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No Bullshit Beauty Review: Elegant Touch Press on Nails 7 day Manicure

Happy Monday, everyone! 

I thought I would give you a quick "low-down" on the nails I Instagrammed over the weekend (can I use that as a verb?) 

I popped into Boots for nail glue originally, as I had some Primark French polish nails I wanted to use, but the glue had solidified waaay back when. I was instantly attracted to all the bright fun nails in the Elegant Touch range, that just so happened to be on 3 for 2.

Initially I wanted the Ice cream nails that the lovely lady at the Fashion For Lunch blog has shown off. But I settled for something plain and bright instead, in the pink. I also bought some black ones, shown below.

Application was relatively easy, though the little sticky peel off things are a bit tricky - I'd suggest taking them off ALL the nails BEFORE you start applying, otherwise it just gets fiddly.

Now although they looked amazing, I have to take issue with the 7 days point - It is now Monday and I applied them on Saturday morning. I had to remove them last night (Sunday) because the colour tips had started to flake - I have no idea why they would make the base of the nail so thick and strong, and the tips so thin and weak. They need to be the strongest part, as they are most likely to come into contact with hard surfaces!

I'll be keeping back my set of black nails for an occasion - although they were a little on the flimsy side at the tips, the adhesive was solid, so I can't fault them in that department.

For my next extra-adventurous forray into nails, I might be tempted by these bad boys! Lego!!!

I think now that I have some decent nail glue I can go and buy out Primark's super cute nails collection - at £1 a pop, it's a no brainer.(Blog post to follow I suppose!)

Thanks for reading!

No Bullshit Beauty Review: Herbal Essences Honey I'm Strong Hair care

Ok, so I thought I would try something new with this blog: No Bullshit Beauty.

I'm scientifically minded. I'm the sort of person who calls out bullshit in TV adverts. "18/25 women agreeing isn't statistically significant!!!" I hate bad stats, I don't like it when brands throw around big words to confuse the layman. Just because someone is wearing a lab coat in the advert, doesn't mean that the  XYZ of chemicals actually do anything, right?

So what if I just used stuff and told people WHAT it actually did, regardless of what the advert says it does?

So here I go, with Herbal Essences and their Honey I'm Strong range.

Worth debunking right away, is that these products do not give orgasms in showers. Nor could you achieve hair like Nicole Sherzinger in an air plane toilet, a camper van or similiar. Water pressure? Electricity? Salon proffesional etc etc?

Back to the product itself.

Smell: Amazing. Subtle, and not overpowering.
Feel: Gooey. It's shampoo...
Taste: What, are you nuts?

Results
I have lots of fine long brunette hair, with a tendency to go greasy at the roots and very dry and brittle at the tips.I don't have the budget to get my hair cut every 6 weeks - I'm lucky if it's every six months (between trips to the salon I get my Mum to trim the ends off!)

Normally I have to wash and condition my hair everyday because I exercise a lot and need to shower often (yuck). I was surprised that with this, I don't even NEED to condition! I only need to do it every other time, just to keep it manageable, but the fact that I can skip conditioning means my hair stays more manageable for longer, and plus it saves £££ in the long run because I always run out of conditioner faster than shampoo!

I couldn't finish this post without a picture of the little guys that help to make the key ingredient of these products. Herbal Essenses website states "did you know honey is nature’s golden elixir? once a luxury reserved for kings and queens, honey has been revered for centuries as a natural healing remedy and beauty secret for the hair." I've heard of the healing benefits of Manuka, though I'm unsure of the science behind why/how this works... All I can say it, it DOES WORK.

New Shoes!! One of Life's many joys.

I bought new shoes! What was meant to be an innocent wander through Marks and Spencer turned into "If I see these in my size I will buy them." So I did! £15 in the sale. You can get yours here!

I also picked up a cheap pair of black lace up brogues from Primark. In all honesty the ones I really want are from Clarks, but are TOO expensive for me to justify at the moment! So for £12, I thought I could cope with these!

I'm crazy for these shoes! - Clarks Dollar Craze Shoes in Yellow

So it seems I am evolving into a shoe person. Colours and patterns that aren't the norm seem to catch my eye more than classical designs, which is why I fell in love with these beauties from Clarks (Ebay purchase). You can pick up a pair on buy in now or hawk some for a bit of a bargain! I got mine for £25.

I love the detail, the chunkiness, and mostly the colour! Of course if yellow isn't you thing or you aren't brave enough, go for navy or Mink - Just as beautiful and perhaps a little more functional.

Thrifty Shopper on Facebook, Pinterest, Google+...

Don't forget to follow my facebook page for sharing of instant bargains between blog posts, Pinterest for my delightful wanderings through beautiful images (mostly wedding related at the moment, but hey, I am getting married  so....) and also Google+!

My posts are a little less frequent thee days mainly because I am TRYING not to go to the shops and spend anything at all - all my spare income is going towards my wedding up until September time - then I am hitting the shops in NYC and Florida!!! Here's me looking *particularly* unfashionable in Islands of Adventure a couple of years ago, but hey, it was really hot!

