Front Cover Eye Palette

Every year at Christmas time I spend some time perusing the gifts on offer in Boots. I never buy any even with the 3 for 2 offer unless I know someone wants one specifically. 

I look particularly for the Front Cover sets which I always have an urge to buy but know I wouldn't get much use out of. In the past, they've just sold one large boxy set with loads of little eyeshadows in but it seems like this year they've expanded the range a bit and introduced some cool palettes and 'look' kits.

Since I know all the gifts in Boots go to half price after Christmas I held out and bought one this year as I've started to wear a lot of eyeshadow and although I did get a fair amount of it yesterday in my stocking, they were a lot of neutral colours so I splashed out and bought this 'Very Hot/Very Cool' palette which has such a sleek design and is full of great colours.

The front has one of those pictures that changes as you look at it from a different angle to show the Hot and Cold looks.

Under the lid there is a great sized mirror and the Cool shades and a drawer slides out from underneath to reveal the Warm colours.

It also comes with two brushes, each with a thick blending end and a smaller liner brush.

This palette was £7.50 reduced from £15 and you should be able to find it in most decent sized Boots stores for a few days still along with some of their other products.

I'm planning on doing some EOTD's soon and maybe even YouTube videos but I'm not making any promises and my blending needs a lot of work!

MUA Lipstick Swatches (Shades 2, 3 and 11)

MUA, or Make Up Academy is a budget brand that you can find in most Superdrug stores and every single item costs £1.

They have lipsticks, eyeshadows, eyeliners, mascaras and loads more to chose from. They give the shades numbers rather than names which is a bit boring but for £1 each, you can't expect them to waste money hiring someone to think up imaginative names for the colours.

I have 3 of the lipsticks here to swatch for you.

Shade 3

This a hot, Barbie pink. It's definitely not a subtle colour but good for pairing with understated eyes and will make you stand out in a crowd.

Shade 2

A subtle, plummy pink. This is great for everyday wear but best suited to fair complexions.

Shade 11

This is a great shade if you're craving nude lips. It has a hint of orange but still looks natural and elegant.

These lipsticks wear very well considering the tiny price tag. Just beware of getting left with the lip-liner look as the colour wears throughout the day, it may be a good idea to refresh your application every hour or so.

Look What I Rescued

I found these two pairs of earrings in a charity shop for 99p a pair.

I love earrings that fall in a diamond shape so these were a must.

This pair is the one that originally caught my eye. They're heavier than I'd like but just so gorgeous that I couldn't leave them there.

The only problem is that the gold plating has faded away in some areas. I was considering painting over it with nail polish but I can't imagine that turning out very nicely. Does anyone have any tips for something I can paint on that will make it look gold again?

Weekend Words

Thank You, Daddy

My 11 year old brother is obsessed with WWE so when I found out there was a tour this year, I nicely asked my Dad if we could go and he obliged. The venue is only down the road from where I live at Uni, so both my brothers stayed at my house last night after the show.

My girlfriends can't understand why I wanted to go. I'm not a huge fan of wrestling myself but I'm always happy to do absolutely anything that will provide me with some entertainment and last night didn't disappoint. And anyway, it's not like it hurt my eyes to watch those guys throwing each other around.

I Bumped In To My Tutor From High School

When I was in the city centre this week, I saw a woman waving at me and recognised it as the 'form tutor' - basically the teacher who took my class's register in the morning and who had to deal with all my misbehavings - that I had for the first 4 or 5 years of my comprehensive (high) school education. She was lovely to me even though I was a typical teenage train wreck back then and particularly spiteful to her even though, now I see in hindsight, she only wanted to help all of us.

 She was happy to hear that I was studying Accounting, especially since she was also my Business Studies teacher for two years and taught me my first bits of accounting which got me interested in the subject.

No Nails

It's been almost a whole week since I even painted my nails. For most of the week I have been sporting bare nails. It's probably the first time I've left the house without polish on in close to three years and I am a bit conscious of the yellow stains.

