Halloween Nails!

Here is a super quick tutorial on how to get some super cute Halloween nails! They aren't exactly the most complicated thing in the world but they are simple and just add a little finishing touch to your outfit! (Side note - This weeks OOTW will be up tomorrow due to me being at the doctors all morning and then at hospital for the majority of this afternoon!).

Step 1
First of all you want to prep your nails - I always opt to buff my nails to make them all smooth just because it makes the nail polish sit a little nicer on my nails and I also sorted my cuticles out as they seriously need seeing too!

Step 2
After you have prepared your nails, you want to add a red nail varnish, this doesn't have to be done neatly at all as you will be ruining them anyway in a minute! I recommend doing one hand at a time as you have to do the next step not long after applying the varnish. You also only need to do one coat of the red nail varnish.

Step 3
Now you need to get a tissue or a cloth and dab your nails and just completely make them look horrible like in the picture above! 

Step 4

Now you need to add black nail varnish on top, and repeat step 3. Once your nails have fully dried you want to take a clear nail varnish on top to make your nails smoother and to finish the nails off. Leave to dry, clean up around the nails where you have overspilled the varnish and your done!

I know this is only simple, but simple is good right? I promise I will do my OOTW post tomorrow, today has just been so hectic!

Love

Emma Victoria

xoxo

Liebster Blog Award Nomination!

Yesterday, I had a comment on my weekly overview post from Deborah from Hellcat Vintage, and she nominated me for the Liebster blog award! I have in fact already been nominated for this once before, (this was back in January, you can read it here) but what's the harm in doing it again! I also want to thank Deborah for nominating me, makes me feel like people do in fact appreciate my blog!

As said before in my previous post, this is an award for bloggers who have 200 followers and less. 'Liebster' which is a German origin word, stands for 'dearest', 'loving' or 'favourite'. The rules of this are that - you must answer the 11 questions given to you by your nominee (in my case, the questions Deborah has asked), you then have to nominate 11 other upcoming bloggers (and notify them on their blogs!) and then write your own 11 questions for them to answer! So lets get this underway!

*UPDATE* - I have also been nominated by Stephanie from Stephanie Maverick, so I will also answer her questions below Deborah's! 

My Questions from Deborah

1. Why did you decide to start blogging?
 I started blogging cause a lot of my friends around me kept nagging me to! Everyone was interested and intrigued in my style, but I also introduced some of my personal life into the blog for myself to a) vent and b) for people to learn from my experiences and for them to be able to talk to me, if they need advice!

2. When did you first fall for vintage/rockabilly fashion?
Well, I first began becoming interested into the whole scene when a once close friend of kine (sadly, we are no longer friends nor are we close) introduced me to Imelda May back in 2008. I completely fell in love with her, the way she dressed and the way she did her make-up. Only in the past 2 and a half years have I really begun dressing in this style of fashion, and personally I feel it complements my figure perfectly and I get so many compliments! I bought my first swing dress back in 2009, for a retro family party, and ever since I haven't stopped buying them! Vintage and Rockabilly for life! 

3. If you could meet anyone from any time period, who would it be?
Oh gosh, this is a tricky one. There are many people I'd love to meet, but I think one that stands out for me, has to be Nan. I am extremely close to my nan, and she was a teenager back in the 50's, I would have loved to have seen how she dressed, her way of life, her job, her family and most of all her social scene. Especially compared to the modern day, times have changed so much. I would love to have seen how she reacted to everything in those days eg introduction of rock and roll, segregation, etc.

4. If you could meet any fictional character, who would it be?
Because I am so super obsessed with Alice in Wonderland recently, I'd love to meet the Mad Hatter! He is so eccentric and crazy, I'd love to have a tea and cake with him!

5. What is your favourite food?
My favourite food at the moment has to probably be raspberries with Marshmallow Fluff. I've no idea why, but its becoming a seriously worrying addiction.

6. You win the lottery... what do you do with the money?
I think it depends on the amount, I'd like to ideally donate half to my current work, as what they do for disabled children is amazing and they deserve as much funding as they could possibly get! With the rest of the money, I'd love to set up a retro and rockabilly store, ranging from accessories  clothes and including old vinyl's and old vintage pieces people no longer want.

7. Do you have a guilty pleasure? Do tell...
Oh gosh, what is my guilty pleasure... It has to be watching Spongebob Squarepants at any possible time I get... Its pretty sad, but when I'm feeling a little low that programme always cheers me up!

