Review: Models Own HyperGel Polish

A few months ago I went to the Clothes Show Live (the last one in Birmingham, sad times). While I was there I brought some Models Own HyperGel Nail Polish, as I needed some new ones and I had never tried the Models Own ones before.

The polish doesn't require any UV, like some gel polish, you just have to make sure you shake it well before use. The first one I tried was Brunette Red.

This shade is a very deep red and I thought it was a nice colour for Autumn and Winter. The application process was good and the polish seemed to dry fairly quickly. The shade was also very opaque but I still applied 2 coats, as always. I really like this shade, however, after a few hours it already had a chip on one of my nails. The next day I noticed nearly all of my nails were chipped which made me realise that, unfortunately, this polish is not very chip resistant.

The second one I tried was Pink Veneer. 

The inner girly girl in me loves a bit of pink every now and again. I chose this pale pink colour, as I thought it would be a nice shade for the summer and it would go well with some of my daytime outfit choices. The application of this polish was very different to the Brunette Red. This shade is not very opaque at all and i found that, even after applying 2 coats of the polish, I could still see my natural nail colour through the polish. This one didn't chip as easily as the Brunette Red but did start to peel off my nails after only 24 hours.

The third one I tried was Jet Black.

I always like to make sure that I own some black nail polish. It is a great colour that goes with practically any outfit. This shade, as I expected, was the most opaque of them all when I applied it. This shade also lasted the longest, only chipping after 48 hours. However, like the others, it isn't very chip resistant so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who wants their nail polish to last for more than 48 hours.

The final shade I tried was Red Lustre.

This is the only one I got for free at the Clothes Show and didn't purchase myself. The shade is a lovely bright, vibrant red colour which screamed Christmas to me when I saw it. I love this colour. It is fairly opaque but does chip easily.

Overall, I really like the shades of the Models Own HyperGel Nail Polishes but I am disappointed by the lack of strength in the polish. They do not seem to last long and chip way too easily. They would be great if you wanted to just change your nail colour for one day/night, but not if you are looking for a long lasting polish.

Chlo xx

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Health & Wellbeing While On Holiday

I love to travel, seeing new places and experiencing new things is a great part of life. However, it is important to me that I maintain my health and wellbeing whilst on holiday.

I will be traveling to New York in April and I am beyond excited! The last time I went to America I went to Florida when I was 16 and had the best time, I can honestly say Disney World changed my life.

So here are some of my tips to maintain health and wellbeing while away.

1. Meditation and yoga

(Image Source: Google)

Not only is physical health and wellbeing important but also mental. I find that meditation and yoga really helps to focus my mind. Sometimes traveling to a new place can be a bit stressful, especially if not everything goes to plan. If I am on a holiday, where I am saying in a villa or hotel, (like my previous trip to Florida) I like to meditate by a pool or the sea as I find the sound of the water to be very calming. Tuscany is a place on my current travel wish list which has some great villas with beautiful pools, perfect for meditation, which you can check out here. Tuscany has also become a very popular place for yoga retreats, that you can check out here, which in my mind sounds extremely relaxing.

2. Sunscreen (or sun cream)

I have very pale skin and lots of moles and freckles so it is vital that I take care of it when I am in a hot country. Though my next trip will be in America in April when it is a bit colder, on all of my previous trips where the weather has been much warmer I ALWAYS make sure my skin is protected. Sun burn is a nasty thing, it hurts and it doesn't look nice when your skin starts to peel. Not only that but going into the sun without sunscreen and getting sun burn increases your risk of developing unwanted skin conditions or diseases, such as cancer. I always wear factor 30 in a British summer (which let's be honest isn't always sunny) and when i go abroad to a hot country i always use factor 50 for that added protection.

3. Fruit for breakfast 

Eating fruit in the morning is a great way to start the day. Not only does it make you feel good and ready to start your day, it also contains those all important vitamins and minerals that your body needs. I like to start each day with a banana as they are a great source of energy and contain a good amount of potassium.

4. Insurance

This may seem like a boring one but health insurance is so important when you are abroad. If you are to be unfortunate enough to injure yourself to the point you need hospital treatment the costs will be extreme without insurance. It is best to be safe than sorry.

