Unleash the beast....

I thought it was about time that I introduced my pug, Violet to my blog, after all it's named after her! As it says at the top, this is not just a beauty blog, I also feel really passionately about my beautiful little pooch. She has kind of taken over my life this past year.

I received Violet last Christmas as a not-so-surprise gift from my mum, for me and my sister who live together in London. I hadn't stopped going on about how much I longed for a dog for months. As a girl who has never lived without a dog before, moving to London and not having a cute little hound to cuddle up to was starting to get to me. Boyfriends just don't cut it. My mum finally got sick of my whining and thought she'd scare me out of it by saying "Go on then, I'll get you one for Christmas if you want one so much!" which OBVIOUSLY had the opposite effect...and here we are, one year later.

On most weekends we tend to go on mini adventures. Although we don't venture too far, I like to think that Vi really enjoys getting out and about. We mostly go to Hyde Park or Clapham Common, and meet loads of other pups along the way who she likes to play with. If you're a dog lover like me, I'm sure you'll enjoy the occasional pug posts! I like to take A LOT of pictures of dogs that I spot, so fingers crossed you enjoy as much as I do.

Much love,

M (and Violet)-x

Crazy-good Nail Art Special

My best friend Gina treated me to so some new nails & nail art and I am SO happy with them. These gems are courtesy of a friend of a friend, Henna, who previously worked for one the UK's most popular nail art bars. I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to elaborate nail art. I've always experimented with acrylics and stick ons, but as far as I ever went with design was different coloured tips!

So tonight, experiment is exactly what I did! First off, I feel the need to stress that this was a home visit from Henna, which was also something I've never experienced before. How good does it feel to be pampered in the comfort of your own home? Reminds me of being little and getting my hair cut in the kitchen.

She applied acrylic nails, sorted out my gross cuticles (which was long overdue) and then got down to the art. I had SO many palettes to choose from, such a daunting task, I desperately wanted to pick the right things. It didn't take me long to pick out designs that I had instantly fallen for. I wanted to keep it themed so that it matched and didn't look too all over the place.

I opted for golden metallic leopard print, Cath Kidston-esque floral pattern, and a super detailed aztec print, just to name a few!

So, here they are in all their amazing, shiny, glory...

I love, love, love them. Next up, CHRISTMAS NAILZ!

Much love,

M -x

Handpicked Media Gets Social!

Today I attended the Handpicked Media social event at The Royal Institute of British Arts in London. I had a really fantastic day, consumed ridiculous amounts of information, definitely an experience I won't be forgetting any time soon. I went along with my two good friends from uni, Daisy (Bible Blog) and Rebecca (Huffington Post). After listening to so many inspirational talks from businesswoman Shaa Wusmand, PR guru Mark Borkowski and ELLE's acting editor Jenny Dickinson to name a few. They reminded me that I'd always spoken about starting a blog, but had neve

r actually got around to doing so, and I should really start being more passionate about writing in my own time.

So here I am, writing my first post to absolutely nobody! As so many people have told me today, I am sticking to what I love and what interests me most - beauty products and my lovely little pooch. A rather unheard of duo, yes, but this is what makes me extremely happy.

My first review will be on Shu Uemura cleansing beauty oil (please excuse the low-light rubbish MacBook picture!) I'm going to give it around 5 days for a fair test. We were given this product in our goody bags at today's conference and thought this would be a good opportunity to start reviewing. As a product I wouldn't particularly pick up in the shops, I can't wait to see the results on my skin.

So here goes...I hope you enjoy, feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Much love,

M -x