Sweet & Simple Nail Art for Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day isn’t the biggest deal in the Bovary household (in fact, I think we are less romantic on that day than any other!) but it’s a nice excuse to share a good meal and there is definitely no harm in that! We’re heading down to the beach house tonight with Charlie in tow, to chill out and hopefully head to a restaurant for dinner tomorrow night. I’m not one for elaborate nail art most of the time as my skills are lacking, but cute simple nail art is hard to beat and I painted my nails with the first design that popped into my head when I thought about love and how simple it should be!

I started with two coats of FABY Valentina’s Day* before using my el cheapo eBay dotting tools to turn three dots of FABY Innocent Fantasy* into a cute love heart on my ring finger! My nails have all broken right down after having acrylics for the wedding, so please forgive the state of them. Valentina’s Day flooded some of my cuticles but I really think that was because I didn’t give myself a manicure before throwing on the colour, the formula was pretty decent and I like that it’s more a strawberry red shade than a straight up harsh fire engine sort of rouge. Innocent Fantasy seemed to be more pigmented than the similar shades I have from essie so that’s always a positive – I haven’t painted my whole nail with it though so I’ll reserve judgement. FABY has only just launched in Australia and I’m happy to have another 5 free brand around!

Mister Bovary was actually really impressed with how quick and cute the nail look ended up being, and I think next time I might try it with a metallic blue shade and some silver or white polish to change it up a bit. I adore my dotting tools, they are so easy to use and being so affordable means I was able to pick my mother in law up a set as well – she goes through stages with polish and has a pretty enviable OPI stash I must say!

Are you a Valentine’s Day lover or hater? It’s my first one as a wife! I have my fingers crossed that cupid hits Mister and he nabs me a sweet mug for my morning coffee…otherwise I might pick myself up a new one in Rosebud!

-Emma

*Provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

Smelling Sweet for your Sweet this Valentine's Day

The idea of Valentine's Day is something I like - the romance in the air, the pent up expectations of a sweet gift, expressing your devotion to someone...the reality, however, doesn't always come through with the goods. Though Mister Bovary and I have shared a few nice dates over the years on February 14th, we aren't true romantics at heart and often choose Breaking Bad and homemade pizza over a fancy restaurant. It's the little things that he does that really make me swoon, the insignificant details he remembers and the way he always looks out for me.

Enough of the swooning - let's get to the 'heart' of things! ;)

I find fragrance to be a mood breaker every day, and at this time of year when the weather is sticky and love hearts decorate promotional images, I like to smell sweet like candy. Cotton Candy* to be precise.

 

This yummy Urban Rituelle scent originally only came as a purse spray until the brand wised up to how amazing Cotton Candy was, and created the larger EDP for us to enjoy. Considering I've gone through many of the purse sprays over the years, receiving this really made my day!

Even the classic bottle that Urban Rituelle chose to house this sweet scent in makes me swoon, and I love the way it looks on my vanity. I can't wait to get our new bedroom suite so that I can organise a daily scent tray on my dresser - it is how I hope to rotate my scents from now on, so we've been looking around for new furniture to make it happen already!

Those who aren't big fans of spun sugar scents probably wouldn't get on well with this, but I find it to be amazing and it is said to be their best seller, so I know that I am not alone in loving this pink treat.

I was perusing their website and saw that they also have a limited edition Romance soy candle for sale right now - jasmine, musk and amber, now doesn't that sound lovely!?

Urban Rituelle's Cotton Candy EDP retails for $34.95 AUD, and the range also contains hand cream, reed diffuser, candles and a lip balm for those who want to inject a bit of sweetness into their Valentine's day.

Will you be following my lead and buying yourself a Valentine's gift this year?
Are you a fan of sweet scents?

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty

*Provided for consideration. Honesty, always.