Review: Lush Herbalism, Don't Look At Me & Mint Julips

I love a lush haul. Seeing as my apartment doesn't have a bath (I love my apartment but damn that missing piece makes me sad), I've stopped buying bath bombs and instead transferred my attention to Lush skincare. Here are three I've purchased recently, in an effort to exfoliate away my dull winter skin: Herbalism cleanser, Don't Look At Me face mask and Mint Julips lip scrub. 

Review: Antipodes Rejoice Facial Day Cream

In case you missed it, I've already sang Antipodes' praises recently when reviewing their Manuka Honey collection: another thing you may have missed is the fact that I'm obsessed with the stuff. Hoping to fuel the fan-girling further, today I'm reviewing their Rejoice Light Facial Day Cream*.

Telescopically Infallible: Testing The L'Oréal Legends

I'd say I did this on purpose but I'd be lying: I didn't go out of my way to purchase these together, but I managed to get two of L'Oréal's best-loved products sitting alongside each other in my shopping basket: namely the Telescopic Mascara and the Infallible Matte Foundation. These two have been knocking about for some time now and have garnered a certain hype-factor, so I thought I'd see what all the fuss was about.

The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving A F*ck: A Nice List For 2017

I totally flaked on being even a half-decent blogger over Christmas and I have no excuse so let's just leave that at that. I can't promise I'm going to be a good blogger this year, nor am I going to give a generic list of impossible resolutions for the year in this post.

I recently read The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving A F*ck by Sarah Knight: a light-hearted read all about why it's totally bloody fine to reject your co-worker's spin class invitation and other useful practices in being happy. It kind of inspired me. I reckon we should all be nicer to ourselves this year: do the things we want to do. 

Never mind resolutions. I've made a nice list of things I would, indeed, like to do more in 2017.

Blonde Ambition

Ta-dah! Finally out of the ginger woods and into the ash blond light! I recently embarked on a blonde mission/ambition and I'm happy to say that my hair is finally where I want it to be. On a Sunday mission to find some Applewood cheese (heavenly stuff), I got my lovely weekend guest (my sister) to snap some pics of my new do. Keep reading for deets on my new hair and favourite products...

Review: Antipodes Manuka Honey Collection

Current obsession is back! I was recently sent Antipodes' Skin Brightening Day Cream* and Skin Brightening Eye Cream* from their Manuka Honey Collection. Currently assessing whether or not I could live without one of these...

How I Decorate My Apartment for Autumn

This is my favourite season: cosying up with a cup of coffee on cold sunny mornings, carving pumpkins and generally being a bit basic is the best. As much as I love Christmas, the cold at this rate is proving plenty cold enough. Let's stay in the leather jacket and a light scarf temperatures please?

Without further ado, here are my favourite autumn decor pieces!

Review: Nip + Fab Glycolic Fix Scrub

On the whole, I'm not particularly loyal when it comes to skincare. My skin needs different things as the seasons change, so I'm more than happy to investigate and experiment to see if I can find something I want to pledge my allegiance to. Nevertheless, my Botanics' All Bright Cleanser certainly isn't getting traded in any time soon, and I'm also borderline obsessed with these guys: today I'm reviewing Nip + Fab's Glycolic Fix Scrub.

Review: Gosh Setting Powder

Long time no blog.  I miraculously seem to have a Saturday afternoon to myself for the first time in a few weeks, so I'm sitting down to share one of my current faves with y'all. If you have oily skin, you deffo want to read on (I swear I say this all the time, my main mission seems to be operation shine-free). I've cracked it. I've got it. A powder that doesn't cost the earth but keeps you impressively matte for the major part of the day!

Almost Autumn-Ready

I hope everyone had a lovely Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK! With a fair few clothing deliveries arriving at my house (end of the month splurging is my current favourite habit, apparently) I decided to take this lovely wrap dress for a spin around Nottingham's Arboretum for some sunshine and a picnic. One of my favourite and most affordable purchases I've made recently, this dress is seeing me nicely through the last dregs of summer. When autumn arrives, the tights and boots will be at the ready to pair it with! 

The Best Affordable Day and Night Creams for Oily Skin

When the heatwave hit England a few weeks back, I had to seriously step my skincare game up. My foundation had been migrating away from the centre of my face by midday: never a good look, but one I'm sure anyone with oily skin can relate to. I made my way into town to purchase my trusty Shine Away Gel by Botanics, only to discover that it had been discontinued in the past month. Still hurting here Boots. Fix it please. 