8. If you had to wear one outfit for the rest of your life, what would it be?
I'd probably have to pick my cadillac skirt from 'What Shall I Wear Boutique' and my white top with black polka bow, along with my black patent heels!

9. Where if your favourite place to vacation?
I think it depends, I love going to different places all the time, whether its in the UK or abroad. At the moment, I'm seriously in the mood for saving up and doing a tour of different places in America. 

10. When you were little, what did you want to be? Did you accomplish that dream?
As cliché as it sounds, I wanted to be doing something to help others and benefit them. And I am pleased to say I've been doing this for 4 years now. I help train children in wheelchairs with mental and physical disabilities how to play wheelchair football, I work as a teaching assistant and personal carer and training in speech and music therapy to help these children and adults further who have disabilities.

11. If you were stuck on a deserted island, what one luxury would you want to have with you?
I think it depends on whether you are alone on the island or not, if you are then I'd chose for someone to be there with me, generally because then I wouldn't be alone and 2 people is always better then one. If its a material item, I'd probably choose a tent, generally because then I'd have shelter before finding somewhere more efficient and convenient on the island.

My Questions from Stephanie

1. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?

I'm not quite sure! I'd love to be in New York probably! I'm going away with my best friend Charlie in January for a week to New York, but I've also been before! 

2. Whats your favourite lipstick?

This is a toughie, I tend to have phases where I wear different lipsticks – currently I’m obsessed with the Seventeen lipstick in shade ‘Hollywood’, it has a gorgeous blue undertone to it, and it reminds me more of a deep rouge color rather than a bright red lipstick!

3.When it comes to eyeliner, do you wing it, smoke it or not use it?

We should all know the answer to this with me… I obviously wing it! I don’t do a huge wing on my I do a subtle little flick just at the corner of my eye!

4. Dragons or Unicorns?

It has to be unicorns! Just because I generally live in a fantasy bubble… And Unicorns are cute!

5. If you could meet anyone in the world from any time period, who would it be?

Oh gosh, there is so many people I would love to meet… But I’d love to have met (as cliché as it sounds) I’d love to have met either Jayne Mansfield or Elvis (just as he became super famous).

6.Do you prefer your hair up or down?

I think it depends on my mood, if my hair looks like rubbish, then I will have it up, just so it doesn’t look too bad! But I like to have half my hair up and half my hair down. Every day though, when it’s not super-hot, I like having my hair down so it can flow in the wind!

7. On vacation do you wear dresses and skirts or jeans and shorts?

Well because I live in dresses for most of my life, cause I’m pretty obsessed with dresses, so it’d only be right to say dresses and skirts!

8. Sandals or flip flops?

I prefer sandals, just because they are a little more stylish rather then flip flops. But if I’m going to the beach then I’d probably say flip flops.

9. What is your feel good summer time song right now?

Recently after feeling pretty low and super unhappy I’ve been listening to The Playtones – Too Bad song… Especially with my disaster of my relationships, this song pretty much sums up the past few months.

10. What’s your favourite nail polish called and where is it from?

Currently I’ve been exploring a lot of the Barry M Hi-Shine Gelly nail polish, I’m in love with the colour ‘Blood Orange’ – it’s a deep red and I love the shine on your nails when its dried!

11. What do you want to get out of blogging & where do you see yourself a year from now?

Most of all, I want to enjoy blogging, and I want the people who read my blog to enjoy it too. I want to help inspire people who may be struggling with their personal life or maybe just want to stand out a little more with their fashion. A year from now, I’d like to have possibly built my blog a bit better then it is now, possibly open a blog shop, and some time in the near future to do giveaways (possibly when I get to 100 followers). Most of all, I just hope that a year from now I’m still blogging, and people are still reading my blog!

The 11 Bloggers I nominate for the award

1. Stephanie - Stephanie Maverick
2. Elle - Elle Dees Beauty
3. Amna - ASQGenerates 
4. Becca - WonderColourBehind A Frosted Window 
5. Leigh - i m l e i g h 
6. Kayleigh - Kayleigh's Beauty Fix
7. Anja - The Ramblings of an Honorary Rascal 
8. Lauren - Laurelbay-Bird
9. Harjit - Testing Panel
10. Daphne - Peanut Butter and Chocolate Life
11. Marlee - Beauty by Marlee

My 11 Questions to my Nominees

1. If you had to pick one beauty product for the rest of your life, what would you choose?
2. What is your overall lifetime goal?
3. What would you rather wear, if you could chose only one for the rest of your life... A t-shirt and jeans or a dress?
4. What do you like to do, to cheer yourself up when you feel really sad?
5. Fashion wise, would you say you dress in a particular way, such as a music genre?
6. What is one thing you could never live without?
7. Would you prefer heels or flats?
8. What is your favourite, book, tv programme and film?
9. If you had to live in any time period (apart from the modern day) what would you pick?
10. If you could be one person in the world, who would you be?
11. What have you learn't from blogging, and what have you learn't about other people from it?

