Manicure Monday: Silver Glitter Tips

Hello Princesses!

Today I have one of the most boring looking manicures to share with you - the Silver Glitter Tips manicure. Honestly (I feel like I say this ALL THE TIME) in real life it's an absolutely gorgeous manicure, however when photographed it just looks, ugh.

I love doing gradient tipped manicures, I think having the base of your natural nail showing just looks so elegant! For this manicure I dabbed a plain silver glitter polish down half of my nail, topped off the tip of the nail with a light gold polish (Zoya Godiva) and layered a chunky silver glitter over top for extra sparkle.

What do you Princesses think of this manicure? Too plain?

Blogging 101: Background, Banner and Pages

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be showing you how I create my Background, Banner and Pages! It's actually deceivingly easy, but it does take some patience and trial and error to get your blog looking pretty and even.

Background

First off -  head over to your template tab in your options, and click the orange customise button and then click onto your "Background" tab. From there, you can chose from the built in blogger backgrounds, or to upload your own. If you want to upload your own, you will need to make your own customised background image. 

Depending on what you want your background to look like will depend on how hard it is to fit your background image. Simply googling "Blogger Background" will show you some super cute images, most of which have a simple colour in the middle, and a design on the outer border. This is my personal favorite design, and the design of what I'll be showing you how to make today!

I found this pre-made background design on google. It's super cute, and will be really easy to customise to my blog dimensions because it has a plain white background. Since we will be expanding or shrinking the amount of white background in the center, it's best to chose a background that has a white background rather than a coloured or textured background.

You can try and insert this as your blog background as is, but it probably won't fit. If you've already adjusted the width of your blog in the template settings when you created your blog, have a look at how wide it is. Mine is 1200px. Add about 100px (50 for each side), and there is the length that you should have in between the side image/length of the white. (You can check the distance in Paint). If you want your side images to be further away, add more white. I also changed the pink to a pale lavender using the "fill with colour" option on paint. I'm not fancy with my image editors.

And that's it for my background image! It's even easier to fit the backgrounds if they have a clean straight line down the middle. If you guys want to know how I made my main blog image (from a tiny square to the scalloped edge background it is now) leave a comment down below and I'll make a little/long tutorial because it's pretty complicated.

Once you have your background image, insert it using the "Upload" button in the "Template" tab. Use the center alignment and fiddle around with the tiling and scrolling options to create your perfect background placement.

Banner

Making your banner can also be really easy, or really simple. My first banner was a simple curly font written on paint without any fancy colours or images. The same rules as the background applies for spacing your banner. If your blog length is 1200px long, your banner template should be 1100px long (just a little shorter) otherwise your banner will hang over the edge and onto your background image. If you don't want your banner to be absolutely massive, don't make the text or picture fill the whole template. 

To make the shaped cut outs that I have on my main blog, you will need an account with Picmonkey. Trust me - it's well worth the yearly $33 payment to purchase the upgrade, but you can try it for free before buying.

Create a coloured background in paint with the right dimensions for your blog, or find a patterned background (my main blog pictures are random floral photos) and open it up in Picmonkey. Click onto the Frames tab and chose a shape cut out. Click the transparent check box, chose a size (50%) and there you have your first cut out! 

Save this image, and make as many as these as you want. Then you can use the overlay function to collage them into one image.

Add some text if you want and there you have your simplistic banner!

Save your image and go into your template tab. Click edit to upload your banner.

Make sure to click the "Image instead of text" option unless you want a text header alongside your banner image.

... And there is your simple banner uploaded beautifully!

 Pages

The last thing I'm going to show you is how to insert "pages" onto your blog. Pages are the little links that appear at the top, bottom, or sides of your blog that take you to pages or links.

Go into your Layout tab and click on your first "Add Gaget" button. I chose the Gadget space underneath my banner.

After you click on the "Add Gadget" button, scroll down and chose the "Pages" option. Click the plus sign and then click save. You can change all of these options later to show the pages you've created. 

Now you have your pages installed, you want to make some pages and links for your pages. Go into the pages tab on the left side and click the "Create a new page button" or the New Page button which will take you to a page identical to the normal blog post page. It's a good idea to create an "About Me" page to tell your viewers a little about who you are and what you're doing on your blog!

To create pages that show tagged posts (Nails, Beauty, Reviews etc) you will need to first view your blog, and click the options/tools button beside your pages. This shows you some different options including a button that says, "Add an External Link". To find the hyperlink for your tagged posts, simply click one of the tags at the bottom of one of your posts. Copy the hyperlink at the top of the page and insert it into this little box. It'll automatically update with the posts that you tag under that tag.

Now you probably want to make your pages section look a little prettier, so go back into your "Template" tab and click onto "Advanced" and then into "Add CSS". Add this code into the box and click save. 