Left abandoned by my favourite product, I was looking for skincare that was going to keep oil at bay for a reasonable price. Meet Garnier's Moisture Matte and Nivea's Regenerating Night Cream for combination skin.

My Mary Poppins Ambition Fulfilled: The Fiorelli Carlton Tote

This baby is the product of a long search for a bag that would be good for work and weekends whilst also being cute, sturdy, and large enough to have some Mary Poppins-esque magic about it. A working zip was also on the agenda in my search, after spending a month convinced I'd dropped my purse a few streets back since the contents of my bag was pretty much free game. Despite the hefty checklist, the Fiorelli Carlton Tote pulled through: I treated myself for the first time since starting work and dayum did it feel good!

Shampoo That Doubles Up As A Brush Cleaner?

Brush cleaners have recently hit the market as a must have: another thing to add to our never ending shopping lists. Cleaning makeup brushes is an annoying task, and the fact that extra products are required to complete it just makes it even more arduous. Hold up! I think I've found a brush cleaner that's affordable and doubles up as another product. Hello, L'Oreal Elvive Extraordinary Oil Shampoo!

Life Update: I Graduated!

Just a quick post to let y'all know that I am offically a grad! A week ago I said goodbye to student life for good, a day I always struggled to envision coming around; as with all things, it did, and it was the perfect way to say adieu to Nottingham University and to round off a tough but rewarding and hella fun three years.

For all you fashion fans out there, dress is Warehouse, robes are Hogwarts (maybe).

 

My Four Essential Face Brushes

I'm sure lots of beauty lovers can agree: you gotta get through some rubbish brushes to find the gooduns (famous saying yep). Face brushes are important. They can really change the way your products work for you, so it's worth the search (progress: still ongoing). Here are the brushes I currently can't live without (from top to bottom):

Review: Benefit Ready, Set, Brow

What's on your brow wishlist? I know mine: gloriously full, sharp enough to kill and with a heavy dose of insta-esque ombre-ness. If the nature of the last wish evades you, good: save yourself from near-impossible eyebrow goals. Benefit's Ready, Set, Brow does however attempt to fulfill some of these wishes, especially for those of us who want flawless brows all day. My hand is well and truly raised. Available free with Marie Claire this month, this brow setting gel claims to give you picture perfect arches "from working to twerking" - hmm, their marketing team needs to calm down a little I feel. Nevertheless, I put it to the test: whilst working, definitely not whilst twerking.

Intern Diaries: 5 Things I Learnt In My First Week

An internship is kind of a funny place to be: I've still got that uni kind of sleep clinging to my eyes but I have to be up early and dress like a functioning adult. The world's no pjs at 3pm rule is really bloody hard to abide by.

Quick life update: I graduated with a first in English from Nottingham University and I'm currently interning at a restaurant guide for the next two months (one month already down!). I'm bloody chuffed. Despite the fact I feel as though I've had to "adult" rather quickly, I'm surprised at how much I like it. That doesn't mean it's easy: by the time I'm home, fed, OITNB-ed and GoT-ed, I'm absolutely ready to sleep. However, after a month on the job, I'm getting more and more used to being a real human and thought I'd share some fresh out of the experience kind of tips. Welcome to Getting to Nomi's Intern Diaries*: here's what I learnt in my first week.

*Consistency dependent on success and levels of exhaustion.

Review: Zara Apple Juice

Zara perfumes are where it's at: delicious and affordable. Seeing as I was almost out of perfume entirely, I popped into the store round the corner from where I work (the usually crazy Zara goes dead at 5:30pm - heaven!) and bought the first one that took my fancy: Zara Apple Juice, costing just £7.99.

How I Contour My Nose

I'm sure many of you can relate to the fact that the beauty world of YouTube is where I've learnt everything I know about makeup. Literally all the things. However, when it comes to contouring, I see so many tiny perfect noses being contoured and think well, that's not gonna work for me.

My nose isn't symmetrical, so I've had to employ a few tricks that the beauty gurus with perfectly straight noses don't take into consideration. Please also remember that some people just have noses that look better without contour: don't follow trend if it doesn't work for you!

Better than Batiste? Herbal Essences Clearly Naked Review

Confession: I hate dry shampoo. If my hair is looking bad I'd rather forgo the extra half hour in bed and wash it. However, I've recently been trying to take care of my hair a little more, and this means trying to avoid washing it every day and stripping it of the good oils that keep it protected.

It's been so longed since I purchased dry shampoo that I didn't even realise so many brands had released their own (I thought Batiste was the only kind!). Intrigued, I picked up Herbal Essences Clearly Naked.