A little bit in love.

I don't remember how I came upon it (possibly via milkteef?) but I found the website of Galibardy. It was love at first site, really. I spotted one little piece (the ramskull ring) and new that I simply HAD to get it for a friend for Christmas, as she has a great love for skeletons and skulls, and in particular, ramskulls and such.

And then I spotted my wonderful dinosaur, which I blogged about the other day, and I knew I had to buy things from this site.

I perused it, thoroughly, realising I would be making several purchases from here, in time to come! I definitely have my eye on a few rings. The majority of the pieces are well priced, and I'm absolutely in lust with them. The ones in the 'Boutique' section are fantastic also, just a little pricier, and made of a better quality material, I think.

If this is your thing, don't forget the mens section! Some of that is amazing! I picked out my favourites, for you.

  vintage key / gold miniature skull / ramskull
stag skull / paper planes / rose skull
beetle / forest stag / roaring tiger
  T-Rex, £45 Ram Skull, £14 Me with my t-rex, and my friend wearing her ring just before Christmas!

I wasn't sponsored by them or anything to make this post, I just want to let you lot know about a wonderful website.

Essie Knockout Pout Nail Polish Review

Recently, the lovely Kelanjo had a blogsale, and being the eager eyed bargain hunter that I am, I managed to pick up three Essie polishes for £12. All were barely used at all, and I'm not really picky about buying things like that, so I was veryyy excited to get these in the post!

(Knockout Pout is the one in the middle.)

This is the one that I wasn't as sure about as the others, so I'm getting it out of the way now. You all know my love for greens, and I do have a certain penchant for corals, but pinks? Bright, barbie pinks? They just don't really jump out to me. I feel a bit chavvy in them, in all honesty! Especially a hot pink or a baby pink. They just seem so.. common? Haha. A touch of grey in there and I'm sold, on both counts, but generally, we can say that I'm not a fan.

So anyway, this is the last one I tried on out of the three, and in the bottle, yeah, it looks okay. On the fingers, I have to say, I was completely, pleasantly surprised.

Don't get me wrong, it is VERY pink. Blindingly so (we could even say, a knockout - queue cymbal crash). But because it's so washed out, so pale, and with a teeeeny hint of Haute as Hello's coral tone in there, it's good. I can work with that colour!

With a flash, it reminds me of China Glaze Pool Party's younger sister, which I quite love, because sometimes, Flip-Flop is just TOO bright.

The formula is also quite nice. Pretty Edgy was the clear winner of the bunch, by at least a mile, but the other two are okay, too. They're quite milky, so you need a few coats to build up the colour, but generally, I didn't really have any problems with Knockout Pout.

If I was to see this in a shop, I would give it such a wide berth, but because I got this by chance, really (I just wanted the other two), I ended up finding something that's okay, if a bit Barbie-ish. Price-wise, they're usually quite pricey, around £8-£10, I think, for each one? I got all three for £12, so I think that's a smashing deal, but you can find them on eBay and such! Oh, and just to throw this in there, I do really like the packaging, haha.

Price: 4/5  Packaging: 5/5  Colour: 3/5  Formula: 3/5  Overall: 3/5  Would I buy this product again? If I'm honest, no. It's an interesting colour, just not really my thing!
Clare Marie
xx

Uncia & Tigris

You might have opened your lovely little dashboard and spied a post from a strange name, there, and you might be wondering who the hell that is, I don't remember following some Latin chick?

Well, you might have forgotten you followed me, but short-term memory-loss is something you should see your doctor about. 

Infact, I have renamed my blog to the rather more scientific sounding;

Uncia and Tigris

I wanted to change my Twitter name, and I like to have them matching? Maybe that's just me.. If any of you are interested in the Latin behind the name, it's a corruption of the Latin Scientific names for my two favourite animals; the snow leopard, and the tiger: uncia uncia, and panthera tigris.

Uncia means 'ounce' and tigris means 'arrow'. So you could look at it like Ounce and Arrow, if you like! 

If it becomes a really big problem, I might consider changing it back, I just felt that "To Paris, Tonight" felt very childish, and twee, and this suits me much more! 

Sorry for any confusion, caused.

And he shall be my T-Rex, and I shall name him..

So, my lovely little followers, this is what you call regular blogging! Quite intriguing, don't you think. Anyway, this is what I wore Christmas day (and boxing day, cheekyy). I got some lovely new bits and pieces for Christmas, so thought I might show you them.

I know I look a little bit silly, but I really like this photo! I thought I looked quite good for a change, haha. Anyway, HOW great is my lipstick? This isn't really an accurate description of the colour, so if you want a proper post on it, let me know! It's Corrupt by Illamasqua, and it's super bright pink. Not like fuschia-pink, more a paler hot pink. It's hard to describe but it's excellent!

