Models Own Silver and Gold Nail Art Pens

I've been waiting for Models Own to bring out a silver nail art pen for ages! I'm so glad they finally are. Along with a silver, they'll also be releasing a gold. I won these, along with some nail polishes and accessories, from the Models Own Facebook giveaway, so I don't know when they'll be hitting stores, but it should be soon. I did swatch them, but the swatches were so messy, I couldn't bring myself to upload the photo! All you need to know is that they're as opaque as the other nail art pens Models Own offer and I'm very pleased with them. I can't wait to paint my nails a dusky blue and French tip them with the silver. I also can't wait to use the gold for Christmas manicures!

Affordable Alternatives to Designer Perfumes - Perfume Parlour

Last week, I read Kate's blog post and watched her video about the perfumes she ordered from Perfume Parlour. I had never heard of the company before then. Their website design is not great, so I was initially sceptical, but after reading a forum full of happy customers, I decided to order.

Perfume Parlour offers perfume sprays and oils with similar notes to designer ones, but at an affordable price. The 25ml sprays are £8 for one, £15 for 2 and £20 for 3. The perfume oils, which come in a roller ball bottle, come in a variety of sizes. I ordered the 3ml ones to try a couple of scents I'd never smelt before, and they were £2.25 each.

Okay, so firstly, I ordered Body, which is the dupe for Burberry Body. I've compared the two and can report that they are very similar. I like Burberry Body more, but I can't put my finger on why. However, for the price, I'm happy with this fragrance.

Next, I ordered Debate, which is the dupe for Marc Jacobs Daisy. I have a sample of Marc Jacobs Daisy and I really like it, but I don't like this. It's in the same family of scents, but Debate has a note in it which I really don't like. It takes the scent from being a fresh one to a heavy floral, 'old' one. I know Kate ordered this and likes it, saying it's very similar to the original, so it may just be my nose!

I then ordered a perfume oil of Sweet Lime Tart, which is the dupe for DKNY's Sweet Delicious Tart Key Lime. I haven't smelt the original, but I really like this. In fact, this is my favourite of the bunch. It smells like sweet lime, just as the name suggests!

Lastly, I ordered Sweet Meringue, which is the dupe of DKNY's Sweet Delicious Creamy Meringue. I'm not too keen on this one either. I normally love sweet scents, so was expecting to like this, but it's overly sweet, bordering on sickly.

The perfume oils came in these little bags, which are cute.

Even though the perfume oils I bought are only 3ml, I can see them lasting a while (Especially Sweet Meringue, since I won't be using it haha).

P&P is £1.50 or free if you spend over £15.

Overall, I love the idea of Perfume Parlour, but the Debate scent did let me down and has me questioning how similar the rest of the scents are to their originals. 

New Books!

"They say that the cure for love will make me happy and safe forever. And I've always believed them. Until now. Now everything has changed. Now, I'd rather be infected with love for the tiniest sliver of a second than live a hundred years suffocated by a lie.

There was a time when love was the most important thing in the world. People would go to the end of the earth to find it. They would tell lies for it. Even kill for it. Then, at last, they found the cure."

"They say to live every day as if it's your last - but you never actually think it's going to be. You always think you'll have more time. That's what I thought. But I was wrong. The thing is, you don't get to know how it happens. You don't remember to tell your family that you love them or - in my case - remember to say goodbye to them at all. What if, like me, you could live your last day over again? Could you make it perfect? If your whole life flashed before your eyes, would you have any regrets? Are there things you'd want to change?"

 

"When the doors of the lift crank open, the only thing Thomas can remember is his first name. But he's not alone. He's surrounded by boys who welcome him to the Glade, an encampment at the centre of a bizarre and terrible maze. Like Thomas, the Gladers don't know why or how they came to be there, or what's happened to the world outside. All they know is that every morning when the walls slide back, they will risk everything to find out."

"My name is Anna and I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't exist. But I do.

Anna hides her secret diary away each night because she doesn't want to get into trouble for breaking the rules. Life in Grange Hall is governed by rules, rules that have to be obeyed in order to make up for breaking the biggest rule of all. Being born. But when Peter arrives and starts to tell Anna shocking things about the outside world, she learns to question the rules and, with Peter, struggles to escape the past and find a better future."

