I'm not really one for fancy dress but I love a good horror, so I like to spend to my Halloween tucked up on the sofa in a blanket with a good movie; no tricks, just treats.  Speaking of a good horror, I've just finished watching The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix.  I had really high hopes for it after reading what a scarefest it was, how it would have me jumping out of my skin and would be unable to sleep at night.  As much as I enjoyed the series I don't think it was half as scary as it was made out to be, in fact I only jumped once during the entire series and that wasn't even at a ghost, ha ha!

Anyway I'm getting a bit sidetracked here, as I'm not one for fancy dress I thought I'd get into the spooky spirit with some Halloween themed nails.  As a huge Disney fan I decided to go with some Nightmare Before Christmas inspired nails and thought I'd share with you all how I created these Jack Skellington nails.

You will need:

Black nail polish

White nail polish

Top Coat nail polish

A large dotting tool

A small nail art brush

Start off by painting the ring finger nail on each hand white and the rest of the nails black.

Once the white nails are dry, use the large dotting tool with the black nail polish to create the eyes.  Dot the nail polish onto your nail dragging it down slightly to create a more oval shaped eye.

Then using the small brush dipped in the black nail polish draw two small lines between the eyes to create the nose, then draw a curved line along the nail and carefully cross it with small lines to create his stitched mouth.

By this time your black nails should be dry, you can then clean the small brush and then dip it in the white polish to create vertical stripes on each of the black nails.

Then paint your nails with a top coat and you are finished!

I love creating themed nails, they are such a fun way to get into the festive spirit without going to too much trouble.

What are you doing to celebrate Halloween?

Follow me on Bloglovin

Follow me on Instagram

This is slightly different to my usual type of post, but a while ago I decided that I was going to be a lot more open with my experiences with anxiety on my road to recovery on the blog, so wanted to share my experience with anxiety when I got my nose pierced a week ago.  I'd been wanting to get my nose pierced for a while and if you follow me on Instagram you will have seen that I actually ended up getting it pierced along with my mum.  Yes, you read that right, my mum!  I was in utter shock when she mentioned that she'd like to come with me and get it done too.  My mum has always been very supportive of my piercings and tattoos but isn't really one for them herself, or so I thought, until now!  I was thrilled that she wanted to share this experience with me though, and is what has actually lead me to writing this post as I found it really interesting how different our thought processes were before and during the experience.

When I'm about to do something that causes me anxiety I like to prepare myself as much as possible for whatever situation I'm about to put myself in.  For me this meant watching as many nose piercing videos on Instagram and Youtube as I could, seeing every way possible that my nose could be pierced and peoples' reaction to it.  For my mum, who doesn't have anxiety, doing something like this she said would make her more nervous to go have it done but for me I find comfort in knowing exactly what to expect.

On the Saturday morning we went to get our nose piercings, I woke up feeling rather anxious, so did as much as I could to relax myself.  Which mainly involved having a bath, one of my favourite ways to relax, and practicing my breathing exercises (which I was hoping would come in handy during the piercing too).  I had a lot of anxious thoughts racing through my head but after speaking to my mum I realised how different our thoughts were in relation to the piercing.  My thoughts were all situational; What would the place be like?  Would the room be big or small?  Would it be busy?  Would it be hot?  What would the lady who was doing the piercing be like?  What if I had a panic attack?  Whereas my mum's only thoughts were how long will it take?  Could she freeze it before doing it?  How much would it hurt?  

I just found it quite fascinating that throughout this whole process not once had the thought of how much it would hurt entered my mind, yet it was my mum's primary concern.  I was so focused on my anxiety that the thought of the pain of the piercing hadn't even crossed my mind.  This has led me to wonder how different my experience may have been if I wasn't an anxiety sufferer, would I have been worried about the pain involved?  Even during the piercing, and watching my mum getting her nose pierced first (she only agreed to go through with it if she got to go first, ha ha!), the thought of the pain still didn't cross my mind.  I remember feeling really hot and anxious when we got there, so having my mum go first actually worked in my favour by enabling me to adjust to my new surroundings (as silly as it sounds new environments that I have never been in before give me major anxiety), do a few breathing exercises to calm myself and speak with the piercer to get more comfortable with her.  I also mentioned to her that I had anxiety, as I've found this is one of the most helpful tools in managing my anxiety recently, the less I feel I have to hide it the more I am able to relax.  

