Nomads Spring/Summer Collection 2011

 Today the sun is shining, it's not too cold and the spring/summer Nomads catalogue came in the post! It's definitely getting more springlike by the day. Those of you who have never heard of Nomads need to have a look! It is a company selling very bohemian clothes which are just perfect for the summer. Many of their clothes are actually one of a kind as they are handmade. They are also very ethically sound. Anyway I thought I'd show you the things in the catalogue that I really wanted as I flicked through it this morning!

Cut Out Flower Tunic Dress - £42.50
This dress is lovely and is available in black, pink or purple. The neckline is a beautiful cut out flower pattern and the dress is the perfect length to wear either alone or with leggings as shown in the picture. Get one of these from here.

Spiral Maxi Dress - £37.50
I fell in love with maxi dresses last summer and am looking forward to being able to wear them again in a few months! This pretty dress is available in pink, green or brown and I love the pattern on them because it is slightly different than what you usually see. Get one here.

Peacock Halter Neck Dress - £34.90
First off, the colours on this dress are to die for. The pattern is also pretty awesome! I love the style and length of this dress as well, this might be the dress I push out the boat and buy! If you feel the same you can purchase one here.

Paradise Maxi Skirt - £32.50
While I was obsessed with maxi dresses last year, I never tried out a maxi skirt. I love this one, it's really summery and looks perfect for those super hot days. I wouldn't wear that very daring top with it though! It is also available in black and can be bought here.

Multiway Skirt Dress - £34.90
You get the best of both worlds with this one! You can wear it either as a dress (on the left) or a maxi skirt (on the right). Very tempting because it is basically two items of clothing in one! It is available in rust (left) or green (right) from here.

Salsa Tie Dye Dress - £49.90
This one is available in expresso (as pictured), purple and turquoise. I love the tie dye print on this dress and am especially in love with the brown one! The length is perfect as well. Get yours here.

Floral Mini Dress - £24.90
Its a cute one this dress. It's quite short to be wearing without leggings in my opinion but sometimes needs must when you're overheating in August! Anyway I really like this little dress. It's also available in turquiose.

Bollywood Organic Cotton Tunic - £37.50
This looks really lovely and slightly different from the other tops I wear with my skinny jeans. It's also available in coral and turquoise but I just love the way the colours blend together on this one. It is beautiful. Order one yourself from here.

Striped Babydoll Dress - £22.50
The colours on this dress are just amazing. The colours do vary though so that's maybe not the best reason to get this dress. I love the shape of the dress too and its quite cheap compared to the other dresses! Get one from  here.

Thai Scarf With Pom Pom Edge - £6.90
Last but not least we have this beautiful, eyecatching scarf. It was really difficult to choose just one scarf from the range as Nomads always carry a wide range of beautiful scarves, jewellery and bags. I urge you to check out the rest of the collection!

You can check out the rest of the Nomads range on their website here.




Do you feel summery yet?

Billiesue

Spring is on its way!

Need proof? I took these photos yesterday in the countryside and it made me excited for the approach of spring.

More proof that spring is on its way... Lush have just announced their Mother's Day products so I'm going to give you a tour around the range!

First up we have similar ballistics to last year but in different scents. If you didn't see the Lush Mother's Day range last year, they are flower shaped ballistics on sticks.. very cute. So this year we have Avobath, Space Girl and Vanilla Fountain and they cost £3.60 each for 110g.

Avobath is the ballistic to choose for waking up in a morning in my opinion! It's full of zesty lemongrass and mashed up avocados which soften the skin. It's lovely to have this as an option because many mums don't like girly, flowery or sweet things (e.g. mine!).

Space girl is much more girly ballistic! It smells like love hearts in my opinion but Lush describe it as blackcurrant fruit pastilles. Either way it is wonderfully sweet and girly.

The last flower is also a sweet one, Vanilla Fountain. This is the same scent as Vanillary perfume and Vanilla Puff Dusting Powder. It's more than just vanilla to my nose.. more like toffee!

This is the Happy Mother's Day gift and it consists of one of each of the flowers in a vase which is actually two Keep It Fluffy Ballistics. These are a lovely vanilla and jasmine fragrance, girly but luxurious at the same time. This gift is all held together by a cute little knot wrap. You can bag one of these for £18.50.