Much Love

Emma Victoria

xoxo

Weekly Overview; 7th July

My oh my! I am adoring this beautiful weather! It gives me even more excuse to wear one of my gorgeous dresses! Its the time of the week for the weekly overview, and today I'm writing outside because I cant bare to be inside with this weather!

My baby boy means the world to me!

Today All day I've just been sat in the garden and now I'm just watching the tennis while I write my blog! As you can see in the picture I'm having a no make-up day (I have some silly spots again so need a make-up free day to get rid of them!) and just relaxing with my dog, who is really struggling in this heat! Poor Freddie!

Monday I have some errands to run, and I need to go to Sainsbury's with my mum to buy some stuff for my birthday cake and possibly an air bed as I have 2 friends staying round on Friday night! Otherwise, I will spend the day relaxing and doing paperwork outside *yawn*

Tuesday I need to plan my OOTW, and get it all sorted! After, I'm not quite sure! I may do some of the cleaning and tidy my room and possibly hang some pictures on the wall, which I'm still undecided whether they should be on the wall or not! 

Wednesday My mum starts baking my birthday cake today, so I said I'd help her, as it's a little complex! I also have the shopping being delivered, so I need to put that all away, as well as book a table for Friday! I will also be cutting the lawn and doing some gardening as my garden is so messy!

Thursday I have a pedicure and a manicure to look forward to! And I also have booked myself in to get my hair cut, as its getting rather long now, and you can't really see the layers! Yay! My brother has scouts in the evening and I need to start sewing his name into some of his clothes as he is going on a scouts jamboree the first week of August! I also need to get my dress out and need to start looking for a new suspender belt as my favourite one sadly broke!

Friday ITS MY BIRTHDAY!!! I'll be 18 years old! How time fly's! Today is a relatively busy but also relaxed day! I have a lay-in to around 8am-8.30am and my mum will make me some pancakes for a special birthday breakfast! And then I can open all my birthday presents and cards, my dad will also be taking the day off work, and my brother has an inset day from school! We are all going out for a family lunch to celebrate and then in the evening I am going out for a meal with my friends, and also have some friends coming over to stay! (I will probably have a drink, seeing as I'm legal... It'd be rude not too.)

Saturday My family have decided we are having a barbecue so its probably just another relaxed and chilled out day!

So, this week is pretty relaxed and chilled, but knowing my luck, loads of things will pop up and I'll end up being busy again!

Much Love

Emma Victoria

xoxo

Would You Rather; Beauty Tag!

Okay so I actually have the day off work, as I have lost my voice and have a horrible cough, because I work with disabled children I have to be careful if I'm poorly! So as I'm sat at home I thought I would blog to you all! I rather cheekily have stolen this beauty tag from my lovely friend Stephanie's Blog, (please check out her blog, its rather lovely!) and thought why not, as I'm feeling icky!

1. Would you rather lose all of your mascaras, eyeliners, lipsticks, and lipglosses or lose all of your palettes and eyeshadows?

I'd much rather lose all my palettes and eyeshadows because they aren't really essential for my everyday basic look, while eyeliner, lipstick and mascara is! 

2. Would you rather chop off all your hair or never be able to cut it again?

Honestly, I'd actually chop off all my hair, cause then I can go through the process or having loads of different styles as it grows, and considering my hair doesn't take that long to grow anyway, and I always seem to have a habit of changing my hairstyle a lot anyway!

3. Would you rather have a coral cheek or a pink cheek? 

Hmm, this is tough. I'd probably say coral, my skin tone seems to go well with a mixture of colours, and pink may come out a little harsh against my skin tone compared to coral. 

4. If you had £1000 to spend, would you rather buy clothes or make-up?

We all know that I seem to have a some what obsession with clothes, so the answer is completely obvious. On a ratio, I'd probably spend about £700 on clothes and the other £300 on make-up.

5. Would you rather apply lipstick as eye-liner, or eye-liner as lipstick?

I'd probably choose eye-liner as lipstick, as most of my lipsticks tend to be bright red or neon pink... not sure that'd look too good on my blue eyes or not... thoughts?