I've just been wearing a coat of OPI's Original Nail Envy which I won in Marina's giveaway a few weeks back and it is definitely strengthening my nails. They are the longest and strongest they've been in a long time. I love this stuff.

Human Technology Will Render Us Obsolete

My DSLR camera broke yesterday while I was at the WWE show. After some fiddling, I discovered that it will switch on without the memory card in but not when it is in which isn't much use to me since there is not a bit of internal memory. I've had this camera for 2 years and am absolutely gutted since it is my 2nd most prized possession (after my car, which I also had to say goodbye to last week) and I probably won't be able to afford any repairs for a long time. I also don't know how it will affect my ability to blog, especially on The Nailasaurus where the pictures are the fundamental ingredient.

My mobile phone is also on the blink. It won't hold a charge for more than 10 hours but that's probably a simple case of an ageing battery.

Love Film

You may or may not know that I am a self-proclaimed movie nerd. I'm the one who actually looks forward to the trailers before the film starts and says 'I want to see that' after almost every single one.

I went to the cinema twice this week to see 'Easy A' on Monday and 'The Kids Are All Right' on Wednesday. I wasn't disappointed in either of them and would recommend them both.

5 Things

I've been a bad blogger recently and have had trouble thinking of stuff to write about. So I figured I would just update you on a few things that are going on in my life.

1 - Car

The insurance on my car expires tomorrow and unfortunately, this year, I can't afford to renew it. I've been driving that little thing around for more than 2 years now and it sounds lame but my life is gonna be completely different now.

It won't make much difference to my while I'm at Uni because everything I need is within walking distance but when I'm at home in the holidays, it's more secluded and I know I'm going to feel so frustrated when I can't get anywhere.

The only up side is that I will get a refund of the 10 months tax that I didn't use.

2 - Skin

It seems like I wake up every day with a new spot on my chin and have done for the last 6 weeks at least. I've never suffered too much with spots but whenever I get spotty it's always on my chin. I've been using a witch stick in an attempt to get the little blighters to leave but so far it's not doing much good.

3 - University

I'm back at Uni now and obviously now I'm in my second year, everything is harder. It's only week 4 and I'm getting a bit overwhelmed with everything.

I was always the girl who doesn't apply herself. I'm rubbish at studying and working and always leave my assignments until the last minute. Until now, I've managed to get away with it but because standards here are so high and I really need to work hard, I can see myself struggling to get a decent mark.

4 - Sleeping

Since starting back at Uni, my sleeping patterns have been all messed up. Getting up isn't a problem - I can get up as early as I need to - it's just staying awake that I struggle with! 

It starts when I stay awake too late because I have to do work which, of course, I've left until the last minute. Then I have to get up early to get to lectures where I often find myself sleeping on the desk. Today, I missed the last 10 minutes of a lecture and couldn't even remember feeling tired or falling asleep. Then I come home and nap in the afternoons and it starts all over again.

5 - Friends

By far, the best part of Uni is being so close to all my friends. There is always someone around do something with whether it's the cinema, grocery shopping, clubbing or just chatting.

I won a giveaway :)

Here are the goodies that I won from Marina @ Forever The Ugly Duckling in her first ever giveaway this week. It came wrapped up in three layers of paper so I was just like a little kid at a birthday party playing pass the parcel (only with myself)!

Models Own - Purple Grey

Models Own - Peacock Green (surprise extra)

OPI - Samoan Sand 

OPI - Original Nail Envy

Some fimo slices in Bird and Skull designs (also a surprise)

I loooove these colours and they're also my first ever Models Own and OPI polishes so it's a super exciting day for me. I was just moaning that my nails are really weak and I can't grow them very much because they just keeping peeling and snapping off so, hopefully this OPI base coat will help me a great deal.

I just wanted to show you guys what I won and what you can expect to see over the next few days if I find time to get some nail art done. Which I'm sure I will now I have these babies to play around with!

Get more for your money at Boots.

I know the title makes it sound like I'm just trying to get you all to go and buy your Christmas presents at Boots but I actually want to tell you how you can get loads more goodies for your money by making the most of their £5 off No7 or Ruby and Millie vouchers.