This is Tiny Hands. Lush are well known for their solid products which need less (or no) packaging and are therefore more environmentally friendly. This is a solid handcream which means no pot and so no plastic! It is full of argan oil, aloe vera, cocoa and shea butters to soften your hands, especially if they are dry or cracked. The fragrance sounds lovely too, vanilla and mild florals for a nice girly smell. These are £3.95 for 60g.

The mamma mia day gift box makes a refreshing change in my opinion because this year it is not dominated by sweet, pink and girly things. This box contains The Olive Branch shower gel which is a gorgeous gel with a mediterranean style scent of mandarins and olive oil. Creamed Almond and Coconut Smoothie is a really softening smoothie which you use in the shower and it smells like cake to me! I use it for shaving mostly but I love how softening it is on the skin. Miranda is another softening product which smells of refreshing and zingy kiwi fruits, it is one of my favourite soaps that often gets overlooked. Sugar scrub is a fennel, ginger and lavender smelling scrub that is excellent for cellulite. Finally there is a Tiny Hands solid handcream as described above! This box is £19.96.


So I hope that's given you some Mother's Day ideas or even some ideas for things to buy yourself!

Billiesue

Weeks Wants!

Time for this weeks wants! I actually started writing this yesterday but I forgot all about it and fell asleep so I'm finishing it today instead! There is no theme this week so these are just bits that I've found during the last 7 days.

1) China Glaze Knotty Nauticals Anchors Away Collection - £46.93 from Amazon

Look at these pretties! I've seen these on lots of blogs recently and really want some of my own. They are perfect colours for the summer. Get yours here.




2)  Etchy Heart Knit Jumper - £21.99 from New Look

While spring is on its way, it's still cold enough to wear jumpers! I think this one is really cute and girly in an understated way. It's lovely and I think I would get a lot of wear out of it! Get one here.









3) My Chemical Romance T Shirt - £13.99 from Amazon

I couldn't afford a T Shirt when I went to see My Chemical Romance last week which is a shame because I love having a T Shirt from each gig I go to. I think I'll be getting one of these even if it is too late! You can get one too from here.



 



4) Ocean Colour Scene Mosely Shoals T Shirt - £18 from MAM

Same reason as above for this one! I'm definately going to be getting one of these when my money goes in! Get one from here.









5) Love Solid Perfume - £7 from Lush

This is an absolute must have for me! I absolutely love this fragrance and have the small sample vial from when it was in B Never. It is also the same fragrance as Love soap from a few years ago and Fizzbanger Ballistic from the current range. Cinnamony, appley goodness mmm. Get one here.











6) Winnie The Pooh Tea for One Teapot - £18.75 from Whittards

How pretty is this? I always drink tea on my own so a teapot for one is perfect for me. I love the shape of it as well and it is a bargain at £18.75 instead of £25! Get one here!









7) Crayon Pen - £3.99 from I Want One Of Those

Major love for these pens! Just look at them, they are amazing. Get one for your own from here.








8)Gothic Mickey Mouse T Shirt - £60 from Disney

Gothic and Disney, not two words I would usually put together! This T shirt is just amazing. I love the diamantes that make Mickeys face, I love the colours and I love the grumpy look on his face! I do not however love the price.. get one from here.






9) Peace Studs Belt - £9 from Claire's

I love this belt a whole lot. It appeals to my inner hippy! I wish I could head down to Claire's and snap one up but I can't. You guys can though!







10) Betty Rouched Bow Brown Leopard Ballerina Pumps - £22 from Accessorize

I used to be addicted to different designs of Ballerina Pumps and the addiction never totally left me. How pretty are these? They would be perfect in the summer with some skinny jeans and a nice floaty top! Get a pair from here.







Is there anything you're desperate for at the moment?

Billiesue

Raving about Lush... Again!

So today I want to tell you about how great Lush Sweetie Pie shower jelly is! I woke up late this morning so thought a refreshing shower would do the trick. I grabbed the first thing I found in my Lush stash and it was Sweetie Pie shower jelly. I actually love this jelly but have not used it in ages. It is a gorgeous purple colour with a slight sparkle to it and so it's irresistibly girly! The scent is exactly like Comforter bubble bar to my nose, a comforting blackcurrant smell like Ribena. For those of you who have never used a shower jelly all you do is break a bit off and smush it into a shower puff, sponge or scrubby gloves. Add water and you get a lovely thick lather. Shower jellies are Lush's way of being environmentally friendly as they have less packaging and are also free of nasty preservatives. I layered the fragrance with Comforter Lotion and Comforter Solid Perfume and now I keep getting wafts of the comforting blackcurrant smell. I'm ready to face the world!