6. Would you rather only shop at MAC or Sephora?

Umm, well I've only been to Sephora once and that was the one in Times Square, New York, and I've never used MAC products either.

7. Would you rather only use one eye-shadow colour or one lip colour for the rest of your life?

I'd probably just use one lip colour for the rest of my life, and that would be my Maybelline Super Stay 24 hour Lip Colour in Red passion! Red lips are the best thing to finish and complete an outfit!

8. Would you rather wear winter clothes in summer or summer clothes in winter?

To be perfectly honest with you, I do in fact wear some of my summer clothes in the winter! I genuinely wear my summer skirts and dresses in the winter just adding tights to keep my legs warm! I don't tend to have many winter clothes and if I do, they are genuinely just jumpers to go over a top or something!

9. Would you rather wear dark nails or bright nails all year round?

I love to have bold and bright nails, bright pinks, reds, purples and all sorts, so I'd definitely choose bright nails! I love my bright Mavala nail polishes, as they don't tend to chip too easily and the pigment of them are just fantastic!

10. Would you rather give up your favourite lip product or your favourite eye product?

I'd prefer to sacrifice my favourite lip product amazingly enough! I never tend to wear lipstick without my Soap and Glory 'Supercat' Eyeliner, so I'd definitely give up my lipstick rather then my eye-liner!

11. Would you rather only be able to wear your hair in a pony tail or a messy bun?

I think messy bun, I tend to wear my hair in a messy bun more then I do a pony tail nowadays. I find it easier and it just gives that 'rush and ready' look!

12. Would your rather never be able to paint your nails again or never use lip gloss? 

I'd love to not keep painting my nails, I rarely use lip gloss as I prefer lipsticks the matte stay of lipsticks I prefer to gloss as it rubs and comes off much easier. So I'd probably say never use lip gloss!

13. Would you rather shave your eyebrows and have none at all or sharpie them in everyday? 

I'd rather shave off my eyebrows and have none at all! I never highlight my eyebrows anyway, but it just saves plucking them all the time to keep them neat. 

14. Would you rather live without makeup or nail polish?

I'd rather live without nail polish, I tend to use make-up more then nail polish anyway, and it'd be easier to not keep painting my nails anyway!

As I said above, pretty please have a look at Stephanie's blog, its so lovely! My next blog post will about my new nautical Betty Boop pyjamas, which are so super adorable! Lets hope I feel better soon!

Lots of Love

Emma Victoria

xoxo

Summer Shopping Haul!!

I promised you I'd do a haul! And here it is!! I have been super busy lately with party planning, building furniture for my room and work, that I have had to do all my shopping on-line. Never the less all the things I have bought are absolutely beautiful, and I have my mum to thank for introducing me to SimplyBe. 
Okay, so first of all, SimplyBe is a clothing company that caters for the non size 0 people of the community like myself! (They sell from sizes 14-32!) I am in fact Size 14-16 in SimplyBe (size 16 depending on the cut of the clothing around my bust area!).

So lets start with the beautiful clothes I bought! All the clothes this haul are from SimplyBe as mentioned above! I absolutely loved the Joe Brown range, it was so retro, and I just had to buy something! So lets start with my new denim gilet!

I absolutely adore this waistcoat/gilet! Its the perfect accessory to any outfit, whether its a dress or a pair of short/trousers and a cute tee! 
On the image on the left you can see the frayed detail on the arm hole. The colour of this jacket is a denim wash, and its the comfiest denim gilet in the world! This item is perfect if you are trying to achieve a rock chic/festival sort of look! This is even more perfect if you have  problems with finding these jackets to fit over your bust, this has a stretchy material so it is easy to fit over your chest and to button this up! You can wear this unbuttoned or buttoned up and you will achieve the perfect rock chic look! You can buy this for a nice round price of £30, this gilet will last you a while and it wont be part of the 5 minute fashion fad!

The next item is the Joe Browns Legacy Print Dress, now this item didn't actually look how I expected it to look when it arrived; in the catalogue it showed a pale purple (like the image on the right) but when the dress arrived it was a much more deep purple, however I was still very much in love with this dress! This has a sweetheart neckline which gives you a lovely cleavage, this dress also has a ruched area on the bust by the neckline, which also has buttons (however these cannot be undone). this dress pulls in at the waist perfectly, giving you a stunning figure. The skirt on this dress has a dipped hem, and is perfect to wear with a white flowy cardigan and a pair of wedges for a cute summer look. At the back of the dress, it also has a ruched area on the back, to pull in the dress to extend your stunning curvy figure! I bought the legacy print dress for £38.