5. Drinking

Of course everyone likes a drink when they are abroad, it is your chance to escape work and let your hair down. But it is important to stay safe, especially when you are somewhere you have never been before. NEVER leave your drink unattended, all it takes is a second for someone who isn't a particularly nice person to spike your drink. Also even if a handsome stranger does offer you a free drink it would probably be a lot safer if you don't accept one unless you see it being poured. Stay safe people!

So there you have it my top 5 tips for maintaining your health and wellbeing while abroad.

Chlo xx

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Revamp

So I decided to make some slight changes to my blog. I started this blog a few years ago and while I still see it as a hobby I feel like as I have grown up my blog should grow with me.

So here are the changes I have made:

1. The name

Most obvious one here is that I have changed the name of my blog. It is no longer 'partywithgiraffes' and is now simply 'Chlo H' with the NEW url being chlohblogs.blogspot.co.uk. If i'm honest I did want 'Chloe H' but that url was already taken so plan b! This is just a temporary name change though and someone did tell me it sounds like 'chlo hates blogs' when you read it, which was not planned and I didn't even realise it myself.  Any other name suggestions would be appreciated. I don't have a middle name so it's a bit harder to think of blog names as I know a lot of bloggers use their first and middle names. I feel like 'partywithgiraffes' is a bit of a mouthful and the new blog name suits as it is my name so it is unique to me.

2. The layout

I have adjusted the layout of my blog ever so slightly by making some font changes here and there to make certain parts easier to read. I may be making further changes to the layout by adding more pages so that I can separate my posts better. At the moment my blog is a bit of everything but the main posts seem to be focused on:

- Beauty
- Lifestyle
- Fashion
- Literature
- Personal

My blog would be much more organised if I could separate these posts onto separate pages. Of course this is dependent upon my computing skills and whether I can figure out how to do it.

I might make more changes in the future to my blog but at the moment I am happy with these slight changes.

Chlo xx

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Making changes

Do you ever just sit down and think what am I doing with my life? Well that is what I did before Christmas and continued to do up until New Years day.

PREPARE FOR A DEEP POST

See I have a History degree and part of me has always wondered whether I did that degree just for the sake of doing a degree. All of my friends were going to University, and I couldn't think of anything else to do, so I thought 'yeah sure I'll jump on that train'. Now I'm not saying I regret doing my degree. I am actually very proud of the fact that I got into University and graduated with a decent classification. But what I am saying is that I wonder whether I did the degree for the right reasons.

So that brings me to my main point. I started a PGCE Primary course in September 2016 after thinking that teaching was what I really wanted to do. But the more I thought about it the more I questioned it. I got onto the course just fine and everyone on the course was super friendly but something was still there at the back of my mind. The little voice going 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!'. So instead of ignoring the little niggle at the back of my mind I went with my gut. I realised that teaching is not for me. To be honest it's not that I was bad at it (blowing own trumpet moment) my grades were quite good and I passed my first placement, it just didn't feel right. I did not enjoy the course as much as I thought I would. So on the 3rd January 2017 I withdrew from the course after a chat with my course leader.

So I am now unemployed, not a student anymore and starting to worry slightly more about my bank balance. But I have to say I am happy. I am happy that I made the right choice. The career wasn't for me so why do it? Hopefully I will find something I enjoy doing and can earn a living from but in the meantime I am enjoying feeling like i can breathe again and not feeling like I am under an immense amount of pressure.

Change is good. 

Chlo xx

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New Years Resolutions

2016 has been a massive roller coaster for me. Lot of things have happened good and bad and my life has changed a lot. But I have a good feeling about 2017 and hopefully it will be a much more positive year, so here are my resolutions.

(Image source: Google)

1. Stress less.

I am a MASSIVE ball of stress right now. I am doing a very stressful university course until July 2017 and I barely have any time to myself because the course is so full on. I basically just want to be able to find some chill time in the New Year and to be able to have some me time. Hopefully I will be able to do this!

2. Make more time for family.

Again I feel that 2016 has been a massively busy year for me so I want to make sure that in 2017 I spend more time with my family. If 2016 has taught me anything it's that life is short and family is the most important thing.

