice gift if you're looking for something small. 

"Bird cage noticeboard" from Typo

I actually bought this for myself a couple of weeks ago with the intention of using it to store necklaces and earrings. It's currently sitting propped up against the wall as I haven't had a chance to hang it up, but once I do I'm sure it will get a lot of use! I think it would make a really nice gift - something a little bit different and quirky.

A Cute Mug and Tea

A cute mug paired with some nice tea (or hot chocolate mix if they're not a tea lover) will always make a nice, useful gift. I particularly love to give T2 teas as presents because they have such an extensive selection (and they're packaged beautifully!). Myer has some really cute "Little Miss" mugs at the moment, and Typo has a nice selection too. 

A Nice Toiletries/Make-up Bag

Another cute but useful gift. There's not much more to say about it!

A Lush Gift Set

Lush does some really lovely gift sets over Christmas and if you're shopping for a beauty lover I don't think you could really go wrong with one of these. I would just say that you do need to know what kind of scents the person likes, as some of the lush scents are quite strong.

A Fluffy Blanket

I mentioned this in my last Gift Guide (For Him). A super soft, fluffy blanket is always nice. Probably more appropriate for those in the Northern hemisphere though, seeing as it's a little too warm here for blankets!

A Wall Print

This one is from Typo. Just be a little cautious with this one because you don't want to pick something that will clash with the rest of their decor! (I'd probably save this kind of gift for my sister because I know what she likes and what would go in her room). 

Anyway, that's it for now. You can click

here

for links to where you can find these things.  

Hope you enjoyed!

Lauren

xxx

Christmas Gift Ideas - For Him

Hello :)

Happy Sunday! Here is the second part of my little Gift Guide series, this time "For Him". Let's hop right in. 

An "Easy" Cook Book

For example: Jamie Oliver's "Ministry of Food", or "What's for Dinner?" by Curtis Stone.

Obviously this isn't going to be for everyone, but my parents gave Tom the Jamie Oliver book a few years ago, and he really loved it. It's full of simple but tasty recipes with step by step instructions that are really easy to follow. Great for someone who's just getting started with cooking or who just wants to cook a nice meal without too much fuss (and if you're lucky enough they might even decided to cook something for you! :p)

1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (or Similar)

There's a whole range in this series (books to read, places to visit, songs to listen to, etc...) My Dad loves these kind of books, and he now has quite the collection. This one in particular would be great for the movie buff. 

Wallet

This wallet by

Status Anxiety

is super compact and slimline. Perfect for the minimalist. This was one of Tom's birthday presents this year and he seems to really like it!

Bow Tie

Not much to say about this one, again it depends on the person, but I think it would make a cute gift.

Shower Gel/Shaving Cream/Other Body Products

The

Lush

"Dirty" scented shower gel and shaving cream pictured here smells of spearmint and is so lovely and refreshing. Heaps of other brands have gift sets available if you're wanted to go along with this kind of present, but keep in mind that you probably don't want to get one of the sets with all the silly extras that will never be used. Keep it simple!

Super Soft Fluffy Blanket

Not something you'd usually think to give to a boy, but I've given this as a gift to two guys now and they both loved it! Just make sure it's in a "manly" colour and really soft and fluffy (I think that's part of the appeal).

Bed Bath and Table has some really nice ones, but I'm sure you can find these in pretty much any "Home" store.

Jo Malone Cologne

I wrote about this in my "For Her" gift guide, but

Jo Malone

also does some really lovely scents for men as well. Very luxurious and delicious! 

Beard Trimmer/Hair Clipper Set

I don't know a whole lot about these so not much to say, other than that th

is something my Dad wanted for Christmas, so you never know, maybe other Dad's out there would like this too? The one pictured is the

Wahl Deluxe Corded Hair Clipper Gift Set

and I picked it up from Myer. 

An Interesting Wall Print

Typo

has some really cool and relatively inexpensive wall art available at the moment. 

A Belt

You can never really go wrong with a nice belt. There's tonnes of different styles to suit everyones taste, and it's something pretty safe that you can (almost) always be sure they will use. I've seen some great belts in

French Connection

 and 

Country Road

 lately.

A Cute Mug and some Hot Chocolate Mix (or Tea/Coffee)

I'm giving this to one of my friends this year. I think the Mr Men mugs are so cute, and they're the kind of thing that will always come in handy. Myer has quite a large selection of Mr Men (and Little Miss) mugs this year, so you can choose one suitable for the person you're giving it to. Paired with some nice Tea and

Koko Black Hot Chocolate Mix

, I think it makes a nice gift. 

Anyway, hopefully this was somewhat helpful!

I hope you're having a great Sunday afternoon :)

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx

There's also links to where you can find most things on my

Polyvore page