The next item is the gorgeous Joe Browns Meadow Swing Dress, this out of all the items has to be my favourite!! I am a sucker for floral swing dresses, and if I could afford every single one I probably would buy them all, sadly I am not that rich... yet! Moving on, this dress has a mustard yellow sort of colour in person but always comes out brighter in pictures! The flowers on this are different shades or pinks and the green is a deep green. This dress is a dream to wear, it has a small slip skirt underneath the material, so another extra little bonus there! There is no zips or buttons on this dress and it has a stretchy waist so if you have any concerns about the dress fitting, may your worries be taken away! I bought this beautiful dress for £45 but it is worth every single penny, the quality of the dress is amazing, and this product washes really well, and also super easy to iron as well, just needing a quick press on the skirt!

The last clothing item I bought was this lovely floral 'Pick of the Season' tunic dress. You can wear this as a casual sort of dress or for a special occasion  it fits lovely to your figure, pulling in at the waist. This dress has a scoop neckline, and is made of a light material so its perfect for hot weather! (Not like we get much hot weather in the UK!) You can buy this dress in Red or French Blue. I bought this little beauty for £38 and I adore wearing this little number with a cardigan and some cute little flat pumps!

Now onto the accessories bit! This is always my favourite bit, adding to an outfit! So lets begin with the lovely pair of cat eye sunglasses I bought from the kitsch Bow and Crossbones...






I bought these lovely 'Trixie Pin-Up Rounded Cats' Eye' Sunglasses for a lovely £8. I bought these in white, because I already have a black pair of Cats Eye sunglasses. This pair are super sturdy and are the perfect accessory for the sun or to just prop on your head to finish off a hair do! The lenses are a deep shade or black/purple and work really well with all my Swing Dress'! 

The next is this lovely mini Tote Bag (Woodland), again from Bow and Crossbones; I bought this in the clearance sale. I bought this for £1.50. I like to call this my mini Bambi Bag! I love the design on this and the handles are really sturdy when carrying small but heavy items. With all my babysitting duties lately, I have had to work with a pram and a 3 year old to go shopping, and yes its not easy! But I always get the little 3 year old involved in shopping but getting her to put things in her bag, and when we get to the checkout we empty out and see what she's got! Such a fun little game, and a handy little tote bag! Highly recommend this little bag, cheap, cheerful and super retro!

These are my new favourite shoes! You would've have seen these in my OOTW this week! I bought these amazingly comfy and stylish summer wedges for £18! I never tend to buy shoes from shops such as New Look, Peacocks etc because I like to buy my shoes from the shoe shops! However, these are an absolute exception, I've been looking for a pair of black wedges for a while as my white pair don't tend to go with all my outfits! I was a bit dubious with the height of these as I like low heels instead of higher ones, but these are so comfy! I can wear these for hours and have no pain in my feet at all! These are very much styled like flatforms except with a super small arch! So easy to walk in, and this is someone who walks in small heels instead of high ones! The black material is made of suede and has a cap for your heel at the back and an ankle strap to make sure they stay on your foot, especially if you go and do some dancing! 

I bought these lovely photo frames from a lovely little shop in my local town called 'Emma Louise' now she sells Sass & Belle products, which these are, in that shop I paid £5.95 each, but you can buy these Oval Portrait Picture frames for £4.95 each from the Sass & Belle website! I didn't mind paying that little extra cause the lady in the shop is the absolute sweetest woman in the world! I have pictures of me and my 2 friends who mean a lot to me in these frames on my windowsill! 

I also bought this lovely little Cream Rose Heart Wreath, which is also from Sass & Belle. I bought this for £3.95 from Emma Louise, but you can buy this also from the Sass & Belle Website for £4.95. This so cute and sweet!

The last item I bought was this retro 'Make Chocolate Cake, Not War' coaster for my bedroom, I'm going to buy one of these each month for my room, as they have a selection of many different ones! I fell in love with this one, because lately I have been doing so much baking of cakes and breads and all that, that I thought this would be perfect! I love the colour and the simplicity of this lovely little retro coaster, and for only a £1 from Bow and Crossbones! 




So that rounds up my huge haul which I've been promising you for a while! I shall hopefully be blogging more and I have some new ideas to blog you with! Hope you enjoyed this post, sorry its a tad long!

Much Love & Well Wishes

Emma Victoria

xoxo