DIY: At home nail whitener

For ages I have been struggling with my nails. They  used to be so brittle and break all the time. Luckily I came across Perfectil and so my nails have been able to grow quite well since! However I have trouble keeping the tips of them white, I can admit to not using base coat when I paint my nails! But I found a way to whiten them and you probably have these in your cupboards/bathrooms at home!

Ingredients: Whitening Toothpaste and Lemon juice (fresh or from the bottle)

After care: Moisturiser and nail hardener (if desired)

All you need to do is mix the toothpaste with the lemon juice to form a paste. Just make sure to make enough to cover all your nails. Then once the mixture is ready just apply to your nails either with a brush or I just use a spoon and allow to rest for 15-30 minutes to allow the mix to clean the nails. After that, wash off the mixture from your nails. I like to add a nail hardener once I have done this to keep my nails clean and strong. Then I apply a good dose of hand moisturiser on my hands and particularly around the cuticles because the lemon juice can be quite drying.

Lemon juice is a natural astringent and is acidic and so it can naturally remove stains and lighten the colour of the nails.

Toothpaste is great for removing stains on your nails, look at the wonders it does for your teeth! The toothpaste will break up and remove the everyday dirt that has built up. By breaking up the dirt, it then allows the lemon juice to penetrate the nail for a deeper clean.

Depending on the state of your nails, this may have to be a daily use in order to see improvement, as it does not happen right away. If you're happy with your nails and just need them maintained then you can decide when it would be best to clean them using this method.

Remember to moisturise well after this treatment to prevent irritation and dryness!

Does anyone else have any home remedies for nails that they use?

Love,

E-L xo

Twitter!

Hello my chic@s!

How are we all?

I just wanted to write a quick post about my twitter page to say make sure you click follow so that you can keep up to date with all my goings on. I like to post more often on twitter than I do on here because strange things happen to me thoughout the day! Also, it will keep you informed of my posting on here as I always update it whenever I've written something. Anyway, there will be a post tomorrow so make sure you stay tuned to see what I have instore!

You can follow me by clicking the link HERE! or following the tab at the top of my page, titled TWITTER!

Love,

E-L xo

My album of the week.

Hey my little cucumbers,

Hope you are all well. I thought I would share with you my current favourite album of this week. It has been playing in my car non stop and I simply adore it.

London Conversation by John Martyn. 

This album is wonderful. Everything about it; the lyrics, his voice, the sound of the guitar, make  up a superb collection of songs that are not to be missed. It was recorded when he was at the tender age of 18 (1968) and was his first album. It remains one of my all time favourites thanks to its simplicity.

If you are a fan of Nick Drake or Bob Dylan, be sure to check this one out!

Do any of you have an album of the week?

Love,

E-L xo

Shop @ E-L xo

The time has finally come! 

There are now going to be a few things on sale under the shop option. Make sure you keep checking back because I will be updating the items on sale quite frequently!

I am quite new to this, so if there are any problems, please comment or email me and I will try to rectify them as soon as I can.

Happy shopping my little pickles!

Love,

E-L xo

It's been a while!

Hello my little ducklings!

My gosh it has been a long time since I last managed to write a post and I am so sorry about this! Au pairing took up a lot of my time so I wasn't able to write whilst I was in Italy and now the Olympics are here and I am addicted to the Olympics, having watched every one of them since I was 5! Anyway, to ease myself back into writing I thought I would do a quick review about a product that I was very impressed with whilst I was in Italy!

The Rimmel Match Perfection Cream Gel Foundation is very blendable and of a lightweight formula. The Smart-Tone technology mimics the skins texture and leaves a matte finish to the skin. I suffer with an oil t-zone so I normally use a powder to set my foundation. However, with this foundation my oil was under control and I don't even use a setting powder! I have been testing this one out in the heat of Italy (average 30 Degrees C every day!) and it stayed put all day. I was very impressed with this product. Make sure you find the correct tone for your skin though, so that it blends in with your natural colour!

Has anyone else tried out this one? I've only just come across it!

Love,

E-L  xo

Ciao bella! Au pair time

Ciao!


