BEAUTY: LASH PERFECT EYELASH EXTENSIONS

Spending hours trying to apply false lashes on special occasions just weren't cutting it anymore, not to mention it became increasingly embarrassing when the lashes would somehow appear on my eyebrows.  This urged me to make the image in my head a reality which is to have fluttering Bambi lashes, and reshape my Helga-like eyebrows, minus the monobrow.

Just under a week ago, I skipped along to the Lash Perfect salon tucked away neatly, off Carnaby Street in London.

I was given a little tour of the salon, which is simple with white furnishings with the added sparkle and glitz. 

The image below is the VIP treatment room is where the magic happens to celebrities or brides to be.

I got my eyebrows threaded as they were in dire need of a new shape. Kirsten the therapist said it would take 6 months to a year to achieve the perfect shape. This means this will be my designated salon for the next few months, as this new shape needs to come into fruition. Within a few ticks she was done, showing me how my new shape will be achieved over the next coming months. I've never heard anyone with some much knowledge on eyebrows, shape, and its growth pattern. Finally I have an arch! Kisten even went further to fill in the sparse areas with the Hi Brow in dark brown so that I could see what it would look in its state of perfection. Finally I feel like a woman again.

Next I was whisked away to the treatment bed for my semi permanent lash extensions, where I was asked a few questions about how I want my lashes. I didn't think my Bambi description would have been appropriate so I said I want the corner ends to be a little longer, and I want them to be seen, but not too overpowering. I was advised that I should have them 2mm longer that mine. Although I was frightened by the thought of long lashes, as I didn't want my lashes to resemble a family of spiders. Nonetheless I went a ahead. It's a relaxing process, as you have to have your eye closed during the process. I think I dozed off a few times ha! 

I'm completely in love with my new look. I think I just stared at the mirror for about 15 minutes practicing how to flutter my lashes like Bambi. Now with my new lashes and eyebrows I feel that my makeup looks 10 times better. What do you think?

Semi permanent lash extension and eyebrow shaping are available at LashPerfect.co.uk

Would you try semi permanent lash extensions?

OOTD: LIFE IN COLOUR

Hello loves! How are you? Today I'm chilling with my mum. We are going to do a spot of shopping, and then perhaps have afternoon tea. I'm not sure where yet, but we'll see.

I'm so happy with life right now it's unreal! I'm going to get all mushy on you guys, but seriously, the support from you guys is incredible!!!!

This is an outfit I wore last weekend, when the sun was shining. I met up with some friends, and went to Green Park for a girly chit chat and a laze around in the park. 

Outfit Details

Blouse ~ H&M

Necklace ~ Forever 21

Skirt ~ Primark

Bag ~ Primark

Sandals ~ H&M

BEAUTY: BALANCE ME RADIANCE FACE OIL & BALANCE ME SUPER TONING BODY OIL REVIEW

Hi guys, thanks for the love and support on my last post. I'm overjoyed by the increase in comments lately. If you've read this blog for a while, I'm sure you've heard me complain about my dry skin. With my dry skin comes the obsession of using the oils, because anything else just doesn't cut it.

I've used a fair share of oils in my time, from the worst right through to the most impressive. 

balance Me is a brand quite new to me, although it's been around since 2005. It's taken a holistic approach to beauty along with their hi tech natural formulations. After having a look at the range and spotting the oil, I knew it was destiny.

When it comes to oils, they are something that I am very particular about because it's the one thing I keep consistent in my regime. 

balance Me Radiance Face Oil (30ml)

Radiant skin is something we ALL want. Young or old. I find the best way to achieve it is with a radiance oil. balance Me have done me proud. This oil contains Amazonian buriti nut oil, and if you know by now I'm nuts about nuts. Yes! Pun totally intended lol. This particular oil in this product is a rare find because it originates from the buriti palm deep within the Amazonian basin. I've looked at pictures online and this tree is gorgeous to look at. What's even better is that nut provides the richest known source of beta-carotene, a skin antioxidant. This means the oil in this nut not only contains vitamins E but aids the scar tissue growth. Say bye to those scars ladies! To some degree it aids skin cancer prevention by consuming ultraviolet rays, so guess what this mean, sun cream. Now that's just a little back story on one of the ingredients. The other ingredients are camellia and Rosehip oils. If you live in a country with harsh weather conditions and high pollution like London, then its a great barrier against it.