Illamasqua Liquid Metal in Surge

I know my eyeshadow is a little bit smudgy but I'd worn this all day, whilst shopping during the sales! Haha. Here I am wearing my shiny shiny new Illamasqua Liquid Metal in Surge, which was also a lovely Christmas present from my Grandma. I wore it with an eyeshadow over the top and with a base but it did unfortunately crease. It's very liquidy, so I might have to leave the top off for a bit to let it dry out, haha.

Pure Cotton Cable Knit Jumper

This may be my new favourite jumper in existence. I picked it out, from Marks and Spencers, from the mens section, and I got it for Christmas. It's this beautiful, amazingly cozy beige cable jumper. They're not even that expensive. I know the pictures on the M&S website look very cheesy, but I like that I can pull this down long enough to wear it just over leggings, or stick a £3 H&M skirt on underneath... Lovely lovely stuff. And very useful for cold days at uni!

Also, I genuinely cannot recommend men's jumpers enough! A much much nicer fit than womens ones, which are always cropped and fitted and shit. Horrid! Haha.

(ALSO, doesn't my wall on the left of me look pretty awesome? I redid it with new photos and such not long ago!)

Galibardy T-Rex Necklace

And finally, my most excellent present of all, which I adore. My Galibardy Dinosaur necklace. It is amazing, and I've wanted it ever since I laid eye on it. I'm going to do a whole post about Galibardy but let me just say.. they have some AMAZING pieces. Everyone has commented on it, and it's just excellent. One of those quirky jewellery piecs that I just love. He definitely needs a name now. I'm thinking something like Trevor. Who knows, I will take any suggestions!

Not gonna lie, thought I look quite stylish that day. Haha, if only you could see me now, in my stretched out primark jumper and pj pants, with my hair all greasy and eating chocolate orange in bed at 5AM cause my sleeping pattern is fucked! hahah.

Anyway, I hope you don't think this is bragging or showing off or anything, just thought I'd show you where to find some wonderful things that I love already. (:

What did you guys get for Christmas?!

Clare Marie
xxx

(Under the jump is a list, of everything I used on my face, just in case you fancy such things!)

The weather outside is frightful..

I won't lie, I am AWFUL at updating this thing, recently! I'm going to try and get lots written before i start uni again, I am SO sorry.
Anyway, how was everyones Christmas? I hope you all had a lovely day, and got some lovely bits and bobs!

(My favourite picture of our Christmas tree is still this one from last year.)

I got a great little lot from my parents and relatives and friends.
How does everyone feel about Christmas gift posts? Theres a coupla bits I wanna show you guys cause I think you'd like them? But don't want to seem like I'm showing off! If anyone comments that they wanna see, I will do one. (:

Anyway, below are a few Christmassy photos I took!

Forget eBay..

This weekend just gone, I had a rare day off on a sunday. This is rare because.. well I work sundays. so I don't really get this opportunity! I spent the morning at a verrrry cold car boot sale with my friend from uni.. anyway, I'm going to do a different post about what I bought and found and thoughts, etc, but I was inspired to see what kind of cheap jewellery pieces I could find online! I thought I'd share what I found for you for fairly cheap. If you're unaware of the website Etsy, I suggest you get on that, because have some excellent rings and brooches, in particular!

rings

one two three

four five six

seven eight nine

earrings

one two three

four five six

seven eight nine

brooches

one two three

four five six

seven eight nine

Angels on Bare Skin: Review

I need to fill you in briefly, if you will permit me this! I started at university properly this year (I did a foundation which I called university, although it wasn't really), and on my course there is a lovely lady who works at lush!

She's really lovely. A few of us were talking about our skin and products we use, and she was telling us how bad all these things we were using were for us, haha. I don't know how much is true but it's made me want to use more natural skin products, because i've always been a fan of very chemical-based stuff. So I've scrapped my old skin routine, as it didn't seem to be doing much for me! And started upon a new, scaled back one. I'm only using three products, and one is a makeup remover!

  Angels on Bare Skin, £5.50 for 100g
"This simple ancient blend if ingredients is a worldwide best seller. It improves the texture and health of all skin. The complexion is smooth, toned and even. Cleanse your skin with this delicate balance of Almonds, Kaolin and soothing essential oils. Take a small piece of cleanser and mix with water in your hand to create Almond Milk. Massage gently into clean skin then rinse away with warm water."

That's what Lush say, anyway! I'll explain what I think and how I've been using it. First, I make sure I've removed as much makeup with a liquid makeup remover as possible, and give my face a quick wash with warm water. I take a little chunk of the product - the video on the website says you only need a little bit. I take about a chewing-gum sized piece, and rub it in my hands a little, to warm it up. I then rub it lightly over my forehead, cheeks and chin. Once it's mostly distributed, i get my hands really wet and massage it in, giving my skin a good cleanse and exfoliate. The product goes milky when it's starting to cleanse, and I like that.

