Product Of The Month

Hi everybody!
As it has come to the end of January now, I thought it would be great to share with all of you, a product that I have been loving throughout the month.

It is no other than the Naked 3 Eyeshadow Palette by Urban Decay. I have been meaning to blog about this palette for so long but managed to put it aside as I wanted to feature it in this Product Of The Month blog post. If you have read the beauty edition of my Christmas Wish List blog post from my Countdown2Christmas blog series last year then you would know that I was actually thinking of getting it for myself as I was, and still am, really obsessed with it. However, thank god I did not purchase it for myself as I received it as a Christmas present which I am obviously very thankful and grateful for.

The packaging is a metal tin packaging, similar to the Naked 2 palette which I find to be very practical as it is easy to clean and keep clean.

This palette also comes with four sampling primer potion is Original, Eden, Sin and Anti-Aging.

12 shades of rose/pink eyeshadow colours with a good mixtures of matte and shimmery shades

From the left: Strange, Dust, Burnout, Limit, Buzz, Trick, Nooner, Liar, Factory, Mugshot, Darkside, Blackheart

The brush: Dual-ended eyeshadow brush - blending and flat

This is the breakdown of the shades in the palette 

♥ Strange - it is a matte, very pale pinky shade, perfect highliting shade 

♥ Dust - lovely shimmery pale pink

♥ Burnout - a quite peachy pink satin shade

♥ Limit - matte rose pink

♥ Buzz - rosy pink with tiny glitters

♥ Trick - copper shimmery pink shade

♥ Nooner - matte taupe

♥ Liar - shimmery mauve

♥ Factory - a warmer brown-pink

♥ Mugshot - satin taupe with shimmer

♥ Darkside - deep taupe 

♥ Blackheart - deep espresso brown with rose sparkle

All in all, I think this is an amazing palette, all the colours are wearable for everyday looks or even nights out. You can definitely go for a simple look with some of the lighter, more natural colours towards the left or middle of the palette. I think Limit, Nooner, Liar and Factory are really good everyday colours. If you would like a smokier eye look then definitely Blackheart, Darkside, Mugshot and even Trick are the ones to go for. The colours are really pretty and flattering on the eyes no matter what eye colour you may be and I also think this will get me wearing more pink toned eyeshadows and pink-smokey eyes.

The quality of these eyeshadows are definitely up to standard and as usual, Urban Decay never disappoints. It does have a really nice consistency and it applies like a dream.

As I am sure many of you, if not all of you have already read multiple blog posts on this palette, I do appreciate you taking the time to read mine as well. If you have not picked it up already, do check it out and I highly recommend this palette to anyone who loves pinky-neautral tones for the eyes. I have  been loving this palette all throughout January and I have a feeling I will continue to love it in February and throughout spring as well. 

Don't forget to check out all of my other social media sites and do leave a comment below sharing your views on the palette. If you would like to check out my Christmas Wish List blog post, there will be a link below as well. Have a great day all ! Xx

Twitter: @jessieashleyyy

Instagram: @fashion_jessie

Email: jessicashleyyy@gmail.com

Check out the beauty edition of my Christmas Wish List blogpost here.

Song Of The Week #1

Hi everybody!
This week's song of the week is......

Do What U Want - Lady Gaga ft. R Kelly

I have been obsessed with this song the entire week. Its a nice dance song and very upbeat, perfect for  if you might be having a bad day. Do check it out and feel free to leave a comment below sharing your favourite song of the week and check out all of my social media sites. I hope you will enjoy or have enjoyed this song as much as I do.

Twitter: @jessieahleyyy

Instagram: @fashion_jessie

Email: jessicashleyyy@gmail.com

UPDATE: New Blog Series

Hi everybody!
At the beginning of this year, I made a promise to myself that I would start being more committed to this blog and be more active. Besides the beauty and fashion aspect of the blog, I also wanted to make it more personal and share more of myself with all of you. (if that sounds weird to you right now, what I really meant is that I wanted to share more of my interests, likes and dislikes with all of you) So with that said, I have some really interesting news with all of you. :)

I have two new blog series for this year and that is the 'Song Of the Week' blog series and the "Product Of The Month" blog series.

Song Of The Week
For this blog series, I will be uploading a blog post at the end of every week sharing my favourite song with all of you. I am somebody who loves music, I always have since I was a little girl. I grew up playing the piano and went through many scary performances in mini concerts and minor events. I first started playing the piano when I was only 6 years old, which was about two decades ago. Yes, it has been that long and I can barely believe it myself. Throughout the years, I have picked up playing the guitar and have written a few songs on my own that I am quite proud of but am not ready for public's (even my own family, friends and boyfriend) criticism or thoughts. I take my music quite seriously and when I say that I just mean that I am very particular about the music playing on the radio or in my iTunes playlist. I would say I do have a "skill" of memorising song lyrics very effortlessly and I am open to all genres of music from country to r&b, rock, electronic pop and jazz. I also would say that my taste in music is quite mainstream and there are many times where I listen to random songs from the past and put them on repeat so beware as they may appear on this blog series.