Oh, I love books, so you can imagine how happy I was when the four books I ordered from Amazon arrived today. I bought Delirium because it was recommended to me by you lovely lot on Twitter. Before I Fall also had a lot of positive ratings, so I thought I'd give it a go. The Maze Runner has some mixed reviews, but I've been thinking about reading it for months, so just bit the bullet. Lastly, I bought The Declaration. I had never heard of it before the night of ordering, but it sounds interesting. The cover is also pretty!

I'll let you know my thoughts on them once read! I'm a little sceptical about the last two, but we'll soon see if they're any good!

Fragrance Direct Haul - Marc Jacobs, Essie, Maybelline and more

I've been waiting to post about this for about a week, but I kept ordering, so had to keep waiting! Let's jump into things. 

The Maybelline nail polish in Nude Rose was 99p. I've been wanting this polish for months, but always resisted it when in Boots or Superdrug. It retails for about £4, so that's a nice little saving. It also looks better in real life! 

Of course, I had to buy some Essie nail polishes! For £1.99, I just couldn't resist. Everyone is talking about these little bargains, so you can't be surprised to see them. I ordered Mademoiselle, A Crewed Interest, Lady Like and Mod Squad. Mademoiselle and A Crewed Interest have the new thicker brushes. Fragrance Direct also have some Essie base and top coats for £2.50, but I never use them, so passed.

I then ordered the Badger Balm in Ginger and Lemon for £2.50 (Normally £4). It smells delicious!

The last make-up item I ordered was Maybelline's One by One mascara for £3.50. I've repurchased many tubes of this mascara and recently bought one in Superdrug for £8.49! I'm definitely going to check Fragrance Direct before I buy mascara from now on. I was a bit sceptical at first because the font of 'One by One' is slightly different to the ones I've bought in Superdrug, but I've been reassured by the people at Fragrance Direct that it is authentic.

My most recent order from Fragrance Direct included Marc Jacobs Eau So Fresh Eau De Toilette set for £24.95. It contains a 20ml bottle and a 15ml refill (With a funnel). How cute is it?! And it smells good. In three words, I would describe it as light, fresh and citrusy. It's my first designer perfume too.

This brings me on to the perfumes I've ordered today (Thanks to Kate for mentioning them!). Perfume Parlour sells perfumes that are very similar to designer ones, but at affordable prices. I've ordered the Marc Jacobs Daisy dupe spray (£8 for 25ml), the Burberry Body dupe spray (£8 for 25ml), the DKNY Sweet Delicious Tart Key Lime dupe perfume oil (£2.25 for 3ml) and the DKNY Sweet Delicious Creamy Meringue dupe perfume oil (£2.25 for 3ml). I only ordered the 3ml perfume oils of the last two because I've never smelt them before. I was initially sceptical because the website doesn't look the best, but I then read many positive reviews from a forum. I will be writing a post on them when they arrive. My mum has Burberry Body and I have a sample of Marc Jacobs Daisy, so I will be comparing them!

Essie A Crewed Interest

Natural light

Flash

I filed my nails right down last night and wanted a light, fresh colour to accompany them. Essie's A Crewed Interest was my shade of choice. I don't own anything like it and it makes a nice change. It looks similar to Barry M's Peach Melba - A shade I've been tempted to buy for months, but didn't know if it would suit me because of my pale complexion. After applying this, I think pale peaches do suit me!

I bought this nail polish from Fragrance Direct for just £1.99. I also bought a few more, which I will show in a haul post very soon (I'm just waiting for my last order to arrive).

Penguin Memory Stick

I wanted to show you my new memory stick because I think it's so cute! It holds 8GB worth of files and you can buy it for £7.99 from here.

ASOS Cardigan

Pyjamas and bed hair, woo!

This is my new favourite cardigan. I wear a lot of simple outfits (skinny jeans and white tops), so I thought this cardigan would spice up and add some colour to my wardrobe. I love how the colours mix in with each other and continue into the next block of material. It was £35, which is more expensive than the usual cardigans I buy, but I had money in my PayPal account, and we all know PayPal money isn't real money ;)

This cardigan may not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you like the look of it, you can buy it here.

Toodles!