I have been in need of a new foundation for a while now so today, I decided to go into the larger Boots store in town to get one of the No7 Ladies' advice about which one would be best and which colour matches my skin because when I try and pick the right colour myself it's always wrong!

They seem to have an offer on all the time now that when you spend £5 in store, you receive a voucher for £5 off No7 or Ruby and Millie which are both Boots' own brands but great quality. I am normally very cheap when it comes to make-up purchases but I think it's important to have a good quality foundation that matches your skin tone so I have been using No7 for a few years now and I find the products last for ages.

So anyway... if you're buying a No7 product, it makes sense to spend £5 in store on something you need, or even just a treat like I did, and use the voucher to get the £5 off No7. So it's like getting £5 of stuff for free!

Here is what I bought... and the RRP of each:

Boots Styling Mousse for Curls and Waves £1

Boots Maximum Hold Hairspray £1

VO5 Volumising Blow Dry Lotion £3.29

Ring Set £2 (in the sale)

No7 Speed Dry Nail Polish in Poolside Blue £6.75

No7 Mineral Perfection Foundation £14

Total: £28.04

And I got it all for £17.04!!! Amazing considering that the two No7 products alone should cost over £20.

Here's how I did it...

I purchased the 3 hair items (which were on 3 for the price of 2) and rings for £6.29 and got a voucher.

I strolled across the store to the No7 counter and bought the foundation. With the voucher, I had to pay £9.

Then, to my delight, the girl at the till put another voucher in my hand so I popped over to pick up the nail polish and paid £1.75 for it.

I am such a huge bargain hunter and love sharing my tips with other people so I hope you've enjoyed reading about my bargains!

I've never tried Ruby and Millie products. Have any of you? They are more expensive than No7 and there was no one there to help me choose so I didn't really spend much time looking at them.

Review: Schwarzkopf Country Colours

Yesterday I died my hair using Schwarzkopf Country Colours. It's a temporary colourant that can last 'up to 8 weeks'. I used shade no. 58 - Grand Caynon which is Red. I got if from Savers and as far as I can remember it was either £1.99 or £2.99. My box looked like this...

...but I think that's old packaging and the product now looks like this...

I use a lot of hair dye and in the past, my go-to for temporary colour is Boots' own brand but they stopped doing a red shade years ago. In fact, I spent a long time looking for a semi-permanent red in all of the high street stores and the only ones I found were over £5 which is a lot to spend on a DIY colour that, on my porous hair, will only last about 3 weeks.

The Kit
The gloves are old-school - like the ones you get at the petrol station. Many dyes now come with much better fitting gloves but this wasn't a problem.
The colour was orange in the bottle but as always, that's no indicator of how it will turn out - it was just a bit off-putting.
It comes with 22.5ml of conditioner which is a lot, but unfortunately it's in a tube with no way of resealing so you either have to use what you want and throw it away or keep it for later with the risk of spilling it everywhere.

The Process

This dye has to be applied to wet hair. Not after washing - you are just supposed to wet your hair before using this dye. This was strange to me since most hair dyes I use have to be applied to dry hair.

The instructions say processing time is between 20-30 minutes depending on how intense you want the results to be. This seems a lot for a semi-permanent dye.
My hair is just longer than shoulder-length and there was more than enough of the product to cover my hair. It advises using two boxes if your hair is below the shoulder but I think you would only need two if you have very long hair.

The Result
I left it on my hair for the full 30 because, in my experience, colours need longer to take to my hair and the result is indeed very intense considering I had brown hair to start with.
My hair feels amazingly soft but it's not very shiny.

I really liked this product and it would now be my first choice for semi-permanent dye. I liked that there was plenty of product because in the past with other brands, when I had longer hair, I'd have to spread the product really thin or buy two boxes.
The range of shades available is also great, as is the price. I'll be using this one again in the future.

More Primark Bargains

More stuff from Primark:

Marvel T-Shirt - from the mens section. Originally purchased for my brother but I like it and he doesn't!!

