Guest Post: Adding A Pinch of Glamor To Your Life

Hey guys. I know I’ve been a little lost to the world over the past 4 days (I’m sorry! Ahhh!) But I basically finally had a day off to just chill out and not think about work, and all these days of stressful exam preparations that I just didn’t get time. Fear not, however, because today we have a very special post. 

Today, we have a guest post from the lucky Jackie from the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance and she’s here to talk about something that moves me deeply. Sadly, unfortunately, some of us at some point may hear, or may have heard, the devastating sentence “you have cancer”. Us women often already struggle with feeling comfortable and beautiful in our own skin. But that should not hinder us from being confident and beautiful. So when Jackie contacted me about making this post, I was delighted and jumped at the thought of such a wonderful idea. So here it is:

Adding A Pinch Of Glamor To Your Life

Women who are undergoing treatment after a cancer diagnosis know all too well that it can be difficult to feel beautiful or glamorous. With trips to chemotherapy clinics or mesothelioma doctors, it can be hard to take time to tend to your appearance or complete those little beauty rituals. However manicures and pedicures are a simple way to add a touch of elegance to your daily life. Keeping your fingers and toenails looking beautiful can be a real confidence booster and give you an extra reason to smile when you look down at your hands or feet. Here are some tips on maintaining confidence through manis and pedis.

Salon vs. Home

The simplest way to maintain your manicure is obviously to visit a salon and leave the work to a professional. However, this can get expensive. Maintain your manicure or pedicure at home with just a few tools. For a basic manicure, invest in a bottle of polish remover, a nail file, a pair of clippers, and one or two polishes that you really love. Top and base coat polishes and cuticle-trimming tools may be helpful, but are not absolutely essential.

Selecting Colors

There are obviously a wide array of nail colors to choose from. If you are currently undergoing cancer treatment, you probably do not have the time or energy for a high-maintenance manicure. Hence, avoid metallic or glittery nail polishes, as they can be difficult to remove and maintain. You may want to select a pale color or neutral French manicure as these colors require the least maintenance.

Minimize Chemicals

Cutting down on the exposure to toxic chemicals during treatment is a good idea. You can minimize your chemical exposure by using natural nail products. The main thing to remember is to invest in an acetone-free nail polish remover. Removing nail polish with an acetone-free remover may take a little longer, but is much safer and healthier in the long run.

Some cancer patients may see their nails as the last things that they ought to be worrying about while undergoing treatment. However, a manicure can be a lovely diversion from the stresses of having cancer. It can even make you feel more confident and beautiful on a daily basis. Don’t feel bad about taking an hour or so a week to treat yourself; enjoy the opportunity to boost your confidence and happiness with this fun beauty ritual.

 

Again thank you Jackie for guest posting on my blog. If you would like to guest post, feel free to email me at the email in the information bar on the right hand side.

Find Passion Think Chic

I’ll see you tomorrow

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I’m such a HAULER!!!

Today, I’m going to do a haul for you because this weekend has been a get-out-and-buy-too-much-stuff type of weekend.

I also have a favour to ask! Please put in the comment section what is your favourite make-up brand, do you like hauls and recommend any post you want me to do.

Okay, I’m going to start with the kit essential stuff.

How cute is that sponge?!?! It’s the Pro-Performance Sponge from Mac and it’s really good for foundation (which is what I’ll use it for) and the strange shape allows it to get into the nooks and crannies of the face.

I have MAC’s full eye-lash curler and I was entranced by the idea of the half eyelash curler. I will get back to you on how it’s going.

The thing of the right is the Green Gel Cleanser/Makeup remover. This stuff is really amazing. It’s like a face wash cleanser because it removes the makeup perfectly (however, the mascara doesn’t like to come off with just this so I use some eye makeup remover) and it also gets rid of the excess oil on my face with out stripping it.

This is my new concealer which works SO SO SO much better then my previous one. It is (I think) the Studio Sculpt one in NC30. I’m not 100% sure because I don’t have it next to me right now

And then a Pencil/bullet brush (219) and a Lash Brush (204)

Here are the eye stuff: starting top to bottom, left to right

Haux (a lovely browny-red colour), Kid (a neutral cream-ish colour), Summer Haze (mineralize eye shadow): an amazing all over the lid colour, Bare Study Paint Pot: another amazing all over the lid colour and also used as a high light, Satin taupe the famous and Pink Venus: an amazing shimmery pink

COTTON CANDY: Pink Ombre Glitter Nail Tutorial

Hi Guys!!! So today I will be doing a tutorial on the nail look above. All of the nail polishes I’ll be using is from OPI, but you can use any nail polishes that you like 🙂 You can also do this with any colour in the same ombre glitter way, I just chose to do it in pink because I had the resources available. Along the way, I’ll also but a mini-review of the nail polishes that I used. Also, please request anything you’d like to see in the comments section below.

I’ve seen so many tutorials online, and all of them seem to use glitter powder or something which I think is quite unaccessible and I feel this way is a lot easier and better haha.

Nail Polishes from Left to Right:

OPI Natural Nail Base Coat, Suze and the Lifeguard, Princess Rule, Teenage Dream, RapiDry Top Coat

I ALWAYS ALWAYS apply a base coat to protect my nails from the chemicals in the coloured polishes more and this one is my favourite. So I apply one coat of it onto all of my nails and let that dry before moving on. (As you can see, I’ve used this Base Coat so so much and there’s only like 1/3 left. 😥 )

Okay, so this is my plain pink, that doesn’t really have shimmer/glitter in it. It’s calles Suze and the Lifeguard and I remember when I bought it a year ago, it was absolutely amazing, the colour was just so natural and I absolutely loved it. But then, I kinda just didn’t wear it for a while and now I really dont like this colour but there’s so much left so I dont want to waste it becayse OPI is quite expensive.

So anyways, I apply one layer of this onto my nails and I know its uneven and streaky but that’s okay. (You can apply two layers if you want, but I don’t like my nails to be really thick so I don’t tend to). But this is the perfect pink base because it’s a very strong true pastel pink colour.

Tip: Let each layer dry completely before painting the next to avoid “gooeyness” after you’re done and to avoid smudging.

This is Princess Rule and this colour is amazing, especially on top of the Suze and the Lifeguard one. It has tiny holographic/silvery glitter in it. It’s such a gorgeous colour and the colour payoff is amazing. Haha.

So I paint one layer of it over the top of Suze and the Lifeguard and it seems to fill in the steaks and gaps of the first layer really well.

This is Teenage Dream from the Katy Perry Collection. And I absolutely love this polish. It’s really chunky and the glitter just looks really good on the nail because of its different glitter particle sizes.

This is the “hardest” part. You basically layer on on top of the first two layers so that more of the glitter is concentrated to the end. So in essence you do only half a nail and you just gradient the glitter to create the ombre effect.

You have to wait for the Teenage Dream to completely dry before you progress to this step. This is the OPI RapiDry TopCoat and I love it because I previously am way too impatient and not-bothered to wait for the traditional Top Coat to dry which meant I always messed it up so this RapiDry is SO SO SO much better. However, a disadvantage is that it’s thinner and doesn’t give the shine.

Apply 2 coats of this Top Coat, but if you’re using the regular one, just apply one coat.

THIS IS THE FINISHED PRODUCT.