Keep it cool, bargain hunters.

xo

Summer Floral Pumps from H&M

I've been getting endless compliments today wearing my new bargain purchase from H&M, so I thought I would share them with you.

They are very eye-catching and comfortable - thought wouldn't advise wearing them if you plan on some hefty terrain-walking! At £7.99 they're a steal as well.

I wore them with Miss Selfridge Grey skinny jeans and a white floral lace detail tee from M&S.

British Wildlife Prints - Celebrate Nature!

So I'm obsessed with all things nature. It's great to see that bird print has been huge these past few seasons, and continues to grow strong. With brands like Burt's bees making us think about the human impact on nature, why can't we celebrate wildlife all together by wearing it (not literally of course!)

Fox Print
This cute dress is £24.99 and available on Ebay in sizes 8 -14 and is made by Jennifer Lilly, an Etsy designer (check out her shop, it's full of cute little printed tea dresses!)

I also found this shirt with a fox print shadow motif, which will cost you just over £5, shipped from China!

Badger/Swan printed T-shirt - Now I love these t-shirts, must haves in any nature lovers' wardrobe! Perhaps the Swan tee might also suit Bjork fans? These are £8 each from Ebay

What do you think of these cute nature-themed items? 

Warehouse Sales - Top picks under £20

Hello everyone! It's been a while since my last post, because I've had to be ultimately thrify, and not even LOOK at clothes to tempt me to spend money. My wedding is now only 18 weeks away, and I've been hitting the exercise regime hard, watching my diet (I could definitely do  better in this department), and saving up every penny I can.

With this week's sunny spell, I've been able to get out my summer dresses in the vain hope that there might be another chance this year to actually wear them! Warehouse have got some cute skirts and dresses in their sale that are perfectly suited to this mid-season weather. Summery, yet affordable as they're from the A/W collection I think.

I love this "scratchy" print dress, which would look awesome with either sandals or ankle boots & tights, weather-dependant of course. It's only £20, too!

This very 60's style skirt is perfect to add a pop of colour to your wardrobe, and as above applies to what you can wear with it. Again, £20!

I just love this skirt so much - I've not really got the thighs (yet) to wear short-short skirts, and knee length skirts can be very flattering and extra-feminine. 

This is a super cool printed shift dress- the pattern makes me things of gem stones and mirrors, and would be perfect for an evening out. this one comes it at the best price too, at only £15.

I also found this amazing tribal patterened shopper bag in their amazing accessories sale, not quite a steal at £27, but amazing nonetheless! 

Don't forget to share your bargains, and join my facebook page, at facebook.com/thriftyshopperfashion

Love xx

Primary Brights! Clash and Match your shoes and bag

I've been really excited by the bright popping colours I've seen in shop window displays recently-- Indigo, orange, canary yellow... paired with a pastel of the same palette it really blow away those winter cobwebs from your wardrobe.

What better accessory then, than these amazing bright tote bags, £13.99 from Ebay with Free postage. The shop is based in the UK as well, so no long waiting times!!! I particularly love the violet and Blue bags.

I was once wrongly under the impression that you had to match your shoes to your handbag - Yet with the variety of patterns and colours out there it would be a shame to limit yourself to just one! Whichever rule you adhere to though, you can afford to, for only £17.99 can get you a pair of hot heels!

I might indulge in a bag come next pay day! Watch this space!!

Jess xox

Perfect dress for spring (... psst, and also only £13.99)

Spotted this pop up on my Ebay feed and had to share this with you - how cute are these swing dresses! Particularly love the girliness of the pink one, but love the freshness of the lime.

I would pair these with some sandals, like these from marks and Spencer for £25, and a cute charm necklace, which would compliment this neckline wonderfully. 

Spring outfit - brogues, wet look and chains!

Loving my new chain necklace top from Everything5pounds, my Topshop satchel, and my teapcup scarf! Rocking with wet-look leggings and M&S footglove brogues (a bargain in the form of a freebie from a friend.) Nail paint is the Gel shine polish from Barry M.

Everything 5 Pounds

I am really thrilled with my purchases from this website - Despite my initial scepticism, the clothes arrived well packages, labels on, and of good quality!

Plus, having seen their super cute dresses in the new arrivals section, I will feel confident buying from them again!

What I bought:

What I want to buy next:

Factory Outlet Piccadilly - Boohoo and Topshop items!

This place is probably a store you would dismiss day in day out if you are a regular in Manchester. It's a stone's throw from Piccadilly station approach, and looks like a shabby market-style shop. 

Inside, you'll find rail after rail on relatively well organised ex-Boohoo stock (labels cut out). It's not limited to that as I discovered, walking away happy with my £10 satchel for my work laptop, only to discover it was Topshop when I got it home!

I also bought a cute 20's style tea dress with orange floral print for £6 -found tiny tear along a seam which I stitched up as soon as I got home, and contemplating revamping the buttons for mother of pearl to give it a true 20's lift!

Go if you have time for a good rummage!

Jess xo