Wayfarer rip-offs. Reduced to 50p and they matched my outfit - these are actually the first pair of white sunglasses I've bought this year. I also have these in black.

Flower hair slides. Recently I've been wearing my hair up and I wanted something to jazz it up a bit so these will be great for sticking in for a bit of flair.

I'll try not to post so much shopping. I just love buying stuff!

Ikea Trip!! Shall I buy a Helmer?!

I went to Ikea yesterday with one of my House mates for this year! We were just browsing to get some ideas for decorating our house and went to the cafe too for some of the famous, yummy yummy, Swedish meatballs.




The best part of any Ikea trip - the meatballs and chips. Mmmmm.
With my Ikea family card, I got the meal for £1.50 - such a bargain. I don't know if it's a nationwide offer or just in Cardiff but it's available Monday to Friday 3-6pm.

I bought an absolutely deeelicious smelling candle. It's called a Tindra and I bought the medium sized one but you can also buy them as tealights or huge ones. 

This is the nicest smelling candle I've ever had the pleasure of sniffing! I was holding it up to my nose most of the way round the store. There are no flavour names, but the picture on the label was of a selection of berries. So next time you go to Ikea, pleeease give it a sniff!

And finally - the first Helmer I ever laid my eyes on! Every time we turned a corner, I was immediately scanning the area for the Helmers.

I've wanted one for ages to house my ever expanding nail polish collection but there's no room for it in my bedroom at home. I have a bigger bedroom in the house I'll be living in this year so I think it's inevitable I'll end up with one.

It's bigger than I was expecting and my polishes won't quite fill it up which is a good thing because I also need somewhere to store my similarly growing collection of make-up.

The only dilemma is, which colour shall I get? Red, White or Silver? It's a tricky decision since whichever one I get will clash with the colours in my room.

Have you tried Ikea meatballs? Do you love them as much as me or are they not for you?

Primark Buys

Tomorrow, I get the keys to the house that I'm sharing with my friends for the next year of University so I'm moving out for a bit. Since today was my last opportunity, I nicely asked my mum if we could go to Primark - only the best store in the world ever - because she buys me nice things and I'm always penniless throughout the school year. She didn't want to go but gave me her credit card to go and buy some new clothes, score! So, Broseph (that's brother) and I, set out to Bristol to go to the amaazing Primark store they have there.

I have a hard time spending money, even when it's not my own, I have no idea why - I just don't like spending large amounts of money. I could easily drop £40 on Nail Polish in a fortnight over 8 different occasions, but spending a big chunk at once doesn't come naturally to me - I'm sure there must be a psychological reason behind that but whatever.

So, I ended up buying:

a Cardigan, a T-shirt, a Mini Dress, two Skirts, a Pair of leather gloves, a Necklace and a Bag

I came away absolutely gutted that I had someone else's credit card and only bought 5 items of clothing. HOW?!

Anyway, here are the gloves and necklace

I saw these gloves here a while ago and NEEDED them from that instant. So when I spotted them today I knew they would end up in my basket.

I like to buy a new bag at least every term for school. This one's not very big so it may become obsolete within a few days of accumulating paper and books but in that case, it will also serve me well as an everyday bag!

What were your last Primark purchases?

I went to see it again!!

GAH! I just love this movie more than anything right now!

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

I went to see it last Friday with some friends but since my brothers wanted to see it, I went with them today too!

Before this year I'd never once seen a film at the cinema more than once. This year, I saw Eclipse twice - because I kind of betrayed one of my friends and went to see it with someone else, so then had to go and see it with her - and now Scott Pilgrim.

This is one of my favourite bits from the movie!! 

Oh, and I ♥ Brandon Routh.

Yum Yum, SOTM (Snack of the Month)

This month, I have been crazy in love with Pineapple and Grapes. Stick them in a bowl together and you've got a little taste of heaven!

I love eating this so much but preparing pineapple is such a PITA but it has to be done since the pineapple from a can doesn't even come close to fresh.