.tabs {text-align:center !important;}
.tabs li {display:inline !important; float:none !important;}

(I got this tip from Yomi at Yomistyle (formerly Gwiomistyle) but since she has recently moved domain names I can't find the blogpost link. I do recommend checking out her blog as her blog design tips have helped me out a lot!)

You'll probably want to make the text a little bigger as well, so scroll up through your advanced tabs and click onto tabs text. Mine are 24px.

So thats the basics on how to create your Background, Banner and Pages! ^.^ Next week I'll show you how to do some basic HTML coding for links, pictures and click-through pictures. 

Let me know in the comments below if there is anything you would like to see a tutorial on!

First Impression: The Body Shop Vitamin C Skin Boost

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about a product that I've been itching to try for a while, and since I finally got my grabby hands on a little sample pot I can tell you all about my First Impressions of The Body Shop's Vitamin C Skin Boost!

What Does It Do?

"This instant radiance-booster refreshes and smoothes skin and enhances its natural glow.

• Enhances natural radiance
• Contains light-reflective particles
• Gives skin a silky-smooth finish
• Can be worn alone or under make-up

 

Ingredients

Cyclopentasiloxane (Skin Conditioning Agent), Dimethicone (Skin Conditioning Agent), Cyclohexasiloxane (Conditioning Agent), Dimethicone Crosspolymer (Emulsion Stabilizer), Synthetic Fluorphlogopite (Viscosity Increasing Agent), Mica (Opacifying Agent), HDI/Trimethylol Hexyllactone Crosspolymer (Anticaking Agent), Ascorbic Acid (Antioxidant), Bertholletia Excelsa Seed Oil (Emollient), Tocopherol (Antioxidant), Glycerin (Humectant), Parfum/Fragrance (Fragrance), Ethylhexyl Hydroxystearate (Skin-Conditioning Agent/Emollient), Polysilicone-11 (Film Former), Linalool (Fragrance Ingredient), Limonene (Fragrance Ingredient), Silica (Absorbent), Benzyl Benzoate (Fragrance Ingredient), Citral (Fragrance Ingredient), Aqua/Water (Solvent), Myrciaria Dubia Fruit Extract (Skin Conditioning Agent), Hexyl Cinnamal (Fragrance Ingredient), Citronellol (Fragrance Ingredient), CI 77891/Titanium Dioxide (Colorant)." (1)

This is such an interesting product to try out, and I'm really glad that I picked up a tester size first because I'm totally not sure what to think about this product! As you can see above, it has a thick silicone texture and contains a lot of gold and pink shimmers. The shimmer does translate to the skin, but instead of looking shiny and glittery, it gives you a warm healthy glow which I totally love!

This skin boost makes my skin look healthy, moisturized, glowy, matte, (weird combo right!), and the silicone texture makes for a really great makeup base! It smells like oranges, which to me smells absolutely divine and makes me feel happy in the cold morning while I'm doing my skincare.

However

I don't think it works particularly well as a skincare item. Because of the huge amount of fragrance in this product, I cannot imagine that it would work well with sensitive skin, and a quick look of my favorite skincare reviewing site Paula's Choice Beautypedia shows that she somewhat agree's with me in her scathing review of this product.

"Vitamin C Skin Boost is a silicone-based serum that contains more fragrance than vitamin C (listed as ascorbic acid). In addition to the fragrance, this also contains several fragrance ingredients which only add to the irritation the fragrance presents. Fragrance isn’t skin care and there are plenty of serums with vitamin C that either omit fragrance entirely or contain a much lower amount. This isn’t the serum to choose if you’re keen on vitamin C, especially because there are precious few other beneficial ingredients to be found here. For the money, if you’re concerned about signs of aging and want a serum with vitamin C and lots of other youth-enhancing ingredients, look no further than Paula’s Choice RESIST Super Antioxidant Concentrate Serum." (2)

Would I Purchase This Product?

Maybe! I do love it for a swift boost of endorphins in the morning, but since it's almost $50 here in New Zealand it's a little on the pricier side, (although in comparison to other primers it's right on price target!). A little does go a long way with this Skin Boost and it does give me a lovely healthy glow with a smooth foundation application afterwards. To be honest, if it was on sale I would probably buy it, but for $50 I'm just a little iffy.

What do you Princesses think of this Vitamin C Skin Boost? Have you used this product or something similar before? 

Review: Sasa.com

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about my shopping experience with Sasa! Sasa is an extremely popular store that sells Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Western beauty products and I have no idea why I've never shopped with them before! I decided that I should probably try shopping at different stores other than Roseroseshop and Cosmetic Love who are my favorite stores so that I can try a wider variety of products (as well as let you Princessess know what I think about my shopping experiences!).

