Today's post is short and sweet. Nude but sparkly!
I used the gold glitter from the "Under the Mistletoe" collection from Colorclub that I luuurve so much, over a non-named nudey colour. I dabbed a bit of the glitter at the base of the nail and then spread it out in mini strokes with a brush!
Hope this post finds you well wherever you are! Thanks for viewing :)
A couple of weeks ago, my sister (Figgy) and I were entrusted in baking our little baby cuzzy a birthday cake for his first birthday! I should point out now that my sister and her friend Lane are champion cake bakers, hence the important request made of them. I was more of a heavily involved assistant in this crafty-bakey adventure and had loads of fun making it!
Figgy has made her own post about the bee cake but I thought I would put my own piccies up. They are eeeeever so slightly different you know! Tehe!
Here's the bakey rundown:
It took many layers of cake...
to get a very special suprise black and yellow layered inside...
this is what black colouring in a cake mix looks like...
a little bit grey and yukky looking (but still tasty I promise!)
we used bright yellow colouring from Asda
and the rind of a few lemons in the mix...
using their juice mixed with icing sugar to pour into holes in the cake layers for a juicy moist lemon drizzle cake!
This is me adding the finishing touches....
After some rummaging in a kitchen drawer I found some suitable antennae! (bag fastener thingys!!)
TA DA!! The finished article! We were assured by the captive audience that it was delicious! I have to say it was pretty spesh! Even baby cuzzy had his first bit of cake
Thanks for checking out mine and Figgy's baking efforts!! If you enjoyed that, you will definitely enjoy Figgy and Lane's blog as they are super duper at baking lovely cakes and they even like doing nails too. Take a look here: http://figgylane.blogspot.co.uk/ plus they have a few more piccies of the inside!!!
Recently I bought a little bargain Nails Inc set at TK Maxx that I just couldn't resist. Moi and Linzi are staunch fans of Nails Inc and bargains!!! 4 came in the sets and they all looked very sparkly and lovely in the box. This one is called Wardour Mews:
I did about 3 layers on these nails (I can't stand anything less than 2 coats innit!) and it turned out to be a slight holo polish (Is it a holo?? Does it count? I've never had one... but for these purposes I shall call it a holo!). It looked pretty cool but I actually think it turns out I'm not much of a sparkly holo girl. Looks stunning but it's just not very moi. Great for you girls (and maybe boys who may read this...?) that love a multi dimensional colour.
Today's edition of A Wig Wam is Not a Teepee is actually a variation of this mani I had on a while ago.... The only difference being that my sister did some little dots with some unnamed nail art pens on top to jazz it up!!
Model's Own Lilac Dream and No 7 gold glitter top coat plus nail art pen dotties
Thanks for reading, watching, responding and commenting. Keep polishing those nails, nail-lovers!!
Depending on where you are looking at this screen and reading this, you may or not be suffering from the dreaded ailment of the summer: HAYFEVER!!!!
For those of you who have it and are in the northern hemisphere, like me you will be having a hellish time in what should be a lovely happy season. In the UK it has come on strong this year. More and more people are having a frankly crappy quality of life as it really can make you quite miserable. To give you an idea: I went through a whole box of kleenex super balm tissues in 2 days with a super streamy nose, and was sneezing twice a minute at least!!
But now I feel SOOO much better thanks to 3 magical products. I will take you through them with the hope that it will help you (or anyone you know with hay fever) in this bittersweet season.
I got this recommended by my uncle who uses a neti pot every day. I think it is used a lot by people who practice yoga and want to cleanse themselves, but it is increasingly being used for sinus problems and allergies. A neti pot is a little genie lamp style thing that washes out your sinuses. Brilliant for getting all the grime and muck out, and especially great for people with hay fever as it clears your sinuses of evil pollen and pollution.
The way you use it is you fill it with warm water and a teaspoon of sea salt (never iodised salt). You should always use pre boiled or distilled water (I have NO idea where to buy distilled water so I use boiled). You then put the end in one of your nostrils and let all the warm salty water pour out of the other one.
This video below is really helpful and shows you how to use it. There are also instructions on the Amazon page on how to use this particular style of neti pot. I use mine every day and it has really made a difference! It can be a bit scary on the first try, but keep on at it and you will notice that you don't feel so bunged up! My nose isn't constantly streaming and I think it's a good idea to wash out your sinuses anyway. Especially if you live in a big city like me where the smog can get a bit yukky and you use the Tube a lot!