Yummmy!

What's your favourite fruit?

I give up! And my TOTW (Tune Of The Week)

Okay, I officially give up on the 30 day tag!

There are only a few days left and it's so hard to remember the last month, let alone the last year, in detail, plus I don't think it would be very interesting even if I could remember every detail.

So from here on, I will be posting anything random I feel like writing about but doesn't really belong on The Nailasaurus.

So today I went to see Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. I've been really psyched up to see this for nearly 3 months from when I first saw a trailer and it doesn't disappoint! It's funnier than I expected in a kind of dorky way and the action sequences are AMAZING.
But mainly I wanted to share an amazing song from the movie. It's originally by Metric, but the version featured in the film is slightly different with a different singer.
All the youtube videos I could find have embedding disabled so here is a link.

Have you seen Scott Pilgrim vs. The World? Did you like it?

Day 26 - My Week, In Great Detail

I'll start at last week and work my way towards today. Assume that I also painted my nails each day!

Wednesday 11th August
I was on a camping holday in West Wales with my family and we went in search of a beach called Freshwater West to do some surfing. My dad was confident he knew how to get there but we'd been in the car almost 1 hour when I typed it into the sat-nav on my phone (Nokia ftw) the only result was Freshwater East so we headed there figuring it wouldn't be far from Freshwater West or we could at least find some pointers.
When we got to Freshwater East, we asked some people for directions to West but no-one seemed to know where it was - they had all heard of it but noone knew how to get there! At this point, I was convinced it was a mythical place.
We eventually got there. It was a beautiful beach, but parking was a nightmare and the walk to the beach was treacherous so we just headed back to our tents. Later, we heard from the people we were camping with, who'd made the trip down to the sea, that the waves were amazing and it was the best surf they'd seen all holiday. BUMMER!

This was my Dad's birthday so instead of the requisite fried camping food we had a chinese takeaway and cake for dessert :D
My mum, who was not with us on the trip, drove down to surprise him - I knew she was coming but managed to keep it a secret all day. Amazingly, she got there just as it was time to carry in the cake so I gave it to her to surprise Dad. After that we just chatted, played games then went to bed.

Thursday 12th August
I've written about this day in full here as part of the 30 Day Challenge. But in summary, it was the day I returned from the camping trip. We left the campsite about 2pm and got home at 5. In the evening, I mostly sat at the computer catching up on blogs and writing some of my own posts as well as doing my nails!

Friday 13th August
I was supposed to spend this day revising for an upcoming exam but I mostly lazed around doing not much at all. I was mostly tidying up and packing away everything from the camping trip. I think I popped to the Supermarket for some bits and bobs but that was about it.

Saturday 14th August
Not much toreport here, this was such a boring day. I did nothing other than revise all day for the exam.

Sunday 15th August
I was supposed to spend Sunday revising for my exam which I did for most of the day until I found out my auntie has a new Old English Sheepdog puppy called Bowie due to his different coloured eyes! So I went with the rest of my family to see him for a bit in the evening.
When I got home I stayed up reading for my exam until 2.30am.

Monday 16th August
This was the day of my resit exam for 'Principles of Business Managment' which I failed in January. I woke at 6am after 3.5 hours sleep and left the house about an hour later to drive to Cardiff, where I go to University. I read in the car until I went into my exam near 9.00.
After the 2 hour exam, my friend, and future roommate, Sam (as well) and I went to the shops just across the road. I bought some nail polishes - all bargains of course - to cheer myself up after the dreadful exam, and some sandals from primark that were reduced to £1 a pair. Such a bargain - I already had one pair and I love them - I should have bought more!!



I got back home at about 3.30 and had to blog about my new buys! I thought I would blog and watch Mad Men then go to bed, but I ended up staying at the computer until near 7pm when I had a quick nap before we had to go out for a meal. To celebrate my Dad's birthday, we went to Preview in Bristol - an all you can eat with all types of food! We ate a lot, as my little brother will show you...

