Just Another Manic(ure) Monday!

Hey guys!

Sorry about the horrific dry cuticles! No amount of cuticle oil will sort it out in this crappy cold windy weather! :(

The main thing I love about painting my nails is the fact that it's such an easy way to express your mood at the time or your personality. When I'm feeling like I want to be a bit grown up or sophisticated I'll sport a red, if I'm feeling girly it'll be a bright pink. Today I was feeling playful, silly and FUN! So I decided to create a little party on my nails! These nails really remind me of kids parties and balloons haha, I think it's the bright colours.

Here's how I achieved this nail party:

 Base colour: Barry M's Blueberry Ice Cream

Glitter over top: Two coats of H&M's Confetti (LOVE THIS!)

Thank you for reading! Hope you like these nails! What are YOU wearing on your nails this week?! xxx

MONEY SAVING TIP: Body Lotion Bottles!

Hey :)

Does anyone else always end up throwing away body lotion bottles knowing full well there's more product left but being unable to squeeze the last bit out? Frustrating isn't it! Well here's a handy solution!

Firstly, wash out an old body lotion tub (you know the ones that the Body Shop Body Butters come in?) that'd be perfect. I used a tub that contained Sanctuary Body Butter that I'd used up. Then dry it thoroughly.

Then carefully slice the top of your body lotion bottle off using a sharp knife and chopping board!

Look how much product was left inside!!

Next, use a spatula to scrape out all the left over product and place in your tub!

I did this with two of my 'empty' Dove Summer Glow Lotions and just look how much product I was left with! I was just about to buy another one and now won't need to for at least a couple of weeks! I'm so happy with this!

Hope this was helpful! Have a lovely weekend! xxx

TREND ALERT: Peplum

Hey girlies!

Hope you're all doing well! I'm sure many of you will be aware of this trend already! I think it's so sophisticated, chic and versatile as the pieces I have picked show - skirts, dresses, playsuits, blazers and tops! Here are my favourite peplum picks from the high street!

1. Topshop Basic Peplum Top in Coral. £16.99. Available in UK sizes 6-16. Gorgeous colour for the summer months. Would look great with jeans and sandals in the day or heels at night and could also be worn to the office!

2. Topshop Scuba Peplum Pencil Skirt in Pink. £34. Available in UK sizes 6-16. Not sure why they call it 'scuba' lol?! Love the classy shape of this mixed with the girly barbie pink colour!

3. Topshop Crochet Peplum Playsuit in Off White. £48. Available in UK sizes 6-16. I am in LOVE with this! The perfect holiday piece! I think it would look soo cute with brown, gold or coral gladiator sandals or wedges and accessories! Kind of pricey but looks soo worth it!

4. River Island Navy Pique Peplum Playsuit. £35. Available in UK sizes 6-18. I think this is very Caroline Flack! Could defo see her in it. Again, a gorgeous holiday piece or for warmer nights out at home!

5. Miss Selfridge V Neck Coral Peplum Dress. £42. Available in UK sizes 4-16. This one reminds me of something Victoria Beckham would wear. The height of chic! Love the summery colour too.

6. Miss Selfridge Cream Sheer Lace Peplum Top. £32. Available in UK sizes 4-16. I think it'd be so cute with dark wash jeans and gladiator flats. I love the lace detail, so delicate!

7. Miss Selfridge Eyelet Peplum Jacket in Black. £47. Available in UK sizes 4-16. A great alternative to a leather jacket or black blazer!

8. Miss Selfridge Lemon Textured Peplum Top. £26. Available in UK sizes 4-16. The colour is so on trend for Spring/Summer and the texture adds a cutesy girly effect! Would love so cute with cut-off denim shorts!

9. Miss Selfridge Animal Peplum Top. £26. Available in UK sizes 4-16. We all love a bit of leopard print don't we?! But to avoid looking a bit Spice Girl circa 1995 make sure you keep all your other pieces neutral!

10. River Island White Cut Out Back Peplum Top. £28. Available in UK sizes 6-18. This would look great with a tan and I love the belt detail and cut out back!


Thanks for reading! I hope you like my peplum picks! Which one is your fave? xxx

What I Ate Today!

