OOTD - ...the calm AFTER the storm... (04/09/12)

Hey everyone,

Today's OOTD (my first hihi) is very simple, both in terms of colour and in terms of structure... First off, I'm wearing a plain black shirt which used to belong to my mum, paired with my mint Peacocks skinnies and a pair of black satin ballerinas (forgot where I'd bought these from - Oops...)... My bag may be familiar to those of you who read my London Haul post recently - my black Primark bowler-bag - and I paired it with my New Look black and gold tribal necklace and earrings just to add some "WOW!" to the outfit... I hope you like it!

Peacocks skinnies & flats

Top part - black skirt with minimal statement pieces...

Peacocks skinnies, Primark bag and black flats

In the meantime, those of you who don't live in Malta might not have heard of the great storms that swept through Malta yesterday morning... My house (as well as many others in our street and all over the Msida/Birkirkara area) was flooded and my sisters and I ended up mopping all the rainwater up with towels and large buckets... That's why I'm extremely grateful to have had my new Primark biker boots handy... Pretty AND inexpensive!! (plus waterproof xD) Luckily the worst is over (for now) and today was clear, sunny and somewhat cooler that previous days had been (thank God!!), so all is well once more...

Anyways,

That's enough jibber-jabber.... 

Cheryl

 xXx

Top 10 Nail Polishes - Summer 2012 (02/09/12)

Seeing as how it's (already!!!) September, we'll soon be saying goodbye to our bikinis, beach towels and spaghetti-strap tops, and giving a very warm (or should that be "chilly") welcome to autumn and winter (my favourite seasons, please note). Therefore, to start the heralding of the end-of-summer festivities (because, yes, for me the end of summer brings great joy, as I can't stand summer!), I thought I'd list my top 10 favourite nail polishes for this summer...

The Top Ten

23 - Sundancer

26 - Break Through

46 Wake Up!

55 Let's Get Lost

92 Better Late Than Never

490 Iron Mermaiden

Mod About You

Who The Shrek Are You?

500 Peppermint

10 Deep Coral

1. Essence's Colour & Go polish in 23 Sundancer - you can never go wrong with a bright sunny yellow!
2. Essence's Colour & Go polish in 26 Beak Through - this adorable violet colour makes me think of my beach towel...
3. Essence's Colour & Go polish in 46 Wake Up! - let's face it, tangerine was one of the colours for S/S 2012... I might not particularly like it on my clothes, but on my nails, it's a keeper!
4. Essence's Colour & Go polish in 55 Let's Get Lost - a beautiful aqua colour; quite appropriate, I think...
5. Essence's Colour & Go polish in 92 Better Late Than Never - this amazing strawberry-red is the perfect mid-way colour between red and pink, and reminds me of strawberry slushies!!
6. Catrice's Ultimate Nail Lacquer in 490 Iron Mermaiden - my newest purchase, this awesome duo-chrome colour is very similar to Essence's Where Is The Party, but one crucial difference is the mettallic silver undertone, which adds a slight touch of badassness to the purple/green colour...
7. OPI's Mod About You - I know, I know... Pastels are for spring... I can't help it though, this amazing milky-baby-pink colour has me hooked!
8. OPI's  Who The Shrek Are You? - A summery sour-apple green which instantly draws attention to your nails!
9. Rimmel's Lycra Pro polish in 500 Peppermint - possibly one of the most raved about colours  this season, mint is the perfect way to spice things up without standing out too much...
10. Max Factor's Max Effect Mini polish in 10 Deep Coral - you know you can't have a summery top ten without mentioning CORAL! I love the gold reflects mixed with the bright coral-orange colour!

That's it for the "official" post, now time for some shameless advertising... As you already know, this year I'll be singing with the VOICES choir in the first two weeks of September (I've even got a solo song, if that makes it any more interesting)...This year's theme is Dreams - the concert title is Dream A Little Dream, so you can expect many different inspiring tunes from all your favourite artists! For more info, check out the Voices facebook page here!

