It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas - Ciate Update

I can't believe it's Christmas Eve already, time goes so fast when you're opening advent calendars and preparing for the festive season. This post is going to be a short and sweet update regarding the final doors of my Ciate Advent Calendar. As you'll be reading this post, I'm going to be working in my local bar and then in the evening I'll be spending time with my in-laws and making the most of the time left before my sister-in-law moves country. It's going to be an eventful lead up to New Year. I've already opened a present from my parents since I'm not spending Christmas with them this time and I've been given a beautiful sheepskin rug for my new house to remind me of home. I really can't wait to take photos of it, it's incredibly soft and looks beautiful.

It has been awhile since I updated my Ciate advent calendar so I've received quite a few new polishes since the last post I wrote. I love the variety of colours and all the glitter and sparkles ahead of Christmas. I've already had my nails done for the festive season so unfortunately I can't use these until the New Year.

Behind my remaining doors were:

Chinchilla

Members Only

 Knickerbockerglory

Caviar Pearls - Ice Queen

Apple and Custard

Iced Frappe

Sequin Mistletoe Magic

Talent Scout

and some emery boards.

My favourite colours has to Chinchilla and Apple and Custard. Both are quite unique and I'm really excited to see what they look like on. My least favourite is probably the Caviar Pearls, not because of how they look, but due to the fact that it's quite messy applying them.

What have you got behind your final advent door?

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Ciate Advent Update

It's been awhile since I last posted what I got in my Ciate Advent Calendar and although I vowed to keep a daily diary of my door openings, it all got a little bit too much and I've now decided to open a few doors at a time and show you all the treats.

Behind door four was this lovely little Ciate bracelet. It's simple, cute and would probably go with any outfit this Christmas. A few people have mentioned that they feel cheated receiving a bracelet rather than a nail polish, but I'm a big fan of surprises and wearing this bracelet means I can show off my love for the brand.

5.  Kiss Chase

6. Sugar Plum

7. Fit for a Queen

8. Caviar Pearls - Deck the Nails

9. Knickerbockerglory

10. Amazing Gracie

11.  Pillow Fight

12.  Hidden Gem

13. Loop the loop

From day five onwards, I received a mixture of colours from soft yellows to baby pinks, caviar pearls and lilacs. My favourite colour so far has to Knickerbockerglory as I'm a big fan of bright nails and my least favourite is probably the Amazing Gracie as it's a little bit bland. So far I'm loving my Ciate advent calendar and this has to be one of the best Christmas purchases I have made.

What have you got in your advent calendar?

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Ciate Advent Calendar:Day 3

Blogging about my new nail polishes is becoming something I'm really enjoying at the moment. I spring out of bed first thing in the morning and dive at my advent calendar, anticipatingly opening the door and grinning cheekily when out pops one of my favourite colours. Someone commented on my post the other day asking me what I thought of Ciates nail polish quality and my response has stayed the same ever since the day I bought my first Ciate polish - it's fantastic. I'm yet to find a nail polish brand that I love as much as Ciate. Their colours are vibrant, the bottles are so cute and feminine with the little bows and my nails are usually left chip free for quite some time after application. Ciate have been my top nail polish brand for the last year, alongside my other favourite Nail Inc. 

Today's caption is 'Beauty is Whatever Brings You Joy'. I love that statement. There's nothing I love more than to see people happy and when people are at their happiest they look beautiful. It's a strange combination of my fiance, pole dancing and blogging that keeps me at my happiest and none of them I would give ever want to give it. They make me feel beautiful in many different ways.

The nail polish I received today is this wonderful bright orange colour named 'HopScotch'. I love really bright nail polishes and the colours I'm usually drawn to are oranges and pinks. I think this will definitely become of one my most worn colours - just look at that beautiful colour.

Here are the nail polishes I've received so far. I'm trying to resist opening tomorrows early.

What did you get in your advent calendar today?

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Ciate Advent Calendar: Day 1

A few months ago many of you will remember that I wrote a post about the Ciate Mini Mani month Calendar I bought - that was way back in October and although it feels like yesterday, it's now time to open my first door. For those of you not acquainted with the Ciate Mini Mani month, it's a Christmas advent calendar but with nail polish instead of chocolate. Perfect for those who are looking after their diet and those who have a lust for nail polish like myself. This advent calendar was purchased from the QVC site for approximately £37 back in October, although there's many variations from sites such as Selfridges and the Ciate website.

Behind the first door of my Ciate Mani Month was the a beautiful message 'There's no better feeling than making somebody smile' and the gorgeous little Ciate Mini bottle of the aptly Christmas named 'Snow Globe'. Snow Globe is one of Ciates many elegant top coats and this one is made from sprinklings of holographic flakes. This nail polish evokes the sense of Christmas and is the perfect start to my advent calendar.

I can't wait to see what is behind door two.

Do you have any beauty calendars this year? What did you get?