It's a gritty product, without feeling too rough on your skin, with chunks of lavender in, which give it that amazing, almond-lavender milky smell. It's really nice. The texture give it just enough substance to make it useful as an exfoliator and a cleanser, which is really good, I don't feel like I have to use two products. It seems to get right down in my pores, too. I wanted this because it says it improves the texture of the skin, which is something I always worry about, especially closer to winter, and I think it's doing that. My skin looks healthier, despite seeing little improvement in my breakouts!

Generally, I really love this. I think I'm prone to have breakouts all my life, sadly, but it's definitely improving the smoothness of my skin, and makes it look more awake. The price-tag is MORE than acceptable, I think. £5.50 for 100g may seem like a lot, but you only need a tiny bit each day, I've barely made a dent and I've been using it for just over a week now, every day! However, personally, I wish that Lush put a little bit more effort into their packaging - but I understand that they're all about the environment, which I appreciate!

Price: 5/5  Packaging: 4/5  Product: 4/5  Overall: 5/5  Would I buy this product again?: I will evaluate this when I'm out of it, but I think I might! Have you tried anything new, recently, have you had good results? Let me know, lovelies!

Clare Marie
xx

Carpark After Dark

There are lots of things I dislike about winter. But there are an awful lot I adore. I was walking back to my car the other day after uni, it was just after the clocks had changed, and I didn't notice how late it was. When I got outside there was this weird, coolish weird, and the sky was all blue, but all the lights were on.. It was kind of eery, but I liked it. Then I got in my car and turned the heaters up and the music on and was all cozy again. It was a strange moment, and I took a few pictures.

I hope these dark nights are treating you well!

Clare Marie
xx

Scraping the car and getting frostbite simultaneously?

Is anyone really craving Christmas yet? I've been wearing hats and scarves and I just bought a coat.. and I just really want my Christmas break and some time to just chill. Ah.Well.. October is almost over.. which means November and then soon... Sigh. Soon, soon, soon..

1. We had a real tree in our house last year, because my mum FINALLY decided we were old enough (my youngest brother is 16!) to not pull all the needles off the branches, which apparently we did one year when we were little.. I loved it, anyway.

2. Snow. Snow, snow. snow. It makes everything prettier.

3. That kind of bleak, overcast sky with naked trees that I love.

4. Making snowmen with good friends.

5. Chilling out at home and feeling all Christmassy. I just want some time off uni, already!

6. The amazing food my mum cooks and makes. This is white & dark peppermint chocolate with candy-cane pieces in.. she makes other fantastic stuff, too.

7. Isn't this just awesome?! Haha

Clare Marie
xx
(All pictures are mine, please don't use without permission!)

Mouldy Black Cherries: MAC Venomous Villains, Formidable Nail Polish Review

About the title.. well you'll see.
I was wondering whether to lump all these swatches together, but I wanted to do a full manicure of all of them, and after putting Formidable onto one nail, I really didn't want to take it off and put on another.. so I'm going to spread them out. Thought I'd leave a little cooling off period between



I was trying to think of a way to describe this colour, and the first thing I thought of was black cherries. It has a kind of purple-black base. The first coat, you really see this, as it's thin. It's like a deep-purple base with greeny-blue shimmer. Then you put another layer, and it gets darker and deeper, and so on. When it's on, it looks almost black in dull light, with some blue-ish glitter. It's pretty, but glitter polishes do best in sunlight. Direct light is Formidable's BFF.

This was the best I could do. They are PACKED with glitter. Lots of different colour of glitter. In some lights, this looks blue-brown. Others greeny-purple. It's hard to pinpoint one colour. MAC describes it as a "Teal green with pink multi-changing pearl". I don't know about you, but mine has no pink in?

L-R: Natural light, with flash.

I guess theres some pinkish hints in there? I think it's more purple, in any case.

As always, I adore MAC's formula. It goes on thin, you do need a few layers, but I like that aspect, because it means I can use them for layering, as whatever colour you put it over, it brings out that colour in Formidable. Ie, a purple beneath makes it more purple, a blue more blue, etc. I love that, it makes them very versatile. Some people don't like MAC polishes, I have no problem with them. They dry super quick, they last well.. I genuinely don't know why there is such hatred?
These retail for £8, which I think is completely reasonable, really. Sadly, they're sold out right now but I bought an extra Bad Fairy for someone that never got back to me about it.. so I might do a little giveaway.. keep tuned!