Hello :)

I've decided to do a post on what I ate today (as the title indicates haha). I really notice a difference in how I feel and how bloated I get when I don't eat as healthy as I should so really try to make an effort to eat as healthily as I can. However, my diet could definitely be improved but life is waaay to short to be calorie counting and stressing over food! These meals are typical of what I eat most of the time.

Breakfast: An apple, a banana and a cup of green tea

I don't have a very active lifestyle at the moment (as I've said before I've just finished my 2nd year of uni and am not working at the moment) so I don't need a big breakfast. As you can see from the photo above, I like my bananas very ripe! And my favourite apples are the Pink Lady variety.

As for the green tea, I swear by this stuff! The Twinings Orange & Lotus Flower Green Tea is my favourite! Green tea is great for overall health - boosts your metabolism, full of antioxidants (which can make you look younger!!) and is packed with vitamins (A, C and E). This variety is doubly beneficial because lotus flower is said to be good for relaxation and relieving stress, is rich is vitamins B and C and can reduce the risk of heart attacks! I drink 3 cups of green tea a day, one with every meal. I can't get enough of the stuff!

Lunch: Tuna, Spinach and Rocket Salad

I love tuna! I would probably have it for every meal if I could haha. This salad contains spinach, rocket, tomatoes, celery and tuna that I mixed with about half a tablespoon of low fat mayonnaise. It was really yummy and spinach is soo good for your hair and skin!

Dinner: Chicken, Asparagus, Petis Pois and Cream Cheese Pasta

Yummy yummy yummy! This was my least healthy meal today because of the cream cheese and the white pasta. Usually I eat wholemeal pasta but I don't think that tastes as good with cream cheese and white pasta does so I was a bit naughty!

Here are some photos of the cooking process:

 I cut the chicken breast into chunks and the asparagus into 2cm (ish) pieces and fried them in a little bit of extra virgin olive oil.

 At the same time I boiled the pasta and, after about 10 minutes, added the petis pois in the same pan.

I then drained the pasta and petis pois and added them to the saucepan of chicken and asparagus. I then turned the heat down to low and added a generous tablespoon of Light Garlic & Herb Philadelphia! Easy peasy!

Thanks so much for reading! What did you eat today? xx

Thursday Therapy - Happiness

Hello :)
Bit of a different, more personal post from me today. So far 2012 hasn't been the easiest of years. I won't go into the exact reasons why but I've suffered quite a few heartaches, worries and disappointments in a very short space of time. These left me feeling loads of different emotions - loneliness, regret, sadness, disheartened, and as if happiness would never come. You know that kind of pure, blissful happiness where you still have problems and worries but nothing can bring you down or steal your smile.

Well after my most recent 'horrible event' something changed in me. I was deeply upset about what had happened and regretful of certain decisions I had made but after the year I had had I just wanted to be happy. Don't get me wrong, happiness isn't something you can just turn on and I spent several days after the 'horrible event' moping around my house in my pjs, crying and not giving many people the time of day. BUT, then it hit me, THAT IS SUCH A WASTE OF LIFE!! And no ones deserves you wasting your life! You can be happy and you will be happy!

I have compiled 10 'Be Happy' tips - things that I have concentrated on during the hard times to help me through:

1. My favourite quote ever: 'You will never be happy if you do not appreciate the things you already have'. This speaks so much truth - if you cannot appreciate what you have how will you ever be happy with what you have. Stop concentrating on what you think your life is lacking and start focusing on the things that you have and that make me smile - family/friends, reading, blogging, walks in the park, animals, cooking.
2. Surround yourself with people that make you feel loved and secure. Don't waste time on those that do not appreciate you. 
3. Talk it out - a problem shared is a problem halved. If there is something specific that is worrying you or making you feel sad then tell someone! It could be a family member or close friend or if you don't feel comfortable sharing it with them then tell a teacher or a counsellor. I promise you it will make you feel better and they could offer you a solution or advice that you hadn't even considered.
4. Fake being happy! Fake it fake it fake it with everything you are until you actually feel it! Trust me, this is so simple but it works. Nothing lasts forever and one day you will feel better but until that day comes, pretend you do. It'll trick your brain into thinking you do actually feel better!
5. Don't indulge your misery! If you're heartbroken don't stay in and listen to sad songs or watch romantic films. This goes hand in hand with the previous faking it tip. Concentrating on your unhappiness will just prolong it and make it worse.
6. Stay busy. Get down the gym, bake a cake, tidy your room, walk the dog. Anything to keep your body and mind busy and not thinking about your distress.
7. Watch a comedy. After all, laughter is the best medicine! (Sorry for the cheesiness!)
8. Be selfish and do things for you. Put aside a bit of time every day (or if you can't manage that then every week) to do something just for you. A nice relaxing bubble bath with candles and music, a craft project, a walk in the park, a shopping spree! Just something that makes you smile.
9. Remain true to yourself. Never compromise your values or beliefs for someone else. This person will never make you happy if you are not your complete self with them.
10. Remember: TIME IS A HEALER. This is the most important one. There are no magic remedies for heartbreak or getting over a hard time but I promise you that one day, probably a whole lot sooner than you think, you WILL feel better, you WILL feel yourself again and you WILL be happy.

