a "well done me" present....

The last two weeks have been busy!

I had an interview for an internal post and got it! Well done me. Then I went to London for a few days to stay with family. The day after I got back from London I went to Sheffield for training. I got back last night and after finishing working today I though "I need a treat!".

My manager always wears an amazing ring and although I've noticed it many times, I've never asked about it. So I was in a lift with her in Sheffield and decided to ask her randomly. It was from Pandora and her ex bought it for her a few years ago. I though Pandora just did those charm bracelets and necklaces which I'm not a fan of. But as soon as I could I went on their website and trawled the many pages of gorgeous rings. They didn't have the same style as the one my boss was wearing but there were some lovely designs. I went to the Pandora store today which is around 5 minutes walk from my office and ended up buying this beauty....

It was £100 and the name of it is "190383" (catchy!). I love the design and it will go with everything! I initially wanted the 190140, also £100, but when I tried it on in the store I realised that it didn't look as good as it did on the site. Here is that rejected ring....

There are some other styles I have my eye on but the 190383 will definitely do for now. All the rings can be found on the Pandora site.

Whilst in London I went shopping to Westfield. A huge shopping centre. I was hoping they would have a Forever 21 because I really wanted to have a look at their jewellery but Forever 21 doesn't exist in Westfield (sad face). I didn't really have much time but did manage to check out watches in the Michael Kors store, see my previous post here. My husband quickly ushered me out of there before I could even speak to any Sales Assistant and I ended up in New Look looking for something to make me feel better. I saw this jacket and was reluctant to post the link because it looks horrible on the site, but here it is, Printed Drop Pocket Kimono. In person it is much more relaxed and sheer than it appears on the site and will look lovely with my skinny jeans, boots, and a simple plain top. 

What have you been up to?

My Indian drawer

I have various places where I store my jewellery....

I have a very small jewellery box on my bedside drawer
In my wardrobe I have a basket which holds my Indian jewellery sets, each in their own box
Along the top of my mirror which I use every mornings I have bent hair pins (classy I know!) and hung necklaces  on the pin, this is so I see them ever day and use them (I'm a very "out of sight, out of mind" type of girl
A huge gift/storage box which contains sandwich bags (again, oh so chic!) full of coloured Indian bangles which I tend to not wear so much these days as I prefer to wear either golds, silver, or antique golds, depending on the Indian outfit I'm wearing
A drawer in my dresser which contains all bracelets, bindis, and small jewellery sets

Below is pictures of the drawer that holds many of my Indian accessories....

I like to see pieces as soon as I open my drawer, rather then having boxes with lids on. Tonight I am attending my two year old nephews birthday party and I plan to wear a mainly black outfit with blue and gold in. I will probably wear more western jewellery as that's the style of the outfit. I will take pictures once the outfit and accessories are all together. 

If you would like specific details on anything, let me know.

Oh and if you're wondering, the vast amount of white string in one of the boxes is used for threading through the salwaar part of my Indian outfits and through the top of petticoats for sarees. Would anyone be interested in more details on my Indian outfits?

Shellac nails

After reading a post on Laura's blog (http://www.buynowbloglater.com/2011/10/pink-smoothie.html) on Shellac nails, I was determined to find somewhere local to me. After some research (all I did was google "shellac" and my home town name) I made an appointment. I went this morning and wasn't entirely impressed with the results, but this is solely because of the lady who did my nails and not the actual products used. The whole manicure cost me only £15 which just goes to show you get what you pay for. 

For more information on Shellac go to http://www.nailsmag.com/article/1061/shellac-your-nails. When done well the treatment should last for 2-3 weeks and once removed correctly there will be minimal or no damage to nails.

As soon as I got home I grabbed my Maybelline Forever Strong Pro in Midnight Red, around £4 and went over it. The colour hadn't been applied close to the edge so I had gaps on almost all nails. I then applied a top coat, Nails Inc. Save the Nail 45 Second Top Coat (amazing value at about £4.50 and available at Boots).