Sasa took two weeks to ship to New Zealand, which is pretty standard. The box actually took another two weeks to get to me because it got a little lost and ended up in the international holding area! *sigh* NZ Post. I'm not super impressed with the packaging of the products to be honest. They were packed neatly into a bubble bag and then into a box of Styrofoam chunks. Nothing was broken, but if anything was made of glass (nail polish bottles, foundation bottles, skincare etc) then it would be so easy to break as opposed to being individually bubble wrapped.

I've had these items for about a month, so I'll be giving you my brief first impressions on all of the products! ^.^

Holy sweet cheesus these have gorgeous packaging! They are totally up there with my Etude House Etoinette packaging (I'm a sucker for pretty packaging!)

Creer Beaute - SAILOR MOON Star Power Pencilliner - $9.60

This pencil is everything I wanted Etude House's Creamy Drawing Show pencil to be and more. It's a soft white (not too harsh for waterlines), creamy with subtle shimmer and amazing packaging. If you love Sailor Moon or just cute products and packaging, I totally recommend this pencil!

Creer Beaute - SAILOR MOON Star Power Liquid Liner - $12.70

My favorite Holy Grail liquid eyeliner is the Dolly Wink Black Liquid Liner - but this is a serious competitor for the Holy Grail status! It does have some glitter in the formula, but I can never really see it on my line, so that doesn't bother me. It's easy to use, lasts all day and does not smudge. The pretty packaging doesn't hurt either! ^.^

Creer Beaute - ANTOINETTE Liquid Eyeliner + Mascara Set - $20.40

I'm actually really disappointed in both of these products. The mascara works really well for voluminous fluffy lashes, but it is really sticky, so whenever I blink I can feel my lashes trying to hug each other. The eyeliner is ok, but it smudges on my oily lids, so I won't use it very much. These products are probably suited to people with non oily lids I guess! It's such a pity because they have gorgeous, elegant packaging!

Candy Doll - Cheek Color Duo (Peach Pink & Rose Pink) - $17.80

I love this cheek duo! The peach pink is super pigmented, blends fabulously and lasts all day even on oily cheeks! Also the packaging is just plain beautiful. I will totally be collecting the rest of the colours!

Heroine Make (Kiss Me) - Lasting Mineral BB Cream - $12.40

This is an absolutely lovely BB Cream! It's fairly pale and very warm toned, which means it does a fair job of matching my pale warm toned skin, and when I'm feeling lazy I'll slap this on and it'll match me well enough (as long as you don't look closely at my neck!) Its has a nice soft matte finish and doesn't get too oily throughout the day. Also the packaging is SO CUTE. Can you see a theme in the haul?

 Ok, how seriously cute are these little endangered animal lipsticks?

Ok so the bad news is that these are absolutely TERRIBLE if you have dry or flaky lips. They settle into the fine lines on my lips and make me look tragic. :S Some shades are worse than others, with the Orange bear looking the worst, and the Pink Dolphin looking the most flattering. They are quite pigmented, glossy and appear a little brighter than the bullet looks. 

Beyond SPF8 Save Us! Lipstick (01 Pale Pink) - $13.90 

 Beyond SPF8 Save Us! Lipstick (02 Pink) - $13.90

Beyond SPF8 Save Us! Lipstick (03 Beige) - $13.90

My seal came to me a little damaged :C I was actually surprised that all of the others were ok, because lipstick is so squishy and fragile!

Beyond SPF8 Save Us! Lipstick (04 Orange) - $13.90

 EOS - Lip Balm and Hand Lotion Limited Edition Collection - $10.10

I've been very curious about EOS for a long time since New Zealand doesn't sell that brand and finally went ahead and purchased one of their lip balm and hand cream sets. I'm not actually too disappointed in this lip balm despite it's huge hype here! It's fairly moisturizing, smells amazing and comes in a highly portable little ball. I think the hand cream is even better, because it's so highly fragrances (a total plus for me) and portable, plus they are in cute pastel colours! I think they're a little overpriced (especially when you see them being sold in NZ for $20) but they're good products nonetheless.

3M - Nexcare Thin Acne Dressing bonus pack (Free face oil remover film) -$6.00

I've also been interested in these acne dressing patches for some time! I'm TERRIBLE at picking acne and scabs (which results in more scars) so these were actually a godsend for me. They helped my cystic acne calm down as well, instead of staying a huge sore red lump for two weeks, they were large for two days and then gradually disappeared over the next two weeks. I've already run out, so next time I'll be buying a bigger pack! ><

What I Love

- Great range of products

- Genuine Authentic products

- Fairly priced products

- Average shipping time

- Lots of sales
- Pick/earn samples

What I Don't Love

- Products unsafely packaged

Final Thoughts

I thoroughly enjoyed my shopping experience at Sasa! I thought that they had a fantastic range of products for very fair prices and they seem to be having a sale 24/7. I will definitely be shopping there again!

Have any of you Princesses shopped at Sasa before? What was your experience like?