Song of the Week: To Build a Home

To Build a Home ~ The Cinematic Orchestra
Big shock, Zoe posts a song that has featured in a TV show. This time, it's Grey's Anatomy which is my new TV obsession. I needed something to fill the void left by my favourite shows coming to an end, and fill it did. I watched to the middle of season 6 on Lovefilm but am now watching the rest online as it has been removed (sad face). I have been watching since the beginning of February and I have watched up to episode 12 of season 6. I just love it! Also, Meredith and McDreamy = favourite TV couple in a long time.

Are you a Grey's Anatomy fan?

Words on Wednesday #5

Do what you feel in your heart to be right, for you'll be criticised anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't.

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

I saw this quote on Alex Beadon's instagram account last night. The past few months have got me thinking about how sometimes, no matter what you do, you can't win 'em all. I'm having to accept that sometimes, no matter how upsetting or hard it is, you have to make decisions that are going to upset people. Truthfully, I'm still not able to do this very well and more often than not, find myself second guessing decisions/choices I've made. I need to stop beating myself up because I've thought of my happiness first.

If we don't care for our own happiness... Who will?

Nails featuring Cosmetics Fairy

Hi everyone

Today I'd like to show you four new polishes that were sent to me for review. My nail polish posts are among my most popular ones and tend to get lots of comments from fellow polish lovers, so I happily agreed to do a review for you.


First up is Essie's Case Study, which is a warm, brown toned nude (it's not a khaki green as the picture would like you to think). This is the first Essie polish I have tried, and was super impressed. It was opaque in one coat, applied like a dream and is super shiny even without my beloved seche vite top coat. The only downside is that it has made me want more Essie polishes!


Next up is this metallic silver offering from Sally Hansen in the shade Presto Power. I'm not usually a fan of metallic polishes like this is they can look streaky, but this one was actually very nice on the nails. I decided to add an accent nail to my ring finger (Wet n Wild Party of Five Glitters) to give it a little something extra.


Another Sally Hansen polish now, this is Hot Magenta, a bright pink shade which I think is perfect for summer. I added a bit of Models Own Pink Fizz to the tips, and created a gradient effect using a make up sponge.


The final polish I was sent to try out was Sinful Colors Daddy's Girl. I actually already owned this one but hadn't got round to using it yet, so here it is. I tried it on its own, and two coats gave the purple jelly-like appearance with the fine glitter running through it. I then decided to try it over a black base, so I used one coat of Rimmel's Black Cab with one coat of Daddy's Girl. This was a great combination, the glitter was very subtle over the black, and I think this would be perfect to wear at halloween if you want a sophisticated, vixen look to your nails.

So there we have it - four lovely polishes that I was very pleased with. They are all available from the Cosmetics Fairy website which stocks a big range of well known brands at super affordable prices. They run a loyalty points scheme (think Boots advantage card) where you get points on everything you buy which can be redeemed against other products and even delivery - awesome or what? You can check out the scheme details here. They ship to the UK and internationally and P&P starts at just £1.75. Even better, they offer free P&P if you spend £15, which is easily done... Check out their Sally Hansen range, the 99p or Under section or the Urban Decay Mariposa shadow palette for my top bargain picks.

So what do you think of these shades? Will you be checking out the Cosmetics Fairy website?

A 2013 Wish: Appreciate what I have...

Hello everyone!

Today I'd like to write about the second wish I made for 2013 - you can read about them here.

I wanted to share a little bit about why I made this particular wish, and although I guess it kind of goes against the grain of what blogging seems to have become (i.e. a place to share new purchases, the latest nail polish/lipstick/insert latest fad here), I think it might resonate with a fair few of you reading...

I'm having to adopt a different approach to life lately. Let me start off by saying this: I am not Blair Waldorf. I work full time and don't have parents who fund my lifestyle. Therefore, I don't have a lot of disposable income once the bills have been paid. I live with my fiancé in a private rented house so gone is the luxury of living with my folks and paying them a teeny amount of board money and having £100s to play with after every pay day. Having said that, the reduction in spare cash is worth having our own space and as much as I love them, I wouldn't want to go back to living with my parents.

With that in mind, I have realised that in order to stay in the black and, OMG, actually save money, I can't spend like I used to. This is so difficult for me, as I just love stuff... Nail polish, make up, hair/skin care, clothes, shoes, bags, jewellery, DVDs... I like having things around me. Matt, unfortunately (or fortunately?) does not share this need for things.

I am gradually training my mind to learn to appreciate and use what I already own. Do I really need to add another nail polish to a collection of 150+? Of course not. Do I really need another nude lipstick when I have about 6 sitting there after being used once? No. Do I need another pair of earrings that I will wear once and then banish to a drawer as they make my ears sore? Nope! Can you see a pattern emerging here?

Aside from the obvious drain on my bank balance, we literally don't have space for all this stuff. Our spare room is full of things that quite honestly could be got rid of, and so I am challenging myself to 'sell or purge' at least 5 items per month. At first I thought getting rid of things would be painful, but a couple of weeks ago we took a trip to the supermarket's book recycling bank and offloaded a HUGE bag full of old books that had been sitting at the bottom of the stairs for so long. I was avoiding taking them to the book bank and you know what? I haven't missed them at all. I've actually enjoyed not having them taking up space. It was kind of therapeutic letting things go and creating space to actually live in.

I am also trying to use up my beauty and skin care items before repurchasing. I am going to purge anything that doesn't get on well with my skin and then I will be left with products that I know work well for me. These products will then be replaced only when I have run out. Exception to the rule is if there is a special offer on the more expensive items that I use all of the time, e.g. 3 for 2 on Soap and Glory shower gels (my weakness!).