Price: 5/5
Packaging: 5/5
Colour: 4/5
Formula: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
Would I buy this product again?: Uhm, probably. It's not really a polish I ever see myself finishing off completely, but if I ever did, I would probably want another bottle!
Hope this was enjoyable! Did you guys pick up anything from Venomous Villains?

My Very Own Wanderlist

I was inspired by this post by Sofia's Journal, who was inspired by Sending Postcards own wanderlist. The idea of this is "to inspire wanderlust". And whilst that may sound incredibly cheesy, "wanderlust" is one of my favourite words and concepts.

Here we go, things I want to do in my life. If I get even a third of these completed, I'd die happy.

Take pictures from the top of the Empire State building.

Travel around New Zealand and go to Milford Sound.

Go to Scotland.

See elephants swimming.

Visit Paris in the autumn.

Take a picture next to a sign saying County Clare in Ireland.

Climb the Eiffel Tower.

Go shopping in New York at Christmas.

Go to Boston.

See the palace of Versailles.

Go on a cruise.

See the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco.

Have tea at the Ritz.

Play with lion cubs or see snow-leopard cubs in person.

Visit Italy, again.

Visit Longleat Safari Park.

See a tiger in the wild.

Visit the Rocky Mountains, Yosemite National Park, or the Grand Canyon in America.

See the Parthenon.

See Chateau de Pierrefonds.

Writing this has made me all itchy to go travelling. I must check my savings.. haha. Have you done one of these? Or do you have a similar thing? Tell me about it!

xx

"Hi, babies have fingernails. FINGERNAILS."

Just a quick one from me today!

I recently just remembered I owned this nail-polish, and it's pretty gorgeous! This is 303 Bright Purple from Barry M.

If you're wondering what it looks like in person, think about the colour of the bottles of Vimto! It's pretty much a perfect match, haha, I compared once.

I've been wearing it with China Glaze's Agent Orange on my toes.

What are your recent fingers & toes combos?

(PS, sorry about the title! haha. I watched Juno the other week.)

Friday Favourites!

I've seen these a lot but never really bothered to do one myself, so I thought I'd et you know what I've been into this month.

Films

I got back into my old, Wes Anderson habit, and I've been watching a bunch of his old movies. And a couple of chick-flicks thrown in for good measure. As you'll see below, I recently read The Devil Wears Prada book, and it made me really want to watch the film again! I adore Anne Hathaway in whatever capacity!

Books

I've been trying to read a lot recently. This is an older picture, so these weren't all read this month, but I finished The Devil Wears Prada, Sybil, Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Her Shoes this month! Pretty great going, for someone that struggles to sit down and concentrate these days! I definitely recommend both In Her Shoes & The Devil Wears Prada, because though they're probably a bit on the trashy side, they're genuinely good reads. If you want any in-depth reviews of these books, let me know. (:

Perfume

I got this for my birthday, and it's recently been my favourite. On first smell, it's very summery and light, but I think it kind of carries over into autumn, and I really like that.

Nail Varnish

I've been a big fan of Barry M polishes, recently, and hese are the only ones I've been liking on my nails: I'm lacking serious nail inspiration! The red is perfect for crisp autumn days, and the purples brighten up all the rain in my life!

New Necklaces

I bought both these pieces on a whim the other night, the one on the left is from ASOS and the one on the right from This Charming Girl which is an awesome website with some lovely jewellery, I definitely recoomend. Unfortunately, the ASOS pendant chain has tarnished after only a couple of days wear, so I think i'm going to put it on a rope or something, cause I really like the charm. And the TCG necklace is a litttttle on the shorter side, so I'm hunting for a more appropriate chain. But I loveee the little Artemis-esque cameo. I love a bit of mythology.

Hilhairious. (This is the best, worst pun I could think of!)

Hello everyone!
Sorry if my posts seem a bit sporadic at the moment, I just started uni this week and it's been a bit of a mad rush during the day and then collapsing when I come home.. and it's only Tuesday! haha. I think my blog may be a bit empty over the coming weeks, whilst I'm getting myself settled in, but please don't be put off! I will be back! I just need to get everything prioritised and then I'll be fine!
In other news, I am desperately missing my long hair! I was going through and deleting old photo-booth pictures (i hadn't deleted any siance I got my computer, two and a half years ago!) and WOW I forgot how long my hair was, not that long ago. I was convinced by my hair-dresser that I wanted it shorter, but now I want it really long again. Look at that first one! Damn. I want to be able to put it in a really long plait.

So I think I'm going to let it grow out again. My hair grows like a weed so it shouldn't be too hard!
For reference, this is where it's up too at the moment. (I know this is silly picture, but my eyes wouldn't focus because I was sleepy and I looked crazy if I looked at the lens!)

How are you all my lovelies?! I can't believe I'm getting on for 270 followers! It's insane. Thank-you, allllll of you! (:
x