2. Pollenna tablets
These are homeopathic tablets that I bought from Holland and Barrett's (healthy food shop in the UK). I think they were around £5.00 for 72 tablets which is ok considering you take 3 a day after taking 6 on the first day. At this point I was so miserable that I was willing to spend a million pounds to feel better! After the initial dose I felt instantly more energised and clear headed. My nose wasn't itching and neither were my sinuses, and I wasn't feeling so drained and tired. As a child I had eczema on my hands which disappeared after homeopathic treatment, but whatever you may think of homeopathy, I do believe that in some cases in can work.Even if it's a psychosomatic thing, as long as it's actually working it can't hurt to try out right???
This last little gem is magic in a pot!!!!! I'm sure some of you may have read in various "How to cope with hay fever" articles that putting vaseline in your nose can help trap the pollen and other irritants before it gets inside your sinuses. I was a bit sceptical of that theory at first so initially thought that Hay Max probably wouldn't work at all and it was all just a clever scam (I was especially sceptical after seeing the £7.25 price tag).
But!! As soon as I started using it, I stopped sneezing every 30 seconds (may I add that I would sometimes triple sneeze.... in danger of inhaling my hair as they were sometimes so violent!) and I felt more in control! I did start using it at the same time as the Pollenna tablets so it's hard to say which one is more effective, but all these 3 things as a combo are working a treat!!
I do have to add that I was already using conventional anti-histamines and a herbal tablet called Quercetin which were not having too much of an effect on me, but I have continued to use them with everything I mentioned above. I am not prepared to feel like crap again!! Maybe they're all working together against the evil pollen tirade on my body or maybe it's just one of them working super hard. Whatever it is they're all keeping me feeling tip top at the moment and I hope that this helps you or someone you know (pass it on to them.. they will be grateful trust me!!)
If you have any questions just e-mail me at email.wigwam@gmail.com or leave a comment below.
So this is just a super quick post to explain the little link that I've placed on my blog on the right, just under the lovely followers section. You may have clicked through and thought: "WHAT THE HELL?! This has nothing to do with nails!!!!" So I am going to explain why I've put it there! It's a link to the Moon Cup website. For those of you who have never heard of a Moon Cup it's basically a safer, more hygienic, cheaper and more eco-friendly tampon style thing. Sounds a little gross but seriously I have never looked back since buying one! (Eek that sounds like a sales pitch. It totally isn't. I just really think more women should use them!)
Together with a few other female friends, we think the Moon Cup is fabbety fab (borderline revolutionary!!) and soo much nicer than tampons! Ok so before everyone is a bit too grossed out I will let you click on the link to find out more if you so wish, otherwise I will stop blabbering on and get back to nail-posts in the coming days!!!
It has been a while since my last post as these past couple of weeks I've been rather busy. I got a random job for 2 days as a Spanish interpreter for some I.T. meetings at a university and have been working in a baby clothes shop. All spells monies!! Yeaaaw! And you'll be pleased to know that I have been furiously applying to lots of nice jobs, which have resulted in a couple of interviews. Please keep those polished fingers crossed for me that I get some good news!!
I have a whole load of photos from new nail stuff I've used, so I shall be realeasing them in posts to come this week.
Last week I tried out some nail decals from the Kkcentrehk that I bought after seeing some lovely ones on Sunny's nails. These are the ones I bought and this is what they looked like on my nails:
If you lot have ever put on fake tattoos when you were younger, you'll have no problem in putting these nails on. All you have to do is:
1. Peel away the top plastic layer
2. Cut out the design you want
3. Soak it in water for a few seconds
4. Pull the design off the paper (I found tweezers to be helpful in this!)
5. Place on the nail.
If the design isn't quite where you want it, you can add a little more water on to the design and move it around. You need to wait for it to dry before touching it again or adding a top coat.
While I think water nail decals are a great time saving idea, I really don't think they are very me. They look cool on other people but I don't think I pull them off very well and I ended up looking a bit tacky! Oh deaaar! Saying that, I still have two other designs to try out from kkcenterhk so they might work out better.
What do you guys think of them??
