Revlon Scented Nail Enamel Review

Today's guest post is from the lovely Kia. Go and check out her blog Make Me Up Kia right now!

Hello lovely Elsa Pell readers. I'm guest posting for Kate today but before I get started I think I better introduce myself. My name is Kia (pronounced k-eye-er) and I'm a beauty blogger from the South-West of England. I love drinking too much tea, watching New Girl and obsessing over Suki Waterhouse's hair. That's enough rambling anyway, read on to see what I think of the new Revlon Parfumerie polishes. J'espère que vous l'aimerez!

Sunny Sunday: Picnic and OOTD

Last Sunday, it turned out to be a really nice, sunny day (which is completely to be expected in the North East of England!) so Ant and I decided to take an obscene amount of pork pies and root vegetable crisps down to Saltwell Park near Gateshead and have a little picnic. We sat in the part next to Saltwell Towers, which I presume used to be a stately home, but now it houses the café and some conference rooms. After enjoying our food and soaking up some of the English sun, we explored the park a little bit. I've never been there, but I thought it was beautiful, especially the lake. The winding, flower-lined paths and streams reminded me of Middle Earth (I'm a massive Lord of the Rings fan), which I really appreciated. I've always wanted to be an elf.

Nars Blush International Giveaway // Concurrence Internationale pour gagner un Fard à Joues de Nars

Elsa Pell is one today! I can't believe I've been doing this for a year - I've never been able to keep up a single hobby before! I'd like to thank all of my lovely followers and all of the people who have said a kind word or two about my blog. It really is appreciated, and it has kept me going during the times where I've wanted to pack it all in.

Elsa Pell a un an aujourd'hui! J'arrive pas à croire que je suis blogueuse depuis un an - j'ai jamais continué un passe-temps pendant un an! J'aimerais remercie tous mes suiveurs et tous les gens qui a dit des mots aimables concernant mon blog. Je suis très reconnaissante, ils m'ont aidée a continué quand je voulais l'abandonner.

Half Marathon Training for Dummies

In 2012, I ran my first ever half marathon - the Great North Run to be exact. I enjoyed the event so much, I signed up for two more half marathons in 2013 and after nursing a knee injury, I have signed up for my 4th half marathon this year. If we rewind to my school days, you will see a chubby, bookish child who hated P.E. I was terrible at sports, always picked last for teams, picked on for throwing like a girl and despised by my sports teachers. I hated hockey because my gum guard made me retch, I hated netball because I was put on the E Team (not the B Team....the E Team...) and one time, I was made to do the High Jump at sports day. I'm 5 foot 5....it all ended in tears and with a large bruise on my bottom. Most of all, I hated running. It made me feel sick, and it was so tiring. I was considerably slower than everyone else in my class, and I didn't like the way it made my chest burn on a cold day.

The point I'm trying to make is, I am not a good runner. I don't always enjoy my training runs, and I spend more time putting off going on a run than I do running, but something keeps me signing up for these events. If you're a novice runner who's looking to enter your first event, it doesn't have to be a half marathon - it could be a 5k, a 10k....anything, you might appreciate some advice from someone who is far from superhuman!

Source: greatrun.org

Year Abroad #5

This is my final instalment in my Year Abroad series. My time in France is officially over! I am actually back in England at the moment, and have been for about a week. I actually cut my Year Abroad short by a couple of weeks to go to Parklife. I had already finished uni and was just chilling out and enjoying France, but I hadn't planned to come back to England until the end of June. After my exams, I made sure that I really made the most of the time that I had left, and luckily, the weather was pretty amazing, so I got to have a couple of days out, and spent most of my free time in Place Plumereau drinking lager with peach syrup in it (It's actually really nice, you should definitely order a demi-pêche next time you're in France!). You can have different flavour syrups - strawberry is popular - but peach is the best.

Nautical Make Up Look

I've recently been inspired by all of the eye palettes for the Summer 2014 collections, which include lots of blue and turquoise hues. I actually really enjoyed the whole nautical theme from the Dior summer collection in particular, especially the nail varnishes. Even though I actually didn't buy anything from the collection, I decided to do a look based on the shades included in their Summer range with colours that I already own.

Yves Saint Laurent Babydoll Mascara Review

When my Le Volume de Chanel dried out, I was tempted to get another one, but curiosity made me want to try something new. I was attracted to the claims that Babydoll creats 'defined volume'. When I see a volumising mascara advertised, I think 'Uh oh....clump alert...', but I do like a little bit of volume, so I thought this sounded perfect.

Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer Review

A couple of months ago, I bought Erase Paste by Benefit to cover up my under eye circles. I actually wrote quite a positive review of it, but one thing that always bothered me about it was the fact that it never really sets, even when I powdered it. The main problem about this is the fact that make up that I wore under my eyes ended up half way down my face by lunchtime. I finally decided that enough was enough - it was time to get a new concealer. I'd heard good things about this, and I'd already been more than impressed by the one other product from Nars that I own (one of their blushes), so I thought I'd give it a go.

Winter to Summer: Updating your Makeup Bag

Hi! I'm Alex and I blog over at A Blonde Moment. I'm really happy that Kate agreed to let me write a guest post for her blog, and I hope you enjoy it!!

Going from Winter to Spring/Summer come with it's own little challenges, for example will I need a coat today? (The answer is almost always yes in the UK!). With the transition to warmer weather, I also find that my makeup bag also undergoes a mini transformation. Gone are the dark reds and purples, and in come peachy pinks and brighter colours. Today I thought I would share what I do to adjust my makeup routine to sunnier times in three little sections. I hope you enjoy!