Cheryl

 xXx

London Haul (30/08/12)

Hey there to all my lovely readers!!

As promised here's my London haul!

First off I got a couple of bags - otherwise it wouldn't be me, would it...?

My first honest-to-goodness clutch, from H&M. It's black patent and has a gold buckle. Simple, just the right size, and it was EXCELLENT for the evenings to carry my wallet, tube map, London map and other stuff...

H&M clutch (somehow Blogger keeps uploading this upside down -_-) 

Next up is my Primark black handbag... It's not too big, but big enough to carry all my essentials! Also, I love the studded detailing at the bottom, the bag charm and the gold chain detail at the strap...!

Primark handbag

DRESSES!!!! I adore dresses, I love feeling all girly and princessy...  These are all from Primark, they were amazingly priced and all look AMAZING on! :D

Blush-coloured polka-dot dress. The skirt flairs out in the most adorable way!!

My first peplum number.... J'adore!!!

This is the perfect first-date-dress... Cute, flirty, not too revealing... A+

This skirt is somewhat of a novelty for me... I've seen many of these online and in magazines, but never thought I could pull it off.... However, I saw this in H&M and thought I might as well try it on... I'm glad I did, as I love the way it looks on!

H&M sheer polka-dot skirt

This adorable top comes from Primark (naturally). How could I resist this mix of Disney + London + Bargain price?!?!

Mickey <3's LONDON too! :D

Knowing what an insane shoe-holic I am, it is to be expected that I but AT LEAST one pair of shoes... I bought three...

I've been longing for a pair of studded biker boots for ages... Trust Primark to provide the perfect pair!

Yes, I've gone stud-mad... But these studded pointed-toe courts were too cute to pass up!!

A pair of nude courts are a staple in every girl's wardrobe...

Now some miscellaneous items: 

We bought ourselves some in-flight entertainment... :D

Batiste Dry Shampoo from Boots - a true life saver!!

Finally - Lily from Build-A-Bear in Covent Garden

That's about it for my London Haul... In other news, Voices rehearsals are progressing immensely well - we've started rehearsals with the amazing band... Feel free to check out our facebook page for more info on tickets and show dates! I'd really appreciate seeing a lot of you there!

Cheryl

 xXx

NOTW - "Mind The Gap!" (22/08/12)

Mornin', guvnah!

I'm working on my cockney accent today, because I'm off to London tomorrow morning and, seeing as how London is my favourite city, I'm quite excited...

Whilst compiling my "Things to Pack" list, I had the idea to paint my nails in a fitting manner - i.e. a London-inspired nail design.... After considering many options (the Tube sign, Big Ben, London Buses, the London Eye...) I decided on using the Tube map as inspiration, picking out different parts of it and painting them on my nails.

The final result is this:

The parts I used were:

Thumbs -

Index finger -

Middle finger -

Ring finger -

Pinky -

 

That's all from me today - I'll be back with more posts on Tuesday! Until then, look out for some London updates to my facebook page! :)

Cheryl
 xXx 

Poland Haul (21/08/12)

Hey everyone! 

Sorry about the slow rate of posts lately! To tide you over for a bit, here's a mini-haul of the things I bought in Krakow...

Blue cropped blazer

Gold angular bangle 

Silver patterned bangle 

Bronze winged ring

Bronze detailed ring

Bronze leaf-patterned ring

Purple and pink friendship bracelet

Krakow snow-globe - to add to my collection...

Bright coral peep-toe platforms

As you can see, I didn't go too crazy with the shopping, seeing as how we hardly had any time to shop... I'm working on my Poland Exchange post (it's quite long so far), and also a nail polish collection video, so look out for those! :)

Cheryl
 xXx

Review: Catrice Ultimate Shine Lipsticks vs. Catrice Ultimate Colour Lipsticks

Good morning everyone!