I'm currently researching UV Nail Lamps and looking at buying my own, ebay sells ones for as little as £8.99, does anyone know if these are any good? I would then have to purchase Shellac Base and Top Coats as well as colours. I'm quite good at doing my own nails so I'm thinking this is a good long-term option. 

This is the final result....

I still need to tidy it up a bit but I did a much better job than the "professional".

Anyone else tried Shellac?

Recent buys

Yesterday I went to Primark and H&M on my lunch for a look about, and I found these two...

The left is a small bracelet from H&M and it was £2.99. They had a selection of different colours but I don't think you can ever go wrong with black and gold.

The large cuff/bracelet is from Primark and was £3, amazing value as it is very well made, the gold disc is securely fixed as opposed to just glued on which is sometimes what Primark do. I think it is a gorgeous statement piece. The "leather" looks black, but it is a really dark brown.

My makeup must haves

As well as jewellery, I love makeup. Over the past five years I have experimented with some crazy eye colours and a range of pigments, palettes, primers, lipsticks, lipglosses, mascaras, eyeliners, foundations, eyeshadows etc etc....

At the ripe old age of 28 I have now got what I call, my makeup must haves. These are products I either use everyday or use on a night out. Here they are...by the way, this post will concentrate on makeup only. I will be doing another post for skincare.

MAC Select Cover Up is my favorite concealer. In the past I have tried Bobbi Brown Correctors and Concealers (too much creasing) and Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Ultimate Wear Concealer (shade range didn't suit me.

The MAC Select Cover Up provides perfect coverage, doesn't budge all day, and comes in a hygienic tube as opposed to a pot which you constantly dip your fingers in! It cost £13.50. I use this under my eyes and place small dots around my noise, between my eyebrows, and on my chin. Then I blend with my favorite brush...

The Body Shop Retractable Blusher Brush £11.50. This brush is dense enough to blend in the concealer and when working on smaller areas I pull the handle down on the brush as if I was about to close it and stop about 1cm from the tip. This makes it even denser, then I retract fully to blend everything in seamlessly.

My eye primer of choice is no surprise, Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, around £13.

I have used this for around 10 years!!!! I currently have the Sin version which has shimmer to it but once it has finished I will be reverting back to the original as you can always add the shimmer with eyeshadows. However, it takes freakin' ages to get through just one, and about 8 months in I'm still nowhere near finishing.

Next I set my face with MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural in Medium Dark.



This costs around £19 and is brilliant at providing the natural minimal coverage I need. As I now don't ever use foundation I just rely on this to cover what the concealer hasn't. Simples!

I love my brows and often receive comments on how nice they are, I got sent the Benefit Big Beautiful Eyes Palette, around £24, as a present from a friend.

I use the dark brown shade for my eyebrows and the middle taupe shade for for whole eyelid area. I find the shimmer too lights and the concealer is a bit heavy and light in shade for me.

I do tend to swap blushers or sometimes not wear any at all, but at the moment I love Boots 17 Blusher in First Flush (£3.49) applied with the same brush I use to apply the MAC MSF. I love this bright blusher and it seems to last all day and is very VERY pigmented so you have to have a light hand.

Finally I use MAC Fluidline in Blacktrach £13.50 on my upper eyelid, as thin as possible and slightly thicker on the outside. I apply it with my MAC 266 Eyeliner brush £16

.

That's it, all in all this takes me about 10mins or less to do as I do exactly the same thing everyday, as I'm up early for work Monday to Friday I just stick to the same routine.

A trip down memory lane

I was looking through some pictures this weekend and realised it was a perfect place to show some of my collection, so let's have a look...

I had to start with the jewellery I wore on my wedding day, I love it and haven't worn it since (five years ago). Bought in India it was around £200 and also consisted of some earrings which you can't see. And if you're interested, this is a picture of my chunni/duputta. The bangles (known as a churra) were also a major part of the outfit.

Colour blocking at its best!

This is a real Indian gold set which I love, I will be taking closer pics of some of my favourites and this will be one of them as the detail is amazing.

