lifestyle

buttonnailslovesmakeup is back!! (life update)

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Hello my little buttons! 

I hope your all doing well, it’s been quite a while since I posted. I am not under any illusion that I have a big audience nor that I have been missed but I decided to blog on my summer, what I’ve been up to and where I have been for the odd person that might be curious. 

I want to start by saying I love writing, this blog has been so much fun and I have really missed it. It is a fun hobby that gives me joy and watching it grow is so exciting. Every like or comment I receive makes my day, I love chatting with you all about products and hearing what you have to say. The fact someone took time out of their day to comment still blows my mind.

It also happens to be pretty time consuming, finding the time to do my makeup every day, take photos, notes on products, writing up drafts then edit upon edit to make sure I’ve got it just right. At times it can really take over! 

For those of you that don’t know I have a pretty busy life in the ‘real world’ I have two beautiful children, ellie who is nearly 9 and Stanley who is 4. I have a wonderful other half called Dave who I have been with for nearly 10 years. We have a beautiful but mental cat called kitty.

I have my own business from home called button nails where I offer gelish nails (an insane amount of nail art) as well as individual eyelash extentions. I also work one morning a week for my dad’s company as well as a few house cleaning jobs. My hands are pretty full most of the time and sometimes life feels like a juggling act, between school runs, kids clubs, work, vets, doctors/dentist appointments, meetings, work, house work….this list goes on. It can be hard to find time for anything else. But since starting this blog I have always found time as it is a huge passion of mine. 

This summer was the last summer before Stanley started full time school and I was determined to make the most of it, so I decided to put the blog on hold for the holidays and have fun with my family. I don’t want this blog to become something I felt forced to do. I have been crazy busy with work too so it was put on the back burner. Im happy to say the blogging itch is back and so am I.
Please don’t think I’m complaining about my life because I’m really not, I love my crazy odd little family and rushing about all the time. I winge n moan but I wouldn’t want it any other way. 

If you are also in the UK you will have notice how crazy hot it’s been, when the weather is sweltering I don’t tend to wear makeup. I’m a sweaty kinda gal and it drives me crazy having makeup on when it’s boiling hot. But I’ve really missed it. I love choosing what products to wear, getting creative with colours and styles and the process of applying my makeup which I find so relaxing. 

On the other hand, not wearing makeup for 2 months has been so liberating. I’ve been loving my skincare products and have appreciated good skin days more than before. I didn’t even take makeup on holiday!!!! Which was definitely a new thing for me lol.

I have boxes of beauty products ready to be used and tried and tested so watch this space you’ll be reading a lot more from me this month!!! 

I hope you all had a great summer!

Lots of love 

Becca xxx 

Mirror nails application and first impression! (wildflowers) 

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Hello my little buttons!! 

I’m sure you’ve all seen the mirror nail powder videos that have been going viral, I couldn’t resist investing. I know my customers pretty well by now and knew this would be a huge hit with my girlies! 

It’s a really intetesting concept, the powder itself is a super fine silver micro glitter. Instructions to use are as follows:

1. Prep the nail as usual

2. Paint the nail black (gel Polish) then cure.

3. Top coat then cure.

4. Using a lint free wipe, wipe of the sticky layer not using any chemicals, just the wipe.

5. Rub the powder into the nail.

6. Repeat steps 3,4 & 5 then topcoat again

Voila your done! 

The powder is so easy to use once you’ve removed the tacky layer, this photo was my first attempt. I will say though, as the powder is so fine it really does go everywhere so be prepared to be covered in micro glitter for a day or two! My powder was from wildflowers and including delivery it came to £30 for a 10g jar. Yes it is expensive (the current value of the pound doesn’t help) but now I have played around with it im confidant I’ll get a good amount of sets out of the little pot and have adjusted my prices accordingly. I’m hoping to buy some of the other chrome colours avaliable too but need to save my pennies lol. 

I would also recommend to have a separate top coat for mirror nails as the glitter partials have now contaminated my top coat making it glittery, bit of a pain but wasnt a huge suprise. 

I’d love to hear below if you like mirror nails or if you know any other brands that stock this powder? 