You can get some of this wonderful jelly from your local Lush store or from here at £2.85 for 100g and £5.70 for 240g. As a bonus, if you collect five of the plastic pots that the jellies are kept in or the black pots that creams/lotions/shower smoothies etc are kept in you can get a free fresh facemask!

Billiesue

Current Nails!

I did my nails last night before bed and fancied black, what with me regressing back into a 16 year old emo and all! My addiction to nail varnish won though this morning when I decided it looked a bit boring and wanted to liven it up a bit. This is Stargazer Black Nail varnish with OPI Katy Perry Collection Last Friday Night on the tips. This is the first time I've used the Katy Perry varnish and I was surprised at how much the blue came through when it was over a black base coat as most of the swatches I've seen just look silver. I quite like this look, the glitter being just on the tips makes it look a lot more sophisticated than it would have if it had been all over the nail. I had one small problem with this design in that the Katy Perry varnish was peeling off like glue even after a clear ELF topcoat. It was easily solved by putting some more topcoat on and bringing it over the top of the nail.

Billiesue

A Week of Gigs and Wonderfulness!

So I have had a very hectic week! On Wednesday I went to see the lovely Russell Howard, on Friday I went to see My Chemical Romance and on Saturday I went to see Ocean Colour Scene. Those of you who know me well will know that the My Chemical Romance gig was the one I was most looking forward to but I thought I'd give you my opinions!

Russell Howard was absolutely hilarious. I don't know what to say. One of the things I love about him is that he just comes on and he's in his T Shirt and jeans and it's just him. There's none of the flamboyance and glitter like comedians such as Noel Fielding and Russell Brand (don't think I'm being hypocritical though.. I love the flamboyance!). Anyway I fully recommend going to see this guy. I'm not going to tell you any of the jokes because I don't want to ruin it for anyone else who is going but it was a top evening!

I'm going to do it in the wrong order and talk about Ocean Colour Scene next because I have a feeling I will ramble on for hours about My Chemical Romance! I bought the tickets for this for a present for my big brother, he introduced me to them years ago with the album Mosely Shoals. The first half of this gig was that album in its entirety and it was really good. I knew all the words and had a good sing song! The second half was their "hits" I suppose but I didn't know any of them. It was still really good though and encouraged me to go home and listen to some more of their stuff. It was also a bit more mellow and relaxed than the previous night which I am about to tell you about!

The thing you need to know about me is that I have always been an emo deep down! Green Day and My Chemical Romance have been my favourite bands since I was about 15. I saw Green Day last year and so I was extremely excited to see these guys! I bought the ticket for my younger brother for his birthday (I know, I buy my siblings awesome birthday presents right?) and of course I went with him. They were supported by Lost Alone who I was not hugely impressed with but I did like a few of their songs. They seemed like quite a small band who weren't used to playing such big arenas. The Blackout were next and they were fabulous. I knew a few of their songs already just from watching Kerrang a lot but I would never have bought a ticket to one of their shows. Anyway, I was wrong because they were really good. One of my friends has kindly lent me one of their albums so it will be going on my ipod! I really love how you can go to a gig and see a support act that blow you away. It happened at Green Day when I fell in love with Frank Turner and now I've found another band that I love! Anyway.. back on topic:

It actually started with "Look Alive Sunshine" which is the starting track on their newest album, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. It ends with the line "Killjoys, make some noise!" and then they launched into Na Na Na. This was the start of a couple of hours of dancing, jumping around, singing and shouting at the top of my voice. I was in my element. Personal highlights included Welcome To The Black Parade which I think was the equivalent of Jesus of Suburbia at Green Day. When Green Day launched into Jesus of Suburbia last year we all shouted along with our fists in the air and meant every word. For me Welcome To The Black Parade was the same and the atmosphere was amazing. Another highlight for me was The Ghost of You which was amazing. He told everyone to light up and the effect was beautiful:

The atmosphere again was amazing as we all swayed and sung. A nice rest from the jumping around I can tell you! They finished on Cancer and at this point all the lights went off and it was just Gerard Way and his voice. It was really beautiful and fitted the song perfectly.