How I apply this is pretty straight forward, after I've applied eye cream and washed my hands again, I massage this into my skin in circular motions and smell the sweet aroma of the orange blossom. I used the remainder of the oil on the back of my hand by way of habit.

The only thing is that I wish that pippet was a slightly softer material, as it feels like my fingers alone are at the gym.

balance Me Super Toning Body Oil (200ml)

I did a few tests with this product. Whether you're getting ready for the day or getting into bed for a night's rest. Oils don't seem to be the best option to put on your skin. It either stains your clothes leaving an awkward dark patch in an inconvenient place or stain those gorgeous new satin sheets. 

With the balance ME Super Toning Body Oil, I found the oil to be quite light, and also penetrate into my skin. It consists of a nice blend of oils such as wheat germ, sweet almond oil, macadamia, jojoba. What I like about these oils in particular is that they give you're the glow, and I'n sure you know what I mean by the glow. The sun kissed, I've been prancing around an exotic Spanish beach being fed grapes into my mouth kinda glow.

How I use this oil is by massaging it onto damp skin focusing on the areas that need a little more love, such as my thighs and feet. The scent that it leaves after is quite stimulating, this must be due to the bergamot, geranium, lavender and juniper natural oils. 

I wasn't too impressed with the packaging, as I thought the oil will spill everywhere leaving me with a greasy bottle, but so far so good.

If you see me on the cover of Vogue next month for the most amazing skin, you'll know why. ;)

Have you tried any balance Me products?

THE BATTLE OF: THE BEAUTY WATERS AND HOW TO USE THEM

Beauty waters commonly known as 'face mists' or 'beauty mists' have become increasingly popular. I've joined the bandwagon and become completely obsessed with using them. Beauty waters have been around for years on end, think the Evian  facial spray. Anyhow, I still haven't been able to get my hands on this. Apparently it's available in the UK, but it's blind to me I think. Caudalie which I'll talk about below created the revolution and added a few skin  friendly ingredients such as Glycerin, Botanical Extracts, and essential oils. 

1. Institut Est Hederm Eau Cellulaire Cellular Water Spray 100ml

I'd never heard of this brand until I tried this beauty water. It turns out that Institut Est Hederm is where all the Dermologica Therapist train. Back to the product, Did you know that Cellular Water is a replica of the water found in our skin?  This means it replicates the skins own naturally occurring water, therefore your skin cells recognizes it, and absorbs it. It is delightfully balanced in mineral salts and trace elements, therefore means the energy within the skin is replenished. I always feel refreshed when I spray it. The added bonus to this is that it has anti ageing properties. It's a change to have a beauty water that doesn't actually smell of anything, but weirdly enough it smells like water. Err what does water smell like?. If your an unscented kind of girl then go for this one.  I'm not particularly fond of the packaging, because I think I could clumsily pick it and spray it in my hair.

.

2. Caudalie's 'Eau de Beaute' Beauty Elixir 100ml

Ah the true pioneers of the beauty water revolution, this is where it all started guys! Caudalie went the extra mile by offering an actual treatment that aids the smoothness of those early signs of fine lines, tightens pores and gives the complexion an instant boost of radiance. What I love about this product is the infusion of scents. It contains grape, rosemary and peppermint oil, which are acne fighting ingredients . The scent is gorgeous. I'll describe it as quite herbal-y with a and slightly minty aroma with orange blossoms and rose. It's just so calming on the skin. All my scent loving girls, this is yours.