Product Of The Month
This is something that I have actually been thinking of doing for quite awhile now. I have experienced a few times where I come across amazing products that works so well and are worth it. If you follow beauty bloggers or watch any of them on YouTube then you may have heard of something called Monthly Favourites where beauty girls whether on YouTube or on their blogs share their favourite products that they have been loving throughout the month. This has a similar concept but instead of having many different products or items, I have decided to feature only one product in my blog posts. Additionally, I may add a few cheeky random favourites as well like any snacks or fashion item that I have been loving.

These series will get me one step closer to being more committed to my blog and I hope you will enjoy both the blog series. Alongside that, I also do hope all of you will get to know me better through this and since i would like it to be an interactive thing, please feel free to comment below sharing your thoughts/ favourite songs/ favourite beauty, makeup or fashion related items. The Song Of The Week blog post will be up this Friday and the Product Of The Month blog post will be posted at the end of January/ early February. Please do check them out and if you follow me on twitter or instagram, I will be sure to update all of you when I have posted them.

Have a great week everyone

Xx

Twitter: jessieashleyyy

Instagram: @fashion_jessie

Email: jessicashleyyy@gmail.com

Updated Nail Polish Favourites

Hi everybody!

I hope you are all doing well and having a pleasant 2014 so far. Today, I thought I would do a blog post on my updated nail polish favourites. If you know me personally and see me on a daily basis then you would probably know that I do love my nail polishes and I like to repaint my nails with different colours and shades quite often. I will admit that I do have more nail polishes in my drawers than I should have and I probably should stop purchasing any more.

These are my favourite nail polishes of 2013 from January to December.....

Essie

Lilacism 

This is a beautiful spring shade and I loved it all throughout spring and summer of 2013. It is the prettiest pastel lilac and so flattering.

Stylenomics 

I absolutely adore this colour. It is definitely one that is within my comfort zone and I think it is perfect for the festive season. Other than that, this is one of my all time favourite shades throughout 2013 especially during fall and winter.

After School Boy Blazer

This was actually also in my C2C Festive Nail Polishes blog post. I love my nay blue shades and this one is so perfect and I absolutely love it at all times of the year.

Poor Lil' Rich Girl 

This is a perfect fall red and it is amazingly beautiful. It is a rich dark red colour which I love and have repainted my nails with this multiple times as well.

Mint Candy Apple 

Of course I had to include this here as this was my favourite nail polish ever since 2012. It is the most perfect mint green shade and I have worn this all throughout spring as well. 

Not Just A Pretty Face 

This is another spring/summer colour which I find to be amazing and super pretty. It is light and perfect.

OPI

Russian Navy 

This is another stunning navy blue that I love ever so much, I just have to have my navy blues <3

Stay The Night 

This is actually form the Mariah Carey (liquid sand) OPI Holiday 2013 Collection which was also in my C2C Festive Nail Polishes blog post and it is a really gorgeous and festive glittery dark red.

Models Own

Strawberry Tart

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One of the cutest shades of nail polishes that I own and I absolutely love it for spring and summer. It is the most lovely pastel pink colour.

Blizzard

i actually ended up wearing this on New Years Eve as I thought it was the perfect shimmery silver shade for the occasion, and this is from the Wonderland collection.

Pink Fizz

This is a really pretty shimmery girl pink colour, it is really stunning but not too eye catching which I think is the perfect combination for me.

China Glaze

Midtown Magic

This is a perfect deep, rich fall colour which goes along perfect with all the autumnal colours.

Cherry Crystal

This is a perfect cherry red colour, hence its name. This is really good for summer but I think you can get away with wearing this at all times of the year as well.

Its Poppin'

I personally think that every girl needs a bright pink nail polish and for me, this is the one. I must admit I don't usually go for shades like this one but I absolutely loved it throughout summer.

It was a slightly tough job narrowing down my favourite nail polishes but I just mainly picked out the ones that I used to repaint my nails. I must say I don't really go for many neon and bright/bold colours even during the summer. I mainly stick to what I am comfortable with and that is dark nail polishes and mild shimmery ones which I find flattering on my nails.