Makeup

FOTD and OOTD: Fun in the Sun

I've never done one of these before! I thought I'd share with you the make up look I did yesterday. It wasn't a particularly special event yesterday, but I had finished my exams the day before, and it was a really sunny day. Plus, my favourite bar, La Guinguette in Tours was reopening for the Summer that evening.

Time for a Change // Le Temps du Changement

You may notice something a little different about my blog! After nearly a year (a year!) of being Simplicity, I decided it was time for a change. I was inspired by this little play on words 'Elsa Pell', and that really got me thinking: it's time to move my blog to the next level. 

I've always wanted to make my blog a little more sleek, but it's taken me until now to start the ball rolling. I have numerous plans, and this name change is only the first step....to be continued!

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Avez-vous remarqué un changement dans ce blog? Après presque un an (un an!) d'être Simplicity, décidé que c'est le temps du changement. J'étais inspirais par ce petit jeu de mots 'Elsa Pell', et ça m'a fait penser: c'est le temps d'améliorer mon blog.

Je voulais toujours que mon blog soit plus élégant, mais j'ai attendu jusqu'à aujourd'hui de faire démarrer des choses. J'ai nombreux plans, et ce changement de nom est la première étape.....à suivre!

Top Ten Procrastination Tips

Exam season is in full swing and as we all know, procrastination is an integral and fundamental part of the revision process. Being cooped up in your room for days on end, you might have run out of things to do to avoid doing work. Have no fear, the procrastination queen is here....

1. Tidy your desk

You can't work if your desk isn't tidy. Declutter, organise your papers, put your highlighters and felt tip pens into a rainbow formation, stack your books in height order and you'll be good to go. In fact, while your at it, organise your wardrobe, try on some potential post-exam night out outfits, vacuum, dust the skirting boards......

Nails Inc. Gel Effect Polishes

The Nails Inc. Gel polishes* claim to create a salon standard manicure, without the need for a UV lamp or a soak off. They are high gloss polishes with 'plumping technology' to even out any imperfections in the nails. I have the colours Covent Garden Place (hot pink) and Regents Place (lavender). These retail for £14.00 in the UK.

MAC Coppering Tutorial

I bought Coppering from MAC ages ago, and I've had difficulty finding ways to wear it. It's quite a full on colour, and I always thought that having it all over the lid was a bit much. When I was in Lyon, I went into the MAC store and found Expensive Pink, which is a gorgeous, shimmering, rose gold shade. It wasn't until I got home and put it in my palette, that I realised how similar the two colours were. I had a family get together a few weeks ago, and I was wearing orange, so I thought I'd give pairing these two colours together, along with some others (I also used Quarry and Brulé). Here's what I did......

Clockwise: Quarry, Brulé, Expensive Pink, Coppering

Nars Amour Blush: Review and Photos

I've wanted a Nars product for ages. I'd always heard that their blushes are amazing, so I decided that that would be a good product to start off with. I wanted a matte pink of some description, and Amour was one of the shades that stood out to me, so I knew I was on to a winner. On the Nars website, this shade is described as a 'peachy pink', which I don't really see; I'd definitely say it leans more coral.

Year Abroad #4

I haven't done one of these in ages, so I thought I'd give you all a little update on my time in France. I'm very nearly at the end of my year abroad, and I have very mixed feelings about leaving. It hasn't been easy living abroad, but I definitely think I'll miss it when I come back to England for good. Since my last instalment, I've been a busy girl. I finished off my exams for first semester in January and I've just found out that I managed to pass enough credits to pass my year abroad altogether. I'm absolutely thrilled, because this means I can now enjoy myself now that the weather has improved.

Château de Tours

Spring Flowers Nail Art

I'm at home at the moment, and I realised the other day that I have tons of nail varnish here that I haven't used in ages. I couldn't decide which colour I wanted to wear, so I decided to do a Spring-themed look that included a few of them.

Nails Inc. Weak, Peeling and Bendy Nails Treatment Pack

I've suffered from nails that peel for a couple of years. As well as being not very nice to look at,  it makes nail varnish chip easily on the tips and my nails break easily. I was recommended to use OPI Nail Envy, which I used for a couple of months, but it never really made a difference. So, I searched the internet and found this kit from Nails Inc. for only £25 on Feel Unique. It includes Hyde Park base coat, Albert Bridge Treatment top coat, a four way buffer, a Vitamin E Cuticle Pen and an Express Remover Wipe. I couldn't find the 4 way buffer or the wipe sold separately, but the top coat, the base coat and the cuticle pen cost £38 on their own, so this works out as quite a good deal.

Dr Jart Water Fuse BB Cream

Helloooo! Sorry for my long absence, I've been a bit bogged down with exam revision and I've had a couple of weekends away. I'm back now, and I have a review for this very popular BB cream. I got this when I was back in the UK a couple of weeks ago and I fancied taking advantage of the Boots 3 for 2 deal. I wasn't sure whether to get this one or the Regenerating one as I had no idea which one was more suited to my skin type, but I preferred the way this melted into my skin.

Mini MAC Haul

I went back to Paris for the first weekend of my half term, and I was lucky enough to have a 20% off Sephora voucher that was valid at the same time. I wanted to go and get some things from the Fantasy of Flowers collection from MAC, and the big Sephora on the Champs Elysées has a MAC counter. It was a bit of a no brainer really. Unfortunately, when I went there, the collection wasn't yet in store, BUT, it's MAC so of course I managed to buy something.

Top Left: Up The Amp; Top Right: Quarry; Bottom Left: Sumptuous Olive; Bottom Right: Brulé