Tuesday 17th August
Today I got up to go and see Toy Story 3 but that was postponed so I spent the morning blogging and watching Mad Men. The goodies from my nail swap arrived today so I spent some time playing with them too. We saw the 4.00 showing and it was sooo good! But if you haven't seen it yet, take tissues because I cried at the end! After that we got a McDonalds and came home where I am sitting writing this.

Day 25 - My Day, In Great Detail

12 August

This post was supposed to be the 10th in great detail, but I got mixed up and thought it should be the 12th so I made notes all day. That day was the last day of my camping holiday in West Wales.

I woke up at about 7 o' clock and went to the bathroom then sat in the tent andspoke to my auntie for about 10 minutes then decided to go back to bed.

I woke up again at 9.00 and went back up to the bathroom to queue for a shower.

I packed up all my stuff and lazed around for a bit. Before breakfast I picked balckberries with a 3 year old girl called Carys from one of the families we were camping with.

After breakfast we al started packing up the tents - taking the insides out and getting everything in the car.

We left the campsite at qabout 2 o' clock and stopped at Mcdonalds on the way home for a Mcflurry - I had Crunchie :D

We finally got home at 5.00 because there was some bad traffic on the motorway so we took the scenic route for the last part of the trip.

When I got home I had a letter waiting for me about my car tax so I renewed that online for £125!!! :o Extortionate!

Then I did my nails nice! But then the dog stole a big lump of chocolate cake and I had to try and pry it out of her mouth and ruined my nails :( So I just did them again.... and then again!

At 8.30 I had to drive the 'Bus' (we have a people carrier which we use for camping and moving around big items and such which we call the Bus) to my Dad's workplace because he shares it with his friend who needed it to buy some building materials. On the way home we got a takeaway - Kebab, yum.

Then I sat at my computer for most of the evening, catching up on blogs, watching Mad Men and writing my own posts.

Thanks for reading and I hope this wasn't too boring for you.

Day 24 - Some Photos from my Camping Trip (Whatever Tickles My Fancy)

Day 23 - A YouTube Video

Newport (Ymerodraeth State of Mind)

I don't know if you've seen this but it's epic. I live very close to Newport so it's extra great for me! It has over 2 million views now! I hope you like it.

I'm going camping this week so the remaing days of my 30 Day Challenge will be posted when I get back!

EDIT: Argh, they've removed it due to some objections by the original songwriters! But you can watch this response by Goldie Lookin' Chain who you may know of if you're from the UK. They even mention my home town in this one!



Just a random bit of information - I saw one of the guys from GLC in the Tesco Extra car park in Newport a few months back. He just walked past my car and I just thought to myslef - 'Oh, that's the guy from Goldie Lookin' Chain'!

Day 22 - A Website

Todays Big Thing

This is an absolutely amazing website. Every day, there is a funny/cool video posted in each category:
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Music
Funny Videos
Cute Animals
And a picture in Pictures!

If I haven't checked the site for a while, it can occupy me for hours! I recommend you take a look :D

Day 21 - A Recipe

Hair Protein Treatment

2 eggs and the juice of a lemon

I used to dye my hair on a very regular basis - sometimes up to three times a month. I've had it blonde(ish), black, red, orange and all shades of brown. All this processing made my hair weak, dry and basically ruined.

After some research, I came to the conclusion that my hair was over porous which means all the cuticles are raised so moisture escapes very quickly.

In order to solve this problem, or if you just want some extra conditioning and lift, you can make a home remedy consisting of ingredients that will replenish the protein in your hair and seal it in.

There are varied opinions all over the internet about what you should use but I just use 2 eggs for protein and the juice of a Lemon to really cleanse the hair and scalp. You can also add a bit of oil like lavender or coconut for a nice scent.

I mix it up in a mug then use a funnel to get it in to an old shampoo bottle.

I shampoo my hair then apply the mixture and wrap it in cling film (saran wrap) for about 30 minutes.

I just rinse the mix off but you can finish it off with a bit of conditioner.

This immediately gives my hair more body and shine and keeps it free from grease for a longer period between washes.