3. Balance Me Skin Bright Hydrating Mist 60ml

This face mist is very different to the other mists. The focus of this mist is hydration and radiance. The main ingredients are with hylauronic acid, pineapple water and rose flower water. In comparison to the Cadalie mist, its fruitier than  the Caudalie mist, with the rose and pineapple really coming through. What makes this beauty water stand out from others is the spray. What I found amazing about  this spray is the nozzle, it's far more amazing than anything I've used. It delivers an ultra fine, light mist. Oh, any natural product lovers out there, it's 99% natural also.

4. MAC Fix + 100ml

When I was first introduced to setting sprays, I was told MAC Fix+ was the answer. I'm sure you know about this product but if you don't it is a skin refresher/finishing mist. It's just like the others as it can be applied before makeup to give you a dewy finish or after makeup to stop the attack of the fake bake cake look. The ingredients include Water, Glycerin, Cucumber Fruit Extract, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Caffeine. Since the introduction of the other face mists, this one has kind of sat on the back burner with no intention of being used anytime soon. Sadly I'm over it, but if you're starting out, and don't want to splash out then you can begin with this.

Alternatively, If like me you have a bunch of crazy friends, and one of them begins to act up or be irrational due to a change in their relationship status, just ambush them with a spray of hydration. Once their state of shock of being attacked by the drench of freshness and radiance trust me they'll thank you, if not send them to this post haha! 

3 Ways To Use Beauty Mists

1. Beneath your moisturizer

 After you step out the shower, its best to be slightly damp before you moisturize your skin. This helps lock in moisture. If you do this to your face you can achieve healthy, moisturized skin. At first I thought it was a pile of rubbish, however I was utterly surprised when my face didn't feel as tight as it used to. I'm sure like me its a habit to dry your face with your towel. When you have had a dried your face, just before you moisturize, spray a few quirts over your face, then add your products. I'm sure you'll feel the difference.

2. To achieve a dewy make up look

With the warmer months get closer, our make up routine changes.   Achieving that beachy glowy sun kissed look is now in high demand. Rather than run to the closest department store nearest to you; sprits  your favorite beauty mist either on your face, or on your brush, and see the magic appear before your eyes. Dewy skin in two ticks!

3. To stop your makeup looking powdery

When I see cakey makeup my eyes feel utterly offended as they despise  look of a powdery, makeup. The best way to reduce the chalky look is my taking your facial mist (preferably a hydrating one), and spray a few squirts on your face after you have applied powder, and let it dry. Hold is a few centimeters away from your face, unless you're going for the drenched look. You will see that the powder will absorb into the skin, and look more like your skin and less like makeup. 

Do you use a beauty water/mist? (Which one?)

EATERY: THE FOLLY, GRACECHURCH STREET

I love to eat! Eating is something I like to count as a sport because I get extra excited when I'm trying a new restaurant. Its like I've scored a goal. I thought I'd share with you a restaurant  that I tried some time last week called The Folly. It's based in the city, Gracechurch Street to be exact; just a stone throw away from monument station. The Folly is decorated like a secret, so I felt like I was outside even though it was quite the opposite. I fell instantly in love with the eclectic and boho-chic feel of the eatery. The stone-esque floors and pattern play, paired with earthy tones draws together a fusion of freshness.

I just love how the menu has pegs on them. It gives it that great outdoors feel. 

I met up with an old study buddy Uni friend, who just landed himself a brand new job in a hedge fund. We giggled about the Uni days, and how little we had compared to now. It's so great to see progress. We began our evening with gorgeous marinated olives from puglia (not pictured). They were sooo tasty I totally forgot to snap them.

We moved on to the skillet of prawns with green, chili, garlic and lime, served with mini flat bread.  It was tasty, You could really taste the burst of flavour especially with the lime, but I'm just not sure that I appreciated the prawn's head still being attached; it's just my preference.

This is weird to talk about but the toilets were gorgeous. Check out the centre piece.

As a main we both went for burgers and a portion of chips to share. The chips were humongous, and chunky!  Weird fact: I love crispy potato skin! The skin was delicate and crispy.