Friday the 13th is upon us, and though I'm not particularly superstitious, I did have a bad start to the day today - the power went out at around 05:00, meaning our fans stopped working and sweet slumber was interrupted by the horrible feeling of sweat and restlessness....

Moving on... Today's post is a beauty review starring Catrice's two different lipstick lines - Ultimate Shine and Ultimate Colour.

I currently own 3 Ultimate Shine Lipsticks - 130 Ketch-Me-Up, 200 Get The Nudes Paper and 110 Shy Flamingo - and one Ultimate Colour Lipstick - 020 - Maroon.

While I love all the colours, I must say that I prefer the Ultimate Colour range as a whole, because the formula is less messy and still quite moisturising... In fact my 3 Ultimate Shine lipsticks have started moving about quite alot in the dispenser, making application quite a messy exercise... When they run out I'll replace them with their equivalent colour from the Ultimate Colour Range, definitely!

On an unrelated note, I'm currently undergoing the arduous task of preparing my "List of Things to Pack for Poland"... I've ended up with quite a long list, and am considering a dry-run just to make sure everything fits..... (Hooray for OCD!) Does anyone else besides me do this, or should I be worried?

Also, I'd like to say Congrats to all my friends who've received good O/A Level results! And to those who might not have done so well - don't fret - resits are there for a reason! Don't give up! :)

Cheryl

 xXx 

A Busy Mind is a Happy Mind (11/07/12)

Again, pardon my absence these past few days weeks, but I'm currently bursting with busy-ness (not that I'm complaining, mind you) preparing for a hundred million a lot of different things...

First off, is my up-coming exchange to Poland between the 22nd and 29th July. I'll be representing our lovely island with 3 of my friends, among 9 other countries (Austria, Belgium, Italy, Germany, the UK, Slovenia, Poland, Spain and the Czech Republic). My fellow Maltesers and I have been planning various things for a while now, namely a 10-minute presentation of our country through a medley of Maltese songs and a variety of costume changes... Also, we'll be making souvenirs for each participant, and we chose something simple but original - I'll add photos later when they have been completed...

Secondly, I've been busy with Voices rehearsals for the last couple of weeks. It's an awesome experience so far - and I'm really looking forward to the actual rehearsals on stage and to the final performances!

I've also been hell'a busy at the Salesian Oratory, between Salesian Worship Team activities, meetings and general stuff... and of course I've been sticking in the odd BBQ/girls night out/concert/birthday party/family wedding/reading/writing my short story whenever I can.... And finally, I've been planning a trip to London with my sister and a friend (mainly to watch Musicals, but also coz I <3 London), so we've been researching show tickets, train tickets etc...

As a result, time has been flying past - it's already mid-July!!

I am planning a few beauty-related posts (like a Catrice Lipstick review and an Accessorize haul), but today's post (other than being semi-composed of my life-schedule) is mostly related to my Poland-exchange, for to my immense pleasure, we will be spending the week in the city of Oswiecim (or more commonly known by it's German name - Auschwitz). We'll be visiting the actual Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau camps during the exchange, which I'm tremendously looking forward to (with a mixture of excitement and fear...). Anyone who knows me, knows I have a particular affinity for the second world war (yes, I am slightly deranged that way) - my favourite Danielle Steel book is Echoes, I am currently reading the memoire of a psychologist who spent years in Auschwitz and other camps, and I love hearing war stories, watching WWII-related documentaries/movies etc... Expect MANY photos on the camp and our adventures during that week...

"ARBEIT MACHT FREI" ("WORK FREES") - the "welcome gate" to the Auschwitz I camp

On a totally unrelated note, anyone living on our charming Rock-in-the-Mediterranean might have noticed a steady rise in temperature this past week or so... I personally cannot stand Summer - the only things that make it bearable are half-days at work, and a large number of activities which take my mind off the heat (sometimes)... Today's temperature is 38'C with a UV index of 11(+)  so I would suggest everyone stay inside if possible, and you do dare brave the heat, put sunblock on!


That's all from me for today!


Cheryl
 xXx