In other news, I have been busy making cakes with my sister, Figgy. Check out our efforts over here on her own blog. She has a lovely little fledgling crafts blog with her friend Lane so go and check them out for some cuteness, creativity, sparkle and crazy chatter!!
And please please tell me what has been happening in Blogland in my 2 week absence???
I've just won a race against time today!! I found an amazing internship opportunity at a social policy research company and started preparing my application before quickly realising that OH NO! The due date was in 3 hours. Man I haven't written that fast since my final exams at uni. I am on edge and even typing a bit toooo fast right now (I had a full sugar coke and a bana muffin and a banana and a pitta bread and a nettle tea) phew! Anyways I managed to get it in with 3 minutes to spare! So I am winding down by writing this post.
Yesterday I went out on a little shopping/walking trip around London with my good friend Budge who I hadn't seen in months!! We are great shopping buddies as she is good at opinions on clothes and especially make-up. She also has such lovely nice perfect cuticuled nails and I'm always trying to get her to be in this blog but her nails are shy.
Anyways, we wandered into Boots ahem....er... 3 times (yes it was all in search for a well-stocked Essie counter for the elusive Turks and Caicos) and ended up cashing in on the 3 for 2 offer across all their No 7 products. The best thing is that you can use that £5 voucher you receive when you spend over £5 instore. So let me show you what I bought!
In le box
Now, there are 2 reasons why I'm not giving you before and after shots:
1. You can't really photograph what happens with creams very well. It's all about the feeeel baby! 2. I am terrified of having my WHOLE face plastered over the internet. EEK!
So you will have to make do with my descriptions!!
Day cream: Lovely fresh flowery smell and super moisturising. Felt very luxurious compared to my usual non-oil Simple moisturiser.
Night cream: Smooooth on the skin and in the morning I looked refreshed and my skin was so soft! Slightly different smell which is kinda strong I suppose. I liked it but Budge wasn't fussed either way.
BB cream: Normally I use Bare Minerals foundations but I'm getting a bit sick of the same look, and sometimes you just want to look a bit more flawless than the powders allow. This BB cream goes on really well and blended better than expected in all the blemishy bits of my face. It didn't cling to any dry parts either, really moisturised my skin and it doesn't feel like I'm wearing make-up at all. Which I guess is the point! Also cos it has a built in concealer, you don't need concealer under your eyes unless you've really had a rough night the night before hehehe!
Out le box
And all for £20!!! They are all lovely products so I would defs recommend them. Another good thing is that No 7 has quite a good range of BB creams depending on your skin needs: oily/dry/combination etc.
I hope someone out there has found this useful, even without photos!! If you have any questions then e-mail moi or leave a comment below.
After a recent trip to Sally's in Golders Green, I gazed longingly at all the expensive lovely OPI and China Glaze bottles. Row upon row of luxurious colour and not enough casholas in my purse for even one. I sighed and went to the cashier with my singular £1.69 acetone bottle and almost jumped at what I saw in the bargain box. Super cheapos China Glaze!! YES!!
So I managed to purchase a brilliantissimo bottle of China Glaze Midtown Magic. My Mum agreed to be my nails for this post so you lot can have a little look at the colours! It's a dark chocolatey brown as my Mum rightly put it, with a lot of goldy orange glitters inside. You could defos leave it after one coat as it's quite a thick potion this one! Buuuut I never feel like I've properly finished a mani without two coats!
It was quite a tricky polish to photograph as the choclatey-ness is so strong and the glitters like to hide away a lot! I took a few photos in different lights (including, er, bathroom light) Take a look:
To those readers in the UK: check out the bargain box in your local Sally's for a super steal!
To Mummy Wig Wam: Thanks for the use of your nails. Even if you little finger is wonky and likes to stray from the others...!
Hope that is useful to anyone thinking about buying this lovely dark brooding colour. I can't wait to actually put it ON my own nails hehehe!
You will be glad to know that today's mani does not bring a hangover with it. Hooray! I've been seeing lots of very simple manis with a base colour plus glittery bits on top and have been loving the layered simplistic look so I gave it a go:
I used Model's Own Lilac Dream and No 7 gold glitter top coat
Please don't look at the crappiness of the first finger.. I did this in a bit of a rushed/careless manner!