I actually have done a blog post on my favourite nail polishes quite awhile ago and another Festive Nail Polishes in my Countdown2Christmas 2013 blog series so do check them out and I will leave the links to those below. Also don't forget to check out all of my other social media sites and feel free to leave a comment below sharing your favourite nail polishes of 2013. Xx

Twitter: @jessieashleyyy

Instagram: @fashion_jessie

Email: jessicashleyyy@gmail.com

Check out my previous blog posts, Nails Galore here and C2C Festive Nail Polishes here.

5 Quick and Healthy Breakfast Ideas

Hi everybody!
Today I have decided to do a breakfast idea blogpost. I realise that I am constantly rushing out the door every morning and 90% of the time, I will leave home without having any food. I am sure that there are some of you out there who are exactly the same, and really, I know how it feels to have no time to have any breakfast in the morning. For some people, even though they might be in a mad rush, they still find at least 5-10 minutes to sit down and have some food but for those who need to catch buses, trains and beat the morning rush hour traffic, it is not as easy as it seems.

One of my resolutions for the new year is actually to eat a lot healthier. I love my workout sessions and my occasional cleanse and I do think I live a fairly healthy and active lifestyle. However, when it comes to my eating, its a completely different story. I always have to resist the urge to grab every box of cookies from the supermarket shelves when I go food shopping because I know that if they are sat in the cupboards of my house, I will eat them all in one go (well obviously I can't manage so much cookies but I definitely do attempt to do that).

I have always been taught and told that skipping breakfast is one of the worst things that you can do to your body and as time goes by, I believe it more and more everyday. When you skip breakfast, your body starts to go into starvation mode because you have not consumed any food since you went to bed and if you have a proper sleeping and eating schedule, that would mean that the body has not had any food for about 10 to 12 hours. What happens is that when the body is in starvation mode, it tends to hold on to the fat. So if any of you out there are trying to shed a few pounds, let me tell you, skipping breakfast is definitely not the way to do so.

If I was not clear before, I do have breakfast but not at home and not healthy ones. After I have gotten to wherever it is I need to be, I will stop by cafes or coffee houses and grab some coffee and pastries, preferably croissants, which are not the healthiest of breakfast options, I must say so myself.

With that said, these are 5 of my quick and healthy breakfast ideas.

Raspberry and Blackberry Smoothie

• 1 small banana
• 1 cup of fresh raspberries
• 1/2 cup of blackberries
• 6 ounces of vanilla yogurt 
• 1 tbsp honey
• 4 ice cubes

Place the banana, raspberries, blackberries, yogurt, honey and ice cubes in a blender and bland until smooth.

This is a perfect on-the-go breakfast and it is really healthy as well. The berries are amazing vitamins and fibres that will keep you going for longer and honey is a healthy natural sweetener that helps with clearer skin. You can always use fat-free or non-fat yogurt and feel free to add in different types of fruits and berries to find the perfect combination that you prefer. This might not seem a lot in quantity but I promise you, it will keep you going until lunch time.

Cinnamon Porridge with Bananas and Berries

• 100g porridge oats
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 4 tsp brown sugar
• 450ml skimmed milk
• 3 bananas, sliced
• 400g punnet strawberries, halved
• 150g pot fat-free natural yogurt

In a medium sized saucepan, add in the porridge oats, cinnamon, sugar, milk and half of the sliced bananas, stirring occasionally then turn down the heat to cook for another 4-5 minutes. Serve in individual bowls topped with sliced bananas, strawberries, a dollop of yogurt and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

This recipe is enough for 4 servings so if you can make this for the rest of your family members as well and I am sure they will appreciate it. This takes about 10-15 minutes to prepare so it is not the quickest of breakfasts but it is really healthy and delicious and it feeds more than just yourself which is always good.

Honey Granola

• 250g honey
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 360g oats
• 100g almonds, coarsely chopped
• 100g walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 150 raisins

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C. Heat the honey and oil in a saucepan until runny then add in all dry ingredients apart from the raisins with 1 teaspoon of salt and stir well. Spread the mixture over two baking sheets and bake in the oven for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes until golden brown. Let it cool then stir in raisins and store in an airtight container.

This can be done during the weekend or whenever you get the chance and then in the morning you can just grab it and go. Have it with yogurt or almond milk or just by itself and it will make a delicious breakfast, healthy as well! Keep it properly and it can last you up to about a week or so.

Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich

• Cooking spray
• 2 tbsp peanut butter
• 2 slices of whole wheat bread
• 1 banana, sliced

Heat a pan over medium heat and coat with a thin layer of cooking spray. Spread the peanut butter on one side of the bread and place the bananas on top then press together with the other slice of bread. Fry for about 2 minutes on each side until golden brown.

The perfect sandwich and definitely one of my favourites. It is simple and easy to make and tastes just as good as any pastries you will get it cafes but healthier and better for you. This can also make a nice light lunch if you would like.