Check out the size of the wedge! We had a cheeky sweet potato, which was a lovely surprise. My friend didn't know there was sweet potato, as he was stuffed from the wedges we shared, so I immediately shared it with him so he wouldn't miss out on the party my mouth was about to encounter.

My friend had the beefburger with tomato and baby gem lettuce with mayo and pickled gherkins. He was pretty quiet throughout his meal. I took a bite, of the burger; I totally got why he was silent. The burger was full of flavour. The texture was great! Sweet and beefy, made just right.

As a salmon lover, it was a given that that's what I'll order. To be precise, in front of me was a roasted teriyaki Atlantic salmon burger with pickled cucumber. Personally I think it should have had a little more flavour, especially if its teriyaki. The added salt and pepper helped massively. I found it quite difficult to eat, perhaps due to my restrictive mouth size lol. I had to cut it up into pieces as you would for a baby. Typical Wande ha!

By this point we were stuffed! Dessert was still on the menu though. I ordered the creme brulee with toffee chucks. My friend ordered a chocolate brownie with ice cream. We were too stuffed to remember what they were actually called. The desserts were divine! We spent a long time babbling and eating, that we missed the bar downstairs. Next time, I'll definitely head down to it.

Do let me know if you would like posts like this. I adore writing them.

Restaurant details and location

The Folly

41 Gracechurch Street,

London 

EC3V 0BT

Have or will you try The Folly?

WANDE WEEKLY: ALL SMILES

Hey lovelies, how was your bank holiday weekend? Mine was pretty quiet, I headed to the park to have a catch up with a girlfriend. We spoke about everything from boys (as you do), love, travel, and being strong. It was great! I did a massive spring clean over the bank holiday weekend too, and got rid of 75% of my makeup, and a further 10% of my clothes. It was tough, but I had to be real with myself. 

Speaking of being real, life can throw just about anything at you, and I realized have to stay on top of it, you need to have a strong backbone, (If you don't have one; create it), or it will swallow you up. I got pretty down over the last few months, as my life wasn't necessary heading in the direction I wanted it to. I'm quite a positive person, but being down for that long made me not want to share how I was feeling, with anyone. Some how people saw through my pensive face.

I'm going to stress to both you and I, daily self motivation is important because, if you don't think that you're the best thing since slice bread, then no one will. Trust me it can sometimes get tough in this crazy world, and the winds are strong, so don't let it take you where ever it likes. Stand strong OK! It may sound slightly arrogant but its the undeniable truth. It feels great to tackle things that I thought were problems. I let everything pile up, friendships that weren't working out, annoying family members, and  people telling you how you live your life. Once you've nipped it in the bud then you're good to go; you think goodness, it was this small things getting me down. Believe you me running away from it doesn't help in the slightest, because it doesn't go away, so if you leave it to get you down, then you're only giving the problem ammunition to consume you. 

I feel happy, set free, and refreshed, and this continual refreshment, shall keep both you and I going.

I hope this helped you in some way, shape or form. 

When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile.

BEAUTY: THE BODY SHOP SHEA & PINK GRAPEFRUIT EDT REVIEW

Remember when I used to rave about The Body Shop Mists, well now they've got perfumes. The mists were developed due to their ever so popular Body Butters, which I presume the perfumes were too. The Body Shop have released 8 of these perfumes in the scents Coconut, Pink Grapefruit (pictured), Mango, Satsuma, Moringa, Strawberry, Shea (Pictured) and Vanilla. 

Shea Eau De Toilette, is an elegant, calm, subtle nutty scent. The scent reminds me of cocoa butter, but it probably due to the nuts. I love wearing this fragrance when wearing white for some reason, and its just a really elegant scent. This fragrance already follows me everywhere as the size is so purse friendly.

Pink Grapefruit Eau De Toilette, is a very citrusy scent with its opening notes. Personally I found the citrus a little overpowering and stimulating, however after the alcohol settled, the citrus scent settles so you can smell the Pink Grapefruit extracts. I'd associate wearing this fragrance with with wearing bright or floral pieces, on a warm summers day.