Not sure if you lot can tell that I've been trying to actually take care of my cuticles for once. I have been attacking them with orangewood sticks and cuticle clippers and they're not as dry as usual thanks to a weirdly named product that my Dad* uses called "Mane 'n Tail Hoofmaker." It has actual horses on the front so for a long time I thought it was for horses and I thought he was going nuts. Or at least something declaring itself as a hoofmaker does not sound conducive to softness does it?? But no, turns out it makes your hands and cuticley bits nice and soft!
That's all for now nail-lovers! I'm off to go and pick up my squidgy little sis from the train station :) yeyyyy!!
Wig Wam xx
*He has offered himself to be featured in the blog in a nail-related way (yes that's right. You didn't read that wrong. A NAIL-RELATED way haha!!)soon so keep your eyes peeled for that!!! Watch le space!!
Today's nails are so named because it just so happens that these are the nails of the day and I have a stinking hangover (it is 6.30pm here in London... that's how bad it is!)
They're pretty much the same nails as I had in my last post below, with some added stripes. A great way to update a mani if you just can't be bothered to go to too much effort!!
It's the third time I've used the striping tape I bought from ebay all the way from Hong Kong via this seller. I tried using the tape to create clean lines but even after putting tonnes of top coat it still kinda peeled off after a few hours and ruined the mani! Annoying!! Lots of other bloggers have had similar reports so I reckon the best way to use the tape is for laying it down, painting over the top and then removing them to reveal the colour underneath. You can see a photo of the striping tapes in this post. What do you lot think about striping tape? Any strong opinions out there?
I've also been having fun playing around on Picasa thanks to Alexis from xoxoalexisleigh, which is why the photos look kinda cosmic!! Normally I don't tweak the colours so that you lot can get an accurate representation of the colours I use, but since a black can only really black I played with these ones!
I went to Hyde Park yesterday for a picnic gin and tonic sesh and watched the jubilee concert on big screens. I hate the monarchy and could not give a sheet about the queen, but there was a great atmosphere yesterday so in that way it was a nice day/evening out!!
Here are a few pics of the nails I'm wearing today. I couldn't be bothered to do anything too complicated or time consuming so I opted for a simple row of neon dots with some nail art pens. Actually turned out pretty well as I have had lots of nice comments from friends and weirdly, strangers!
That ring is one of my current faves. I bought it off a topless Mexican guy whose trousers were so low that I could almost see too much if you know what I mean. But he was nice and the ring was so bloody cheap I couldn't refuse (£7 to be exact!) It's a solid piece of turquoise. Bargain!!
I did a random day of work at a market stall in Spitalfields City Farm selling baby clothes today and met lots of lovely people. There were some particular work mates that were a bit noisy though:
Last week my nails get super duper long so I decided to use my new No 7 polish to Barbie-fy them! Those of you in the UK I'm sure you know that the £5 Boots voucher is really handy when you want to buy a polish on a budget. I snapped this one up for a mere £2.50. As with the other No 7 polish I own, I found it to be slightly streaky and needed a good 2 or 3 coats to get a smooth colour. I added some hearts with a white nail art pen to make it extra girly and sickening haha!!
I logged in today to find that I had 50 followers!!! All following and hopefully reading my blog!!!! My blog! My little blog!! Yes, amazing!!! (Can you tell I am excited???)
I am super duper chuffed and grateful :) 50 followers may not seem like a lot to some people, but it is to me. To know that people actually read it and I'm not just chatting to myself about nail polishes is brilliantissimo!! Saves me from looking like a loner blogger!!! Hehe.
So a big thank you to all you lovely people who read it. I really appreciate it!!! Please enjoy a virtual cup of lovely chocomel hot chocolate from the Netherlands as a token of my gratitude.
I've been getting a bit glitter topcoat mental at the moment, so I just wanted to show you how the new limited edition No 7 glitter top coat in gold looks on nails.
The glitter is suspended quite sparsely, so unless you want a little mini coating of sparkles you might need to do a few layers, or simply squish it on top of the area you want it on. Take a look:
I've also been getting up to a little bit of baking for a friend's housewarming:
It was a lovely day and the party followed me back to the train station with armfuls of wine and glasses in a wine carrier. Didn't realise that it's illegal to drink on public transport in London so shhhhhh don't tell anyone!!