Becca xxx 

 

New Moyou London Stamping Plates!!

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Hello my little buttons!!

Just a quick blog post on my new stamping plates from Moyou London. Moyou is my all time favourite place to buy plates, they’re £5 each and have every design imaginable. They also have weekly new releases so there is never a shortage of new products. I noticed they had released some new nautical themed plates!!!! Although I already have a pretty good collection of plates, I love anything nautical so couldn’t resist. I always buy new products with my customers in mind but from time to time I do splurge on some thing for myself. I’m pretty sure they will be popular with my customers too but not gonna lie, they’re for me!!!!

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Tried them out this weekend and as predicted they were spectacular, each designed stamped easily and looked gorgeous on the nail. I love the detail on some of these designs and find it amazing that with the right stamper you can capture that on a nail.

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Please excuse my dry skin I’ve done a lot of cleaning this weekend! What are your favourite stamping plates? I’d love to hear in the comments below!

Becca xxx

20 facts about me!!!

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Hello my little buttons!

I have seen a few bloggers recently posting more about their personal lives and I thought as my blog is getting more traffic now you might like to know a bit more about me. If not then there’s lots of other blogs on my that you can read lol so here we go:

1. I am 28 years old (29 in July boooo)

2. My other half is called dave and     we’ve been together for nearly 10 years, which is pretty impressive and if you met him you would agree too haha he really does means the world to me.

3. We have two beautiful children, Ellie who is 8 and Stanley who is 3, they are everything.

4. We have a pure white cat called Kitty who has one blue eye and one green eye. Ellie named her Kitty as she looks like Hello kitty. What can I say it’s true.

5. I am a gelish nail technician who works from home, I love what I do and it’s great being my own boss as I get a lot of time with my little monsters.

6. I have a seat leon cupra and love driving around pretending to be a rude girl….with the kids in the back.

7. I have a weird fetish for planners/diaries and spend a strange amount of time researching which one to buy next.

8. I’m obsessed with YouTube.

9. I feel like I’m constantly washing and drying clothes #housewifeproblems

10. I love writing and blogging, it has become a wonderful part of my already busy life.

11. I love makeup, buying it, touching it, looking at it, wearing it…you get the gist.

12. I love anything with zombies.

13. I watch movies more than TV programmes.

14. I drink far too much coffee.

15. My favourite shop is hobby craft (sad I know!) I genuinely get super excited about going and can spend hours just walking round.

16. I’m an “all or nothing” kind of person which can be a good and bad thing.

17. My memory can be horrendous I drive everyone around me crazy.

18. I’m training in individual eyelash extentions soon which I’m really excited about.

19. I sing all day long, not very well but it’s still classed as singing.

20.  I love surprising people in what I can achieve if I put my mind to it.

I hope you enjoyed this random little blog, if you have any questions I’d love to hear in the comments below!

Becca xxx

4 ways to save money when buying makeup!!

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Hello my little buttons!

As a makeup junkie and makeup blogger, let’s face it, I buy a lot of makeup! Over time i have learnt a few tips and tricks how to save money when buying beauty products which I thought I’d share with you, some of them might b quite obvious but I like reading money saving blogs so hopefully you will too.

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1. Sign up for news letters

This is my biggest tip which over time has saved me a lot of pennies, the vast majority of companies will have somewhere on their website to sign up for newsletter, offers and new product emails. If you keep on top of your emails you can get a real bargin. I love being in the loop for new product releases as well as sales and free shipping! Some companies do free gifts if you spend over a certain amount which is a fab way to double your order, Elf Cosmetics do some fantastic free gifts worth up to £25 so keep ur eye out.

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2. Shop “membership” cards

Boots and Superdrug have their own store cards which as you spend money you collect points, over time these will really add up which equals free makeup. Another way I get free makeup is through doing my weekly food shop, tesco and sainsburies also have their own cards to collect points. There might not be as big of a makeup selection but they always stock at least a couple of brands as well as tonnes of hair and skincare.

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3. Outlets

If you don’t mind not having the latest products then outlets are a good way to go, you can get up to 70% off highend brands. The colour selections might not be as vast either but if your willing to have a good look through all the products you can save a lotta money.