These perfumes are eau de toilette, so these have a much stronger staying than the body mists, however I would love if they developed an Eau De Perfume range, how awesome would that be?

Since the band of animal testing which The Body Shop instigated, their alcohol used in these fragrances is actually derived from sugar cane. Both these fragrances are great for the spring and summer, and I'm sure it will be on rotation this year :) 

These fragrances are reasonably priced at £8.50 and are available at .thebodyshop.co.uk

What's your Spring fragrance this year?

OOTD: BUSINESS WITH LEOPARD

Hello my loves ❤, Thanks so much for your comments, and tweets, and instagram messages regarding my last outfit. I seem to have the leopard bug again, however its no surprise that it is infact one of my most favourite prints to wear. Take a look at the picture in the header lol. I had a few client meetings on the Monday, and then had dinner with one of my friends from uni. We ended up in the city at a really chilled burger place called The Folly Bar, not far from Monument Station. The food was delicious, but I'll have more of that in an upcoming post. It's so inspiring to see people doing well, and pressing forward in their career. 

Thank goodness that my flies weren't undone, and it was just the top button haha. That would be super embarrassing. Has that ever happened to you??

I hope you have a good wednesday guys. We are so lucky to have the sun is shinning in London. I've gotta dash I'm meeting friends for a small birthday dinner this evening, so I'm gonna rush off now. Feel free to comment below.

Hope your having a great Wednesday :)

WANDE WEEKLY: LOST AND FOUND

I haven't really been blogging of late, but you'd be proud to know that I am basically sorting out the back end of my blog, so once everything is working how I want it to be, then I'll be THE serial blogger haha. I'm getting back into the swing of thing, hence this post. :)

Work has been tremendously busy, so I've been a zombie to the outside world, until the weekend just gone, when glass of fine wine was in dire need. Thankfully things are slowing down :)

I'm thinking of opening up a little more so you guys can get to know me, which I'm I think you'd like. I hope lol. I've put two videos on YouTube basically letting you into Wande's World. Check it out here and here.

Oh goodness fitness wise, I've been terrible, I'm literally struggling to get back into insanity. Help! I've been saying for the last 4 months that I'm getting back into it, and here I am eating a macaroon whilst I type. As summer is on its way in, I know I'll be stocking up on Haagen Dazs, so erhh something is gonna have to give, and its gotta be the weight lol.

You guys know I shop quite a bit, and sometimes the clothes don't always fit right. I literally took a large part of my wardrobe to get fitted, and I feel like I have clothes again. I'm sooo proud because I have a pair of highwaisted linen trousers which are gorg, and I never get to wear them until now; in fact I've featured them in an up and coming spring Lookbook. I really can't wait to post more outfits, you know. *excited*

That's pretty much everything from me. I'm excited for the future of this blog because it's going to be all encompassing of me; everything from my personal life, beauty, fashion, eating, drinking, travelling, the lot.

If there is anything you'd like to see on my blog, then do let me know, and I'll try and feature it. Lastly, I would really really really love if you could interact with me in the comments, just so I can get to know some of y'all. If you have a blog, do link it below. However thank you for all the support thus far! You've been amazing!

What part of the world are you from?

OOTD: THE TANNED LEPOARD

 I'm a huge fan of print, but the leopard print in particular. I wear it all year round (not the blouse the print). I love teaming leopard print a few ran accessories in the warmer months, as it gives it a casual-esque vibe.

This outfit is easy and breezy and comfortable. It's perfect to welcome in the spring weather, which I cannot fault in London right now. Let's just hope it lasts.

~ Outfit Details ~ 

Batwing Blouse ~ H&M (similar)

Belt ~ New Look (old) (similar)

Sheer Maxi Skirt ~ eBay (similar)

Shoes ~ H&M (similar)

Bag ~ Primark (old) (similar)

Would you wear this outfit?