The encore was my favourite song on the latest album, Bulletproof Heart. As you can imagine, I was made up! I never wanted it to end and while it probably didn't beat Green Day's gig, it was a close second! I had real trouble picking out my favourite moments from it because the whole night was amazing. I'm going to have an equally hard time picking a photo to end on because I took so many but I think this one will do.

Billiesue

Wednesday Wants - Valentines Special!

Wednesday wants has been gone for a while but it's back now with my pick of the best valentines products! Everyone is loved up this week but you can enjoy these whether you've found that special somebody or not.

1) Frog Prince Ballistic - £2.75 from Lush

This cute little froggy smells of jasmine, neroli and rosewood and makes for a perfect aphrodisiac. It also contains cocoa butter and almond oil to leave your skin lovely and moisturised. This can't be bought online anymore but pop into your local lush store and pick up one before they're all gone!






2) Love Dipping Adventure - £17 from Hotel Chocolat

For the perfect romantic night in with your loved one.. or for a luxurious treat for yourself! This is two chocolate dips, one white and one milk, with a variety of bits to dip into them. Simply melt the chocolate dips and then use the biscuits, almonds, truffles and more to dip in them. Mmm bliss. Get one from here.


3) Valentines Cupcake Pyjamas - £7 from Tesco

Any excuse for some new pyjamas right? These are so cute with the heart and cupcake design. I may have to purchase a pair! Get yours here.








4) Heart Sandwich Cutter - £1.99 from Lakeland

Now this is just cute! While you waste quite a bit of sandwich.. the cuteness makes it worth it. I don't know about you but it reminds me of a cheesy romantic comedy where a girl makes her boyfriend some sandwiches and they open their lunch box at work/school and awww.. Get yours here.





5) Spray Heart Raglan - £30 from Topshop

I absolutely love this jumper and wish I could afford it! Its girly but not ridiculously girly and pink. Would be perfect with some grey skinnies and my boots. If you can afford one then get yours from here.








6) Hearts Valentine Mug - £5 from Marks and Spencer

What do you think? The perfect mug for hot chocolate with marshmallows and cream? I think so too! Get yours from here.








7) Cable Heart Hot Water Bottle - £6 from Paperchase

 I absolutely love this. It looks so cosy with the cable knit pattern and the pom poms are lovely too. Get one from here.








8) Fairtrade Divine Chocolate Hearts - £3.29 from Oxfam

 Bestill my heart - romantic and ethical. These beautifully package chocolates are made from cocoa grown by Kuapa Kokoo in Ghana. I love the dark chocolate ones myself but they're also available in milk chocolate. With these you can indulge while knowing you are doing good! Get some from here.







9) Heart Punchout Skinny Belt - £16 from Topshop

Wonderfully girly, this belt is gorgeous. It's a lot more than I would spend on a belt which is a shame because I love everything about it. I especially love the colour. Get yours here.







10) TY Always the Valentine Bear Beanie Baby - £6.95 from Amazon

Who doesn't love a teddy bear on Valentines Day? This little guy is so cute with his rose. If you haven't bought a Valentines present for your loved one yet (and shame on you if you haven't!) then get one of these to surprise them and make up for it! Get it here.

I've been gone for a long time

But now I am back! At the moment I am ridiculously obsessed with Nail Varnishes at the moment so I predict that this will be what the majority of my posts will be about. I will also be using this blog to exhibit my project 365 photos. Wednesday wants will also make a welcome return this week! So I hope you haven't missed me too much, I won't be posting as often as I used to because I am snowed down with university at the moment but I will make the effort I promise!

Anyway I would like to tell you about the fabulous competition that is going on over at Aurora's Nails! I got my first China Glaze polish last week and am desperate for some more because it is lovely. If you head over to Aurora's Nails you can enter a competition to win 4 China Glaze polishes, exciting eh?!? Another amazing giveaway that is going on at the moment can be found here. Beauty by Brittany are giving away a set of Katy Perry OPI varnishes which look amazing. Give it a look!

Billiesue