My large earrings from Accesorize (around £12), the stones are a gorgeous grey which matched the outfit perfectly. This was taken Oct 2010 and I prefer to do either necklace or earrings, but usually opt for the former as I find having long curly hair, earrings are usually hidden.

Another Indian piece but this one isn't gold and I have amazing memories of buying this in India, 2006.

Very dangly earrings which annoyed the hell out of me as I was getting my bhangra on on the dancefloor! These were around £5.99 from H&M. The bangles are also a crazy mix of colours which was so suitable for this wedding reception. You can also just about see my favourite clutch.

For some stupid reason I threw this necklace away in a cleaning frenzy last year, not knowing that Aztec was all the rage this summer. £1 from Primark, bought in Winter 2009 on a shopping trip whilst at university, a last minute purchase to go with an outfit that same night.

I spent most of a 2010 holiday in Rome untangling all my long necklaces, and this was one of them. Quite heavy for what it is and it features a collection of "rings". Around £6.99 from H&M.

I love this necklace but it's such a hassle to wear as it takes some messing with to make it look even all the way round. When I originally bought this necklace it has more pearls and rhinestones attached but I wanted to  strip it back to mainly the chains. I can't remember where I bought this, I think it may have been Warehouse, on sale.

Another piece not to wear when you're planning to dance all night is this necklace from my clearly favourite store, H&M, and it was a steal at around £5.99. They currently have the same one but in an orange.

I know, I know, the same top (£7.99 from New Look, Summer 2011). This one isn't very easy to see so I will take clearer pictures. It was 70% off at an Accessorize sale around 3 summers ago and features purple, pink and green blocks of colour.

I hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane. Let me know which ones you would like to see more clearly. And this is just a small sample of what I own so lots more to come.

Hope you're all having a good start to the week.

Watches

I love a nice watch! Although I only have two, and don't go thinking they're by Michael Kors. No, my two watches are very much affordable but I receive compliments almost every time I wear them. Who doesn't like that?

My taste in watches is on the large side, I love big watches, if price was no object I would own these...

MARC BY MARC JACOBS Dave rose gold chronograph watch £425

http://www.net-a-porter.com/Shop/Accessories/Watches

MK5494 Ladies Sport MICHAEL KORS £219

http://www.houseoffraser.co.uk/Michael+Kors+MK5494+Ladies+sport/158729099,default,pd.html

Money is definitely an object to me so these are my two watches

The first is by River Island and is definitely in the style of Michael Kors, which I love. It is by River Island and was purchased Spring 2011, I have not seen these in any branches apart from the one it was purchased it but they do sell similar styles. The cost was £24.99. On numerous occasions people have commented on it and one Sales Assistant in Zara mistook it for a Michael Kors, you can imagine my excitement. 

The second watch is by Fossil, and due to a recent spell of decorating it currently has flecks of white gloss paint on it. A pin on one of the brackets also came loose which, two months later, I have still not had repaired! Fossil also do some amazing pieces, and this one was around £95 and purchased two winters ago. The main colour is a dark rose gold with a peach face.

What do you think of my watches, have you got any high street favourites? 

About my blog

Welcome to my blog.....

I was organising my jewellery this morning and realised "damn, I have a lot!". I felt the only thing to do was to share it with the world. Being an Indian girl I have the advantage of having two wardrobe collections, Indian and English/Western, which ultimately means I have two different collections.

I follow and take inspiration from the likes of Laura of www.buynowbloglater.com and Barbara www.thepersianbabe.blogspot.com. Both have different styles but both have collections I look at with pleasure. In terms of celebrity, I would love to spend a day or lifetime in Rachel Zoe's amazing wardrobe....

http://elodieboutique.blogspot.com/2011/06/rachel-zoes-tips-for-organizing-your.html

I hope you enjoy my blog and looking at my jewellery as much as I do. Where I can I will state prices and names but as many of my items have been in my collection for a long time sometimes the details are long forgotten.