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4. Deals in store

Last but not least is keep up to date with offers in store, boots have some amazing offers such as buy two get one free which from what I have noticed is on most of the time. Lots of brands also have deals in store such as buy one get another half price or buy one get one free. This is a great way to save money as your buying what you would of bought anyway and not compromising because of the price.

I hope this tips and tricks were helpful on saving you some money, I’d love to hear if you have any more tips in the comments below!

Becca xxx

The secret life of blogging – Insecurities and Hard Work

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Hello my little buttons!

This is a slightly different blog than I’d normally post, I’m not sure how well this will be received but I was recently inspired to write from the heart about something real, so here it goes. I write about skin care and makeup, what I like what I hate and what I genuinely think of products. Don’t get me wrong I LOVE reviewing and blogging but it’s not always a walk in the park. It requires you to try and test many many products, this involves wearing makeup…a lot of makeup! Making time every day to put my ‘face on’ while constantly checking the mirror for smudging, faded, makeup breaking down etc.

Then there’s the selfies and photos for my blog , this all involves time and looking at my face far more than I ever did before embarking on this bloggers journey. It also takes me ages to write my blogs, I’ll write it up in note form, then type it up, then reread and correct, reread and correct until I am 100% happy with how I’ve wordered everything and if I’ve gotten my point across.

Oh and I can’t forget the skin care aspect, if I have even 3 lazy days where I’m not on top of my cleanse tone and moisturise routine as well as serums and facemasks my skin texture starts to change and I get pimples which shows up in all the photos and makes me feel like crap! I never use skin smoothing apps or play with my photos too much. I might use the odd filter but I always state when I have, I don’t ever want anyone to be under the illusion that, how I look with a filter on, is real life. Because it’s not.

This nicely leads onto Instagram, oh Instagram how I love you, but how you can twist reality. There are so many stunning girls, and I mean stuuuunning, with perfect lighting and photoshop skills that could compete with the creators of Transformers or Jurassic World, that you see day in day out on your news feeds and no matter how hard you try you just can’t seem to look as perfect. In lots of ways I don’t want to look like that, it’s an unrealistic expectation that is not healthy to yearn for. Logically I know this. But there is, of course, that small part of me that thinks, wow I’d kill to look like that! As I’m heavily into the online beauty community it is something I see daily and have battled with as I’m sure we all have. I’m proud that I have stayed true to myself and that my biggest crime is the occasional cheeky flattering angle or a colour enhancing filter.

Everyone has insecurities about themselves and this blog has really led me to at least try to get over some of mine. I am not perfect, nor will I ever be, nor would I WANT to be. Yes I’m over weight, I have a chubby face, as I’m getting older my eyes are a lot more hooded than they used to be, my nose is quite nobbley and I get hormonal breakouts across my chin. Despite all this, I can still look in the mirror and think, you look ok today, or even, you look good today. There has been positives I have realised about myself, I actually like my lips, I hadn’t really paid much attention to them before although I’m pleased to say I’m happy with them! Yes my eyes are starting to droop, but I have adapted my eyeshadow skills, put on my big girl pants and let it go. When I look after my skin I’m quite pleased with that as well, over all life is not that bad! It’s the comparisons we make on ourselves that makes it a whole lot harder. I am now at a stage I can appreciate a highly edited photo for its skill and over all effect but I understand it’s not real, it’s a beautiful illusion on reality and that is one important thing I have learnt.

For those of you that don’t know I have two children, an 8 year old girl and a 3 year old boy. As my daughter is getting older I am more and more aware that she is watching and learning womanhood through me. I want her to grow up to love herself inside and out and realise that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and everyone is magical in their own way. How can I teach her this if I feel down about myself all the time? This is partly what pushed me to put myself out there online, I want her to see that even though im not perfect I’m proud of who I am and in my own way I am beautiful. I’m still not fully there yet, but day by day I feel better and more excepting of myself.