Day 20 - A Hobby of Mine (other than everything nail related!)

Hula Hooping

I recently got in to Hula Hooping. My mum somehow found out about it and got interested so I went to one of the classes she found that a lady called Emma Kerr runs. She's amazing and you can watch her on her YouTube Channel. She runs classes in Bristol and Cardiff if you are interested yourself - check out her Facebook.

I went to an all day workshop which, amazingly, she ran just up the road from my house. There, I made and decorated my own Hula Hoop and now practice a lot in the garden. I can do plenty of tricks and am getting better every week. It's so much fun but also great exercise at the same - sooo good for your abdominals!

Day 19 - A Talent

A Talent...

That's a toughy...

I'm good at Sports and Singing.

I would say those are the only things I am naturally good at, which would make them talents I suppose.

What are your talents?

Day 18 - This Week's Man Crush (Whatever I Fancy)

Ryan Reynolds

Need I say more?

Day 17 - An Art Piece (painting, drawing, sculpture etc.)

Banksy

I'm not a very arty person. I like taking photographs and enjoy the occasional exhibition but nothing has ever stuck out for me so I will tell you about the first 'artist' that comes to my mind.

Banksy is a notorious graffiti artist from Bristol, the city where I was born ☺. You might have heard of him but no-one knows his true identity. What he does is essentially vandalism and against the law but people love it.
Although I've never lived in Bristol, I still live really close so I visit the city all the time and have seen a few original Banksy's and was lucky enough to go to his exhibition at Bristol Museum.

The piece below is the one I've seen the most and you can see it from Park Street. He put it up in 2006 and the council put to a vote whether it should stay up or be cleaned off. 97% of people voted that it should be kept.

Click the picture to go to his website

Ironically, this was defaced last year (like a lot of his paintings are) and the council have cleaned of the graffiti that was done over this graffiti.

Have you heard of Banksy or seen any of his work?

Day 16 - A song that makes me cry (or nearly)

Craig Armstrong - Finding Beauty

This doesn't make me cry everytime. But I find it's great to listen to if you want to let out some emotion!

Day 15 - A Fanfic

Sorry to disappoint on this one, but I've never read a fanfic in my life. But here is a link to a fanfic website that I am definitely going check out this week.

Harry Potter Fanfiction

Day 14 - A Non-Fictional Book

1 Dough, 50 Cookies

I found this in a seconds book store called the works. Reader's from the UK might know it.

I love baking and I love cookies so I had to have it.

It has some amazing recipes which are all based on one simple cookie dough mixture. You can see my first attempt at the first recipe in the book here.

Day 13 - A Fictional Book

Northern Lights

/The Golden Compass

This is the book that the film, The Golden Compass, was based on. I first read it when I was 13 and then once again before the film was released. It's from a trilogy called 'His Dark Materials' and they are an amazing series of books.

Day 12 - Today's Pet Peeve (Whatever Tickles My Fancy)

Cosmetics Advertising

I really hate it when companies advertise beauty products with what can only be described as fake representations. 

Stuff like mascara and hair products are the worst.

They put false eyelashes and hair extensions on the models than draw in even more length and volume in post-production until we are basically looking ata cartoon made out to be a realistic image and I think the Advertising Standards Agency needs to put some rules in place that prevent this.

Hopefully, most people will realise that you will not get eyelashes like Penelope Cruz's false ones just by using L'Oreal Telescopic Mascara.
I'm far more likely to be persuaded by adverts like this one which don't use trickery to get you to buy their stuff!

It just winds me up that these companies are allowed to use these tricks to get people to buy their products, especially when there are so many easy influenced young people being exposed to these advertisements.

Does anyone else get annoyed by this?

Day 11 - A photo of me taken recently

Longleat Park - July 2010

This was taken at Longleat Park a few weeks ago. I've got this thing at the moment about editing all my photos to look like they're oversaturated, kind of like from old SLR cameras. I can't find the tutorial I used now, but this is quite a good one if you want to give it a go.