I'm also going to make an effort to use the things I buy rather than keep buying more... For example, I have so many nail polishes that I've never even used, it's unreal. So rather than buying new ones, I will start to use the ones I have which should help keep the impulse to buy new ones at bay.

Selling things on eBay has become hard work but I will try and sell as much on as I can. I have popped up a little button which links to my seller account so do check it out as I'll be starting to put a few items each free listing day.

So my task for March will be to sell or purge at least 5 items... I wonder what they will be? I will take a picture of each item and post it on instagram with the tag '#sellorpurge' so you can see what has gone, and I can do a progress report on here each month.

Is anyone else trying to cut down on spending on unnecessary things? Do you have any tips? Success stories? I'd love to hear them!

Words on Wednesday #4

For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, start whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people who have a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of, and if you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.

~ From The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I've been feeling a little out of sorts lately. I feel like I'm starting to slip back into my old unhealthy lifestyle, which is taking its toll on me. Eating the wrong foods and late nights are making me tired, grumpy, forgetful, unable to concentrate and lazy. I don't like the person I am at the moment so I'm going to start all over again. Eating better, drinking more water, going to bed earlier and getting some exercise. I want to feel like me again. It's not always easy, but it will be worth it.

How about you? What things could you change or how can you start afresh?

Words on Wednesday #3

You know I've got this theory, there are two kinds of people in the world. There are lyric people and music people. You know, the lyrics people tend to be analytical. You know, all about the meaning of the song. They're the ones you see with the CD insert out like 5 minutes after buying it, poring over the lyrics, interpreting the hell out of everything. Um, then there's the music people, like Brooke. Who could care less for the lyrics as long as it's just got like a good beat and you could dance to it. I don't know, sometimes it might be easier to be a music girl and not a lyric girl. But since I'm not, let me just say this. Sometimes things find you when you need them to find you, I believe that. And for me its usually song lyrics.

~ Peyton Sawyer, One Tree Hill

Most people won't recognise this quote from the TV episodes of One Tree Hill, as it's actually taken from one of Peyton's podcasts (you can listen to them and all the other OTH podcasts HERE). Me and Matt have been spending quite a lot of time discussing and listening to quite a lot of music in preparation for our wedding. Music is a big deal to us, and so choosing music for important parts of the day has been one of our biggest challenges. This quote came back to me when we were chatting - we are both definitely 'lyric girls people'.

So, what are you? Lyric person? Music person?

Nails: Revlon Mischievous

A more subdued set of nails today, with Revlon's mischievous polish. Another treat from Mary! I really love this - a pretty grey/purple creamy polish that was opaque in one coat. Just lovely! This is very similar to my China Glaze below deck polish which I love too.

Do you like these purpley grey shades?

Words on Wednesday #2

There is just one life for each of us: our own.

~ Euripides

As I approach my 26th birthday (this Friday, 25th January!), I have come to realise that we only have one life, and that life is what we make of it. As I grow another year older, I am learning to look forward to the future. I cannot have any impact on or make any changes to the 26 years I have already spent on this earth. However, I can make a difference to the next 26 years. And hopefully the next 26 after those. So this quote really sums up how I'm feeling today... No-one else can be responsible for my happiness or how my life turns out - it is up to me to seek happiness and ensure that my life is the best it can possibly be, and that means surrounding myself with people and experiences that make my life better and brighter. By being ME, and not someone other people want me to be, I will hopefully be able to look back in another 26 years and be happy with the life I've lived.

Let me know your take on this... Are you going to make the most of the life you have?

Nails: Revlon Sublime Strawberry

I think this is one of the prettiest pink nail polishes in my collection. It is a cute barbie pink shade with a very fine silver micro shimmer running through it. It is also strawberry scented!

I'd wanted this polish for some time, but couldn't seem to get hold of it here in the UK, so my friend Mary kindly sent it over for me. So thank you to Mary, you are a star!

What do you think of this polish? Are you a barbie pink fan, or do you prefer muted/neon pinks?

A 2013 Wish: Continue with 'A Book a Month'

Image from here.

Hello everyone

One of my 2013 wishes was to continue with my A Book a Month project, which I originally posted back in April 2011. That post received lots of lovely comments and I was so happy to see other people enjoying reading books! So that was April and it has now been around 9 months, so I should have read at least 9 books. Well here are the books that I have managed to read since then:
















A total of 42. Not too shabby right?! I'm actually quite shocked at how many I've managed to read. Granted, they aren't exactly high brow or literary classics (most of them were free or very cheap from the Kindle store) but that was never the goal anyway. The only bad thing is trying not to spend all of my money on books... I have to say, my make up/nail polish purchasing habits have changed a lot since starting this challenge!

I'm looking forward to reading even more books now I have my Kindle rather than just the iPhone app. With that in mind, I have updated my Reading List page with all of the books I currently have waiting to be read.

As you can see, there are still a lot on there from last time. I have been naughty and purchased books rather than reading the ones I already own, hence that list being pretty similar to before. But I am determined to read the books from this list! That is my challenge - to read all of the books on that list in 2013.

As before, I will be uploading a picture of each book to instagram when I start reading it or finish it. You can follow me on there: zoe_po and I will be using the hashtag #abookamonth so join in if you like!

Have you read any of the books I've managed to read? Let me know what you thought of them!

What are you currently reading?

Do you have any recommendations for me? I have some Amazon gift cards to spend on Kindle books from Christmas so would like to grab some new books...