Blogging has been a big confidence booster for me, surprisingly I’ve not receive any hate what so ever through instagram or my blog. Everyone online and in the ‘real world’ has been so supportive and it turns out there are some people that really value my opinion, which to me is a huge compliment. So I guess I’m trying to say although blogging takes up a lot of time, thought, money, effort and occasional emotion trauma, it’s worth every second and is one of the best things I’ve ever been brave enough to do. This was a rather ranty emotional blog but I feel better for it and I hope that if there’s something you want to do in life, take the leap and go for it.

Becca xxx

My review on Freedom Makeup London ‘Rose Goddess’ makeup course @ House Of Glam Dolls!!!! 

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Hello my little buttons! 

The wonderful Freedom Makeup London offered me the chance to attend one of their makeup courses at House of Glam Dolls in London. Naturally I jumped at the chance. There were four courses to choose from, each offering step by step training on different makeup looks. I went for ‘Rose goddess’ as I love rosy makeup and was drawn to the face chart, who wouldn’t want to look like that?!

  
As well as the course I also got a nice big bag of goodies with key items for the Rose goddess look as well as other bits and pieces, which was very well received and a nice touch to the already amazing afternoon. I am not a makeup artist, nor have I had any makeup training so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would it be a ‘sit and listen’ kind of thing? Would it be interactive? Would I be so nervous i’d shake and couldn’t do my liquid liner? All these thoughts crossed my mind on the train journey up to London, but I really shouldn’t of worried. The building itself was fresh and modern and very easy to find using my trusted Google maps, and a phone call to the creative director, Chinyee Chu. Who, before I even entered the building made me feel so welcome and at ease. When I entered the space I thought I had died and gone to heaven, the room was STUNNING. Colourful, eclectic, vintage, modern, creative, imaginative… Incredibly well put together. 

  
Every nook and cranny was filled with beautiful interesting pieces, I could of spent all afternoon exploring and admiring, from the furniture to the wall art to the large cabinet of vintage and beautifully packaged special edition makeup, there was even a gorgeous unique shed/cabin! The space was designed and created by chinyee chu which to me made it even more personal to the brand.

  
  
Just being in the space inspired me, it made me want to get stuck in and be creative. I later found out this was Glam Dolls goal with the studio design, they well and truly hit the nail on the head. The space was spot on for learning and really pushing your creative boundaries. For a classroom it was freaking awesome!!! For those of you that don’t know im a nail technician who specialises in nail art, I was not expecting to come away from this course with a million nail art ideas but I’m already attacking my customers! This place is something special and a wonderful environment to learn in. 

The course was being run by David Horne, the other creator of House Of Glam Dolls. I’m actually going to insert a link here: http://www.houseofglamdolls.com/about.html   Which has all the back ground info on the super impressive chinyee chu and David Horne, as I could write a blog purely on what these amazing people have achieved in their careers. After hearing more from David about their history I knew I was in some of the best hands in the industry, and after seeing a framed article of him in VOGUE alongside Lisa Eldridge less than a year from opening their studio I knew I was in the presence of a legend! Have to say I was a tad star struck, which come to think of it I said out loud lol cring. 

  

The training itself was casual but informative. Sadly there was a group cancelation which took the group of four down to just me. Not that I was complaining! It was a relaxed yet professional atmosphere, my nerves melted away and I was comfy asking questions no matter how daft I thought they seemed. A real highlight was when David advised me how to create a wing that was flattering to my eye shape, something I had always struggled with. For someone that really is royalty in the beauty world and has achieved so much (honestly read the link!) he was down to earth and not at all a ‘makeup snob’ he was honest about the freedom products and very quickly I felt I could trust his opinions and guidance.

  
As David demonstrated on his beautiful model Dan Fitzpatrick, who was a student at the school and is now being mentored by David to co host the freedom makeup courses (jealous much?) I was applying my own makeup step by step with lots of tips, tricks and advice on how best to apply the products as well as how to get the most out of them. There were lots of options to really personalise the look too, for example I chose half lashes instead of full (house of glam dolls own brand, they were beautiful and easy to apply!) , I also had white liner on the waterline instead of black and with David’s recommendation I didn’t use mascara on the lower lashes. It really opened my eyes up making me look bright and awake!   