I really really hope this post has helped anyone that isn't feeling too great at the moment or is going through a tough time. Like I said, I've had a few pretty crappy times in the last 6 months so if any of you need someone to talk to please don't hesitate to email me (indigoleather@hotmail.co.uk) and I will definitely make the time to reply. BE HAPPY PEOPLE! :) xxx

Image from www.weheartit.com

Just Another Manic(ure) Monday!

Hello readers! I hope you all had a lovely weekend and all my UK readers are enjoying the jubilee bank holiday! (To all my non UK readers, in case you didn't know this weekend marked the Queen's Diamond Jubilee so these few days have been filled with street parties, BBQs, champagne and houses adorned with bunting and union jack flags!) I am spending the weekend and Monday and Tuesday in Sheffield having a lovely girly weekend visiting a friend at uni. I decided I'd jump on the patriotic bandwagon and do myself a jubilee inspired manicure! I know this isn't the most adventurous design I could've done - I first envisaged union jacks on my ring fingers but decided I definitely didn't have the talent nor patience for that so decided to go simple. Hope you like it!

Blue Nails: Blue My Mind by H&M and Blue Glitter by Barry M
Red Nails: Mediterranean Charm by China Glaze and Red Glitter by Barry M 

What have you done to celebrate the occasion? Thank you so much for reading! xx

Current Night time Skincare Routine!

Hello beauties! Happy Friday! Today I bring you my night time skincare routine of the moment! I have been known to be extremely lazy in the past with my skincare. Because I have been blessed with good skin (rarely get spots, not too oily nor too dry, reasonably even skintone etc) it is easy for me to forget to take care of my skin! I have often just used one face wipe to take my make up off at night and another to cleanse, forgetting all about the toning and moisturising steps! I know, I know, naughty me!

Anyway, I've recently begun to get my act together a bit more and have definitely noticed a marked improvement in the radiance of my skin. These are the products I have been using and enjoying lately.

First, I remove the the majority of my eye make up with this oh-so-cheap Boots Cucumber eye make up remover gel and cotton wool pads. It's an absolute steal at around £1.40 for 150ml and definitely does the trick but isn't the nicest eye make up remover I've ever used. But hey oh, you get what you pay for and no doubt about it this is good value for money!

Next step I take a generous amount of the retro favourite Pond's Cold Cream and apply it all over my face, including my eyes, eyebrows and lips with my fingers. I rub it around my face but not in like a moisturiser and then take several more cotton wool pads to remove the excess. I repeat this step a couple of times to ensure all my eye and face make up has been removed. This product is oily so I wouldn't recommend it for extremely oily skin types but my normal skin really enjoys it! And it's another bargainous one at about £4.50 for 50ml.

The final step is toning. I use Vichy's Purete Thermale Refreshing Toner for Normal to combination, sensitive skin. Phew what a mouthful! This one is a bit more expensive at £11 for 200ml but it feels so lovely and refreshing on the skin and I have noticed a difference. Again, I apply a generous amount of this to a cotton wool pad and wipe it all over my face and neck.

I don't follow with an additional moisturiser because the Pond's Cold Cream is sooo moisturising and I still feel moisturised even after I have used the toner so I just don't feel my skin needs it. However, if you do have really dry skin I would recommend this extra step!    

Thank you for reading! What skincare products are you loving at the moment? Please share! xxx