Guest Post | Favourite Autumn/Winter Products

Today's post is a guest post from Alex Georgie from her self entitled blog. Make sure to check out her blog!

Hi everyone!

 I’m Alex Georgie and I blog here!

Firstly I’d like to thank Stephanie so much for letting me guest post on her blog. I absolutely love Autumn so I’ll be telling you all about my favourite products this season. Onto the products...

With the colder weather drawing in, you definitely need a good moisturiser on hand (don’t want to be seeing any dry bits!). For this, I love Palmer’s Cocoa Butter. It’s so nourishing, has a lovely scent and this one has an added bonus of gradual tanning. I’m still convincing people that I “just got a really good holiday tan!”

I’m quite the flirt with face moisturisers, I flit between a few but currently I’ve been liking this one from Good Things. It’s not too heavy and I like that it has SPF in it for those bright Autumnal days. Plus this product has none of the nasty chemicals in and the fruity scent is divine!

I love darker polishes for Autumn/Winter and this glossy looking navy one is lovely. This is Collection (2000)’s 12 Blue My Mind. Opaque in one coat and with a pearl finish, this polish has been gracing my nails a lot more recently.

I’m a neutrals girl all year round but I love deepening the look with darker browns in Autumn/Winter, it just feels appropriate! I’ve been using Maybelline’s Colour Tattoo in On and On Bronze as a base, then 'Fiery' from MUA’s Undress Me Too palette all over the lid with 'Obsessed' for the outer corner and the crease. My go-to Autumn/Winter look right there!

In contrast to light, floral summer scents, I like my Autumn/ Winter scents to be heavier. I like this Diesel Plus Plus Feminine one because it’s still quite not too heavy, not too light (great description there Alex!). Like most beauty bloggers, I can’t describe scents but the top notes are bitter orange, lily-of-the-valley, cassis, pineapple and fruity notes.

I feel like I’m committing a beauty crime here including this candle. A sweet candle for Autumn?! No cinnamon, spicy, mulled wine like offering? I’m sorry! I had to include this candle as I’ve been burning it non-stop recently. Now I’d love this to be a Yankee Vanilla Cupcake candle but I just can’t bear to part with that much money for it (...yet) so instead I picked up this cheaper version of it in my local Dunelm Mill. The scent isn’t quite as strong but it smells like I’m constantly baking cupcakes so I’m happy!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this insight into my favourite Autumn/Winter products! 
Check out my blog here for more beauty and lifestyle offerings!

What are your favourite products for this season?

A big thank you to Alex for her great post. Don't forget to check out her blog here. If you'd be interested in guest posting on my blog send me an email: missbeautyblogger12@gmail.com

Guest Post | Half Moon Nail Tutorial

Hi everyone, I’m Megan from Blondes Love Cupcakes and I am delighted to be returning the favour and writing a guest post for Stephanie :) A few weeks ago she wrote a post on how to make a delicious DIY hair mask, so I am writing about what I love best - nails. I hope you guys like my design, and be sure to check out my blog for more nail art and DIY tutorials :)

Half moon designs are all the rage lately with celebs like Lauren Conrad, Dita Von Teese & Beyoncé all sporting the chic design. So here is a super simple tutorial to show you how to replicate it at home! :)

1. Paint two layers of a neutral base coat untill you have full even coverage (I used Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine in Lychee).
2. Once your nails are fully dry, paint on half moons with a super thin paintbrush following where your cuticles would naturally occur. I never use stickers as guides because I hate when they pull up the base coat...but you can if you want! (I used Rimmel Pro No.393 Desire for this).
3. Then draw a thin gold line around your maroon half moon to make it extra chic! (I used NYC New York Minute Full Metal Jacket).
4. Once everything is fully dry, use a topcoat to seal it all and add shine.
5. Show off your glamorous nails to your friends and prepare to be admired! :)

If you like this tutorial please follow me on bloglovin’ / twitter / instagram for more nail art designs Thanks for reading!

If you enjoyed this gorgeous nail tutorial make sure to check out Megan's blog here for more great posts!

Review + Swatches | Selena Gomez for Nicole by OPI in 'Inner Sparkle'

As you may know, I am just back from a holiday in Florida. Whilst I was there I was lucky enough to pick up a few beauty products. The prices there are incredibly cheaper than here in Ireland, especially in terms of beauty products. One item I picked up was a nail polish from Selena Gomez's range for Nicole by OPI. I love me a bit of sparkle, and this shade, appropriately named 'Inner Sparkle', instantly caught my eye.

This is polish is packed with glitter. It includes fine gold glitter, along with larger glitter pieces of pink and purple. It is definitely a shade for girly, glitter lovers! I think this shade would definitely work better as a top coat, to add a bit of pizazz (did I really just say pizazz?!) to any simple nail colour. As with most glitter polishes, it takes quite a few coats to build up. The below swatch took approximately 4 thick coats. It did look very pretty once applied, and the photo really doesn't do the shade justice. I received a lot of compliments too which is always a good sign! 

In short, this is a very pretty shade that would be a lovely addition to any nail polish collection. Is it an essential, ground-breaking polish (not that I know any polish that could really be considered "ground-breaking")? no. However, if you're a lover of all things sparkly, I'd definitely check this polish out.

I picked this up at Target $7.04.

Unfortunately this is not yet available in UK/Ireland as far as I know.