  
I was impressed with the quality of the Freedom products I used and received. Some of which are already staples in my collection others I had been itching to try. One favourite  product from the day has to be the eyeshadow palette, the colours were pigmented, smooth and easily blended. The range of shades work so well together I will get a lot of use out of this bad boy. The eyeshadow primer was already a favourite of mine as well as the concealer palette. The only item I didn’t think much of was the foundation as I like a really matte finish whereas it was more dewy, so I ended up using a Mac foundation instead. I also loved the blush and lippie, which for the price you really can’t go wrong. Another exciting thing I learned was that glam dolls will be working with freedom makeup to help develop more products in the future. I will be purchasing these as soon as physically possible!!!!

Overal it was a fantastic experience I would recommend to everyone and anyone, you can never learn too much about makeup! As well as being wowed with the quality of the Freedom products I was 100% charmed by House of Glam Dolls and am seriously thinking about signing up to one of their MANY courses they have on offer. If you would like to know more about House of Glam Dolls check out their page: http://www.houseofglamdolls.com 

If you would like to have a look at what Freedom Makeup London has to offer or to book onto a course similar to mine, check out their page: http://www.freedommakeuplondon.com 
Disclaimer: I attended the course to review curtesy of Freedom Makeup London but that does not remotely effect the honest review I have given. I have not been sponsored or paid to promote this product, I would not sell my soul for makeup. 

Great ways to express yourself through nails + lots of pics!

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Hello my little buttons! 

For those of you that don’t know I’m a Gelish Nail Technician specialising in nail art. I have a huge passion for nails and my lovely customers, I go into more detail in my recent blog ‘what I love about being a nail technician + loads of pics!’ 

I put my all into every set I do, but from time to time there’s Some really special sets I get to create, and I don’t just mean elaborate crazy nail art. I mean the meaning behind them.  

  
These were incredibly special to this sweet customer, a dedication to her poorlie father in law just to make him smile. As he was in the RAF she thought this would be fitting. We lightened them up with a pale sky blue and clouds, her husband loved them too which just added to her happiness in this hard and difficult time. 

  
   
   
  
Holiday nails!!!! There’s are always fabulous and fun, I do countless holiday nails in the summer. This is a time where even the most neutral girls like a bit of colour. They go bold and bright and I just love it!! It’s so much fun matching nails to a certain evening dress, bikini or even sandals, really bespoke sets catering fully to the customers requirements. 

   
   
 
Birthday nails are also a huge hit and can be really unique. Lots of ladies tend to go all out with glitter for big nights out or a quiet meal with friends and family. Although there are sets that have quite a bit of thought put into them. The rocky horror nails were for my very dear friend for her rocky horror fancy dress themed party, these were really fun to create she knew exactly what she wanted. The next set was another good friends nails for her 50th she had a 50s themed party so we matched her nails to her awesome dress including some tiny pink poodles on the thumbs. The last set was for one of my younger crazy friends who had a pink black and leopard print party, as her outfit was black we did leopard print with bright pink glitter. Nothing better than my customers and friends being happy with their nails! 

  
First date nails. This is a fairly new customer who I am falling in love with already! She’s a real neutral/French kinda gal. When she had a special first date she decided to be brave and go for colour, it really suited her and since then has even had nail art. She’s getting braver and braver which I know she would 😜 

   
   
Work do nails. Wether it’s a bonding day, a trip away or a night out all my professional ladies love their nails looking their best! This mainly involves matching colours or patterns to outfits, or choosing something that will go with anything if they are undecided such as black with super glitter to make them eye catching and special. 

    
 
   
    
    
    
   
   
 
And last but defiantly not least, I call this selection ‘random joy,’ nails that truly express yourself and are made for pure happiness and to make life a brighter place. These are for hardcore nail lovers that are not afraid of colour or pattern or what others think. As long as they love them that’s really all that matters.

I could literally talk all day about this topic but I will stop here! If you would like to see more photos check out my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/buttonnails or on Instagram ‘buttonnailslovesmakeup’ !! I really hope you enjoyed this blog, if you’d like to read more please subscribe! Have a fantastic day! xxx