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Winter Wishlist

Images are from the various companies websites, not my own.

At this very moment I'm currently analysing my bank balance and putting items in shopping baskets online wishing that I could be an instant millionaire. Wouldn't it be fantastic if we had all the money in the world and saving up for clothes shopping wasn't an issue? Obviously my dream millions wouldn't be spent on clothes and makeup everyday, but I know for a fact my wardrobe would look so much better with some more investment.

These impulsive shopping thoughts that are currently taking over my brain have made me want to write a wish list post. There's so many things I really want to buy at the moment and the high street seems full of everything that I'm in love with - tartan and leather are two of my favourite things, both wanting to bring out the rock chick inside of me that semi-disappeared when I was thirteen. Not to mention all the red clothing out and about at the moment. I love the colour red so much that it pretty much dominates my wardrobe.

The first item on my wishlist are the UGG Alloway Studded casual shoes. I've always been so adamant that I would never own a pair of UGGs and when asked of my opinion about them, it was always negative. I think I became too accustomed to seeing chavs walking around town in them and I found the fact that they look like slippers a bit off putting. UGG seem to have really changed their ways lately and I'm finding the newer releases a lot more stylish and I think they're definitely onto a winner with their range of flats. I'm not really a fan of boots and when the weather turns nasty, I'm always wearing my plimsolls and getting my feet wet to the point that they're almost turning blue. I love the fact that UGG have incorporated their warm sheepskin lining into a more versatile pair of shoes. A pair of shoes that can go with most outfits and something you wouldn't usually associate with slippers. At £70 they are a little bit pricey for a pair of flats, but I'm more than willing to spend that much to keep my toes from getting frostbite this winter.

Second on my list is the beautifully striking dress from Fashion Union. I love the red and black mesh combination and I really think it would look great worn on various different occasions. On halloween it could be easily transformed into a red devil outfit and it would also look fab on the lead up to Christmas. I could easily imagine myself wearing this dress on a night out with the girls and most of the time, if I can see myself wearing it so vividly I know I'll have to buy it.

Last Christmas I was absolutely gutted when I discovered my favourite nail polish brand Ciate had released an advent calendar and it had sold out before I had the chance to get it. I went green with envy browsing through bloggers opening the little nail polish doors every day until Christmas and seeing their tiny little Ciate collection be unleashed before my eyes. This year I need to get my hands on this advent calendar or i'll go into despair. Ciate are the nail polish brand I wear almost every single day and I absolutely adore them. The Ciate advent calendars are £42 and can be purchased from the online Ciate shop or Selfridges.

Finally, this last item is from the online jewellery retailer Bijoux Bazaar. I came across a link to their shop whilst talking on the #fblchat this evening and fell in love with their jewellery. Everything looks glitzy and glamorous and all at fantastic prices. This will definitely be next purchase on payday, because at £9 it's a fashion steal.

What's on your winter wishlist?

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Nail Polish Colour Wheels

Before I start writing about the actual post topic, I'd like to pose a question to all my regular followers. In the above image, do I look different? If you answered yes, but couldn't figure out why, it's due to my ever so slight hair colouring disaster yesterday. For a start I picked the wrong colour for my roots and secondly I got so distracted by listening to my current favourite band (The Vaccines) that I left it on a whole 10 minutes longer than it should have been applied. Hence, my hair has now gone almost black. In the picture, I have my lighter hair extensions underneath the dark hair to give it a two tone colour and give the illusion of lighter locks, however without these, it's very, very dark. The change came as a bit of a shock, but now, I'm embracing the rock chick Jessica that left me long ago and has now returned. I'm loving being at the dark side. 

Despite yesterday's mishaps, I've had a really good weekend and to top it off, my nail wheels finally came from China. I bought these on Ebay for £1.37 (including shipping) in hope it would help me organise my nail polish draw. I go through phases where I buy far too much nail polish and end up with multiple polishes that are very similar colours. I've seen lots of bloggers adopting this technique for organisation and I really wanted to try it myself. 

Painting all these colour wheels made me realise that I have over 65 nail polishes - not all nail polishes have been applied to the wheels yet, I'm always buying pink or red colours and a few of my nail polishes have dried out and I didn't realise. 

I love these colour wheels, because I can show them to my friends or family if they ever need to borrow a colour and I can gaze at all the colours from my beautiful collection.

I've also organised the wheels by nail polish brand. The ones that do not have a label are a mixture of brands and my higher end polishes have a wheel to themselves. I love collecting Nail Inc and Ciate.

Crackle polishes also show up on these colour wheels and look amazing! You could also buy additional wheels and experiment mixing various colours. It's great knowing what they will look like before you put them on, if you're in a rush to go out.

Although they take quite a while being delivered, at £1.37 you really cannot go wrong. If you're a nail polish addict or simply want to experiment, I really recommend that you invest in these. They're great for demos if you're a blogger too!

How big is your nail polish collection?

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