Granola, Berry and Yogurt Parfait

• 2 cups greek yogurt
• 2 cups granola
• 2 cups of fresh berries of your choice/ other fruits
• 4 tbsp honey

Spoon 2 tablespoons of yogurt into the serving dish and spoon 2 tablespoons of granola on the top of that and spoon 2 tablespoons of fruit on the top of that. Add honey to taste.

Again, this serves more than just one person and this is the perfect dish to use the homemade honey granola. This is one of my favourite breakfast foods as it tastes amazing and it will keep you going. It is rich in protein and fibre that keeps you full for longer so that you can say goodbye to 11am biscuit cravings.

So that concludes my 5 quick and healthy breakfast ideas. I hope this has helped some of you especially those who are always in a rush. Also, this is simple breakfast ideas even if you do have a free day and they taste so delicious. If your new year's resolutions are like mine and that is to have healthier meals or stop skipping breakfast then this is the perfect start. Please do leave a comment below sharing your healthy breakfast ideas and don't forget to check out all of my social media sites when you get the chance. Xx

Twitter: @jessieashleyyy
Instagram: @fashion_jessie
Email: jessicashleyyy@gmail.com

2014 !!!!

Hellooooo everybodyyyy!
(oooh something a little different there!)

It is now officially 2014 and oh my goodness, I cannot believe it. I hope you all had an absolutely wonderful new year celebration whether you were out with your best mates having a memorable night or a quiet one watching movies and drinking hot chocolate. I had an amazing new year as I was on a short holiday with my family and I spent new years there. It was truly an amazing trip and it was something that I really needed as I was getting a little stressed out here in the city. But now I am very excited to be back and ready to get back in my everyday routine and hopefully make some good changes here and there.

Its a few days into the new year now and I am fully aware that I have been a little quiet on this blog for the last week or so, I apologise for that. However, if you do read my previous blogpost, I did mention that the next blogpost will only be up in 2014, which is now. It was a nice break after all the continuous Countdown2Christmas blog series, which I really enjoyed doing as well.

I would also like to thank all of you for your love and support and if you have taken time out of your day to scroll through my blog or like some of my Instagram pictures or anything of that nature. I do really appreciate it with all my heart and I hope that I have maybe helped you in any way possible throughout the last year. If you do follow me on social media, you would know that I love everything beauty and fashion but I do also like to venture out into more life-related things.

2013 was a great one for me and I am thankful for all that I have experienced, whether it was good or bad. I did have a fair share of bad times where I was really down and lonely at the beginning of the year, but things got better and I feel so grateful that I am now in a better place. I am a true believer that everything happens for a reason and this is all part of God's master plan for me. Don't get me wrong, I am not a religious person but yes, I do strongly believe it. Maybe it is really true or maybe it is just something that I tell myself to help me sleep at night, I honestly do not have the slightest clue. I also had many great experiences and memories that I will keep with me and cherish for a lifetime. I have been given the opportunity to do so many things and again, I feel so thankful for that. I have been able to travel to different parts of the world this year for projects and holidays as well.

I am very excited for the new year as I have made big plans for it and if all goes well, it should be a successful year. I have some upcoming projects and I am working on some ideas for this blog that I am very excited about. I also will be starting an apprenticeship in a few days and I hope that will be a good experience and will bring me many useful lessons. I have to admit, although I had a blast in 2013 and it was just a massive party to me, I must say that I still do feel a little lost. I think I am at a point in my life where I am not quite sure where I stand and I sort of feel like I am just drifting around. So I want to make 2014 a year for me to "find myself" because I think that I really need this. I've come to a point where I think I need to stop messing around and really focus on the future (wow that sounded a lot more serious than I had intended it to be) but mostly, I do want to settle down, maybe get a new place or tie up some loose ends, I will not go into detail about it but that is what i am hoping to achieve this year.

Blogging wise, I have plans to do more with it and hopefully expand it as much as possible. I would like to add a few more personal touches to it and hopefully have more posts about my experiences and my travels and maybe day-to-day activities. I want to make sure that I prioritise this blog more this year even if I am away or really busy, I do want to make sure it is taken care of.

As much as I did enjoy 2013, I am ready to leave it behind and move on to the coming year and hopefully make it an even better one. I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year. I wish you all the best of luck in the coming year and I hope you do make it an excellent one.

Please feel free to leave a comment below sharing your new year's resolutions and if there are any specific topics that you would like me to put on this blog. Also, do check out all of my social media sites and follow me on there when you get the chance.

This is my 2013... <3

Twitter: @jessieashleyyy
Instagram: @fashion_jessie
Email: jessicashleyyy@gmail.com