I am in the beautiful Alassio, Italia, this month working as an Au pair for a wonderful family. 


I just wanted to write a quick post as to what au paring is and what you have to do! 


What is an Au pair?
An au pair is usually a domestic assistant from abroad, living and working for a host family. 


What can an au pair do?
1. Help out around the house
2. Clean up toys that the children have left lying around the house
3. Cook basic meals for the children (n my case the mother usually takes care of this every time!)

What au pairs should not have to do:
1. No intense cleaning, such as clearing/sweeping out the garage- you are not being paid for manual labour!
2. No house hold maintenance


The primary responsibility of an au pair is, of course, child care. An au pair can provide up to 45 hours per week of care for the children. If the children are babies/very young, the au pair will help change nappies, give them baths and care for them. If the children are a little older, the au pair should take them to activities, play games with them and in my case, help them to learn English. 
My primary role as an au pair is to help improve on the child's English as he is an Italian boy. This means constant chatting whenever you are around them and playing games that can encourage the use of English at all times. 


Well,  I hope this has been of some use to anyone who is thinking about wanting to get a job over the summer. Being an au pair can be a very rewarding experience and an exciting challenge as well as getting to travel abroad and learn another language!

Here's a snap of the beach where we spend most of the week, it's a hard life being an au pair!


Has anyone 


Arrivederci!


Love,


E-L xo

Liebster Award!

Thank you Jesslyn for this lovely award, it was very kind of you! If you'd like to visit her blog click here, and I suggest you do! The Liebster award is given to bloggers who have less than 200 followers!

The rules:

1) Each Person must post 11 things about themselves.

2) Answer the questions the tagger has set you plus create 11 questions for the people you've tagged to answer. 

3) Choose 3 people and link them in your post.

4) Go to their page and tell them.

5) Remeber, no tag backs!

Ok, so here goes:

11 things about myself:

1) When I was younger, I wanted to be a caterpillar so I could grow up into a beautiful butterfly. 

2) Nearly everyone over the age of 25 has tried to call me Emily (except my parents)

3) I've fallen into my fish pond more than once 

4) I used to scooter

5) I unplug everything in my room before I leave the house

6) I check I've locked the door more than once

7) I love painting with my fingers

8) I used to talk to my dog

9) I don't have a middle name 

10) I get withdrawal symptoms if I've been away from the beach for too long

11) I ran at the London Olympic Stadium and it was AWESOME

So Jesslyn asked me 11 of her own questions:

1) Who is your inspiration to do make up?

My inspiration came from watchinf YouTube videos of the amazing beauty Guru that is Michelle Phan- simply amazing!

2) What is your favourite make-up brand?

Estée Lauder 

3) Do you have any pets? What animals do you like?

I have lots of fish and I used to have a German Shepherd dog named Trojan. I love all animals but I adore Tigers.

4) What do you think you are best at?

Probably being the calm one in a stressful situation.

5) What hair colour do you think is best?

Brunette of course!

6) What is your everyday clothing?

I love to change my look every day to suit my mood, so I don't really have an everyday clothing, unless you count tights, I ALWAYS wear tights!

7) Which part of your body are you really proud of?

My hands.

8) Wavy or straight hair?

Straight.

9) What pops out in our mind when you see the word 'muffin'? 

Blueberries... I love blueberry muffins!

10) Chocolate muffin or banana muffin dipped in honey?

Banana muffin dipped in honey.

11) What is the last song you heard? Change one word with donkey.

Poem for Donkey (Real title= Poem for Eva by Bill Frisell)

And these are the questions for those I nominate:

1) Why do you write?

2) What is your favourite pass time?

3) Where is your favourite place to be?

4) What piece of make up can you not live without?

5) When did you last write a blog post?

6) Dark, white or milk chocolate?

7) What is your favourite colour?

8) What do you aspire to be, if anything?

9) Do you speak more than one language? If so, which ones?

10) Do you desire to travel?

11) What are you most afraid of?

Here are the 3 people I nominate for the Liebster award:

js-maquillage

mystylesmysmiles

cloudsandcuticleoil

Thank you again Jesslyn for the nomination, remember you can find her blog by clicking here!

Love,

E-L xo