3. Learn a language.

I am always so jealous of friends that can speak another language and I have always wanted to learn one. I want to learn either French or Spanish but i am yet to decide which one. I did French at school but I feel that Spanish may be more useful to me.

4. Get fit.

While I don't particularly want to lose any weight I am seriously unfit. I get out of breath just walking up the stairs! I am going to New York in April and one of the things I will be doing is going to the top of the Statue of Liberty, which is a LOT of steps. I think not wanting to collapse in the Statue of Liberty is a very good reason to get fit!

Chlo xx

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Christmas Haul

So I haven't done a blog post in about 4 months so why not return with a lovely little haul post!

I would like to start by pointing out I am not doing this post to brag. I know people like to read these and I am very grateful for the presents I got.


So first of all my lovely big brother (he's actually a lot shorter than me but he's older so hey ho) got me these lovely items from the Soap and Glory range. He got me a foot cream, bubble bath and body lotion. Anyone that knows me knows that I love Soap and Glory so I was very very happy when I opened this lovely lot.

My parents were constantly asking me this year what I wanted but I had no idea! The only thing I asked for was makeup brushes, because my ones were a bit old, and they got me some lovely gifts! I got these fluffy socks, I also got similar ones with a star pattern on and also some Gingerbread Man ones which are really soft.

Anyone who knows me knows I am not a morning person and I HATE Mondays so this oversized tee is perfect for me. It's meant for night time and it's super comfortable, I think my parents got it from Topshop because I LIVE for their clothing. 

I am a bit of a bookworm and if I don't have any uni work to do I will probably be reading. My parents got me Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I have always wanted to read this and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is one of my favourite books so I am sure I will enjoy it.

I only asked for a few makeup brushes and I ended up with loads! This picture doesn't do them justice but they are all Real Techniques brushes. I got the Core set, Eye brushes set and the Essentials set. Mom and Dad did good!

This next gift is from my lovely friend Amy. She got me one of my favorite bottles of wine because what Christmas is complete without a bit of alcohol?! She also got me this lovely travel mug. Myself and Amy are both trainee teachers and a hot drink is essential during our long days so this gift is perfect!

 My other lovely friend Sara got me this really cute box which contained lots of little gifts, such as a shower gel, peppermint lip balm, bobbles, chocolate coins etc. I LOVE the box, I have no idea where she got it from but it was a lovely gift.

Finally what Christmas is complete without a bit of chocolate?! My parents got me a massive chocolate Snowman and lots more chocolate. I may or may not have already eaten half of it.

So that is my Christmas haul! Hope you enjoyed this post, I am going to try and get back to posting more regularly now that I have sorted out my schedule for my trainee teacher course.

Chlo xx

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Lies University Tells You

I got told so many things during my three years at university which ended up being not true at all so i thought i would share some with you all.

1. You should definitely buy this book

No you most definitely should not! Odds are the books your lecturers tell you to purchase are the ones that they have written themselves. You more than likely won't ever read it and if you do you will only read one chapter. Best thing to do is to find an eBook version on Google Scholar, it will save you money and time. I have so many books in my possession that i was told to buy and i haven't even finished any of them and some of them i never even used once.

2. If you're organised you wont need to worry about a thing.

Lies! You can be the most organised person in the world but when deadlines are looming and you also have an exam the same week you will worry. I'm not saying this to try and scare any prospective students but worry is inevitable and completely natural. Everyone does it so don't kid yourself.

3. If you live in halls you'll definitely get on with everyone. 

While this may be true for some lucky people, the students you end up sharing a flat with will have different backgrounds, personalities, hobbies etc. You can not get on with everyone no matter how hard you try. Some people are just too different and that's ok. You can still be pleasant with one another but odds are you won't become 'best buds' with everyone you live with.

4. You'll become a domestic God and know how to do everything.

Erm yeah this one is definitely a lie. Odds are you'll still be ringing home asking how to work the washing machine or how to cook something without setting your flat on fire.


So these are just a few of the lies i got told at university. Comment below if you got told some too!

Chlo xx

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