When it was my turn I jumped up on the bed and before I knew it my nose was pierced!  It was honestly that quick and I just remember feeling a slight pinch when the needle went through.  When I think back on it now, I realise that I was so wrapped up in my anxiety and focused on trying to keep myself relaxed and not have a panic attack that it kind of removed my head from the situation and I barely noticed the piercing as I was so removed from it.  My mum said the worst part for her was when the tiny tube was left in her nose that was used to pull the nose ring through, whereas I didn't feel it at all.  This also makes me wonder if I wasn't suffering from anxiety and had been more focused on the piercing itself, would I have felt that too?  In the end though I am just happy that I was able to manage my anxiety well enough to go through with my nose piercing.  I love it and now can't wait for it heal so I can change it for a dainty hoop.

What is your experience with piercings? Do your nerves ever stop you from going through with something like this?

Follow me on Bloglovin

Follow me on Instagram

Top - Primark

Skirt - Matalan

Shoes - New Look

I'm a little sad to admit that summer is finally over and autumn is well on it's way, but I'm not quite ready to say goodbye yet so I thought I'd share what will probably be my final outfit of the summer.  Deep down I'm praying for a few more warmer days and those last few rays of sunshine as I have a playsuit that I bought in the Asos sale that I haven't even had chance to wear yet.  There's a few warmer days forecast for next week, so I have my fingers crossed, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

I just love how girly the summer makes me feel, being able to swish around in pretty dresses and skirts like this one.  I've actually had this skirt a few years now but I still love it and only ever tend to wear it in summer.  However, as I'm cutting down on my shopping and wardrobe, this year I'm determined to find a way to transition it into my winter wardrobe and get more wear out of it.  For summer though, as it's high waisted, I like to pair it with a nice little crop top and heeled sandals or some pretty little flats.  I actually got these lovely silver flats from New Look in the sale for £7!  I just love the beautiful beading on them and the vintage feel they have to them.  They really complete the "ladylike" look of this women's skirt.

Are you sad to say goodbye to summer or are you happy to be getting all your cosy knits out?

Follow me on Bloglovin

Follow me on Instagram

Top Row: Denim Jacket £30, Disney Body £12, Mickey Vest £12
Bottom Row: Disney Hands Cropped Tee £10, Mickey Crop Top £12 and Cycling Shorts £12, Mickey Mom Jeans £25

Now you must know by now that I love anything Disney, so I am totally obsessed with Boohoo's new Disney range which is available online now.  It is all super affordable too, with the most expensive item being the denim jacket which at £30 still isn't really that expensive.  I'm in love with pretty much the whole collection but the above are my top picks which I think I would get the most wear out of, especially the jeans.  The crop top and shorts set is probably the least wearable to me, but I still love it and would definitely love to rock this outfit for a yoga or HIIT session.  I am also loving this swimsuit and jumper from the collection.

Which is your favourite piece from the DisneyXBoohoo collection?


Follow me on Bloglovin
Follow me on Instagram

Gel Eyeliner, $10 - Esqido*

I was introduced to Esqido a few months ago when I got to try out a pair of their beautiful lashes.  I was super impressed so I jumped at the chance to try out their new Gel Eyeliners.  Just like the lashes they come beautifully packaged in white and rose gold.  I know it's more about the product than the packaging but it really does help when a product is so aesthetically pleasing too.

The Esqido Liner comes in two shades, black and brown and retails at $16 normally but is currently on offer for $10.  Which, after trying it out, I would say is worth every penny.  On their site Esqido claims that this Liner will be "your new holy grail" and boy are they right.  I fell in love with it instantly!

The pencil itself is super smooth and soft and glides onto the skin beautifully, with the most intense colour payoff.  These liners are so pigmented that I barely had to touch the skin to get the sharp line you see above.  There's no dragging liner across your eyes with these eyeliners!  My favourite part of all though is that once these liners are on your eyes they are not budging!  I always have the problem of getting eyeliner to stay put, whether it be when lining my waterline or creating a wing.  I have quite watery eyes and normally it disappears off my waterline altogether after a couple of hours or smudges my wing right across my face.  As these liners are waterproof though, I did not have either of these problems.  After a full day's wear it had not budged.  In fact you better make sure you have a pretty good eye makeup remover to get this bad boy off.

Now you may be wondering how this liner is any good with the precision needed for creating a wing.  Well (and I'm kicking myself for getting too carried away with actually using the product that I forgot to take a picture of this part!), concealed at the very end of the pencil there is the handiest teeniest tiniest sharpener which pops off and can be used to sharpen they very tip of the pencil into a very fine nib giving you the precision you need to create your wing.

What is your "holy grail" eyeliner?  Would you give this a try?

Follow me on Bloglovin

Follow me on Instagram