A few things I have learnt lately.

I have pinched this post idea from the beautiful Nicola from Our Little Balham Life - I just love her and I so wish she could be my in real life BFF! It would make my entire week if you would pop over and say hello to Nicola! Yesterday she posted 10 things that she had learnt recently and I thought it was a genius idea to write them down! I recently heard someone say 'we learn from our mistakes, but if we do learn something from them, then they're not mistakes'. I needed to hear that for sure!

//. I'm a firm believer in everything happening for a reason, but sometimes I have to put my foot down and help create my own destiny.

//. Snow is beautiful. The resulting slush and ice is definitely not, especially when you slip on said ice carrying a laptop and a camera, fall arse-over-tit and end up in a pile on the floor somehow managing to save said laptop and camera but ending up with a bruised you-know-what. Ouch. It's a good job I stopped taking myself seriously years ago or my ego would have been a bit bruised too.

//. Procrastinating is bad and I should never do it. Ever. But I know that I will and therefore I have to start things extra early to account for all the potential procrastinating I will ultimately do.

//. It's always a good thing to take time to write down exactly what I want to do with my life and it's more than okay to invest in the dream that I didn't even realise I had such a passion for.

//. Sandwiches are pretty much my favourite food. I am officially Joey from Friends. There are just so many good options for sandwiches - they're different every time, like baked potatoes which I think are my second favourite food! ;)

//. Although sometimes it's difficult to make ends meet, I am so lucky to have a nice home and a beautiful family. Feeling loved is the best thing ever.

//. Finding something positive in every situation, even when things aren't so great, is a million times better than trying to figure out every possible thing that could go wrong so I'm not surprised or disappointed when things don't work out. It would have been nice to know this when I was a teenager.

//. I'm almost certain I'm going to get a tattoo this year. And I think I will get bitten by the tattoo bug and before I know it I'll have more than one. 

//. It's okay to be a little bit of a lone wolf and enjoy your own company.

//. I would really, really, really like a penpal!

Have you learnt anything recently? 

I would love you to share in the comments!

xoxo

Snow Day in March.

This weekend I woke up to a true winter wonderland, I opened my curtains and was greeted with Narnia. If we just ignore that it's almost April, this is the kind of scene I dreamed of as a child. Where I grew up we never had snow days and I can count on one hand the amount of times it even snowed at all when I was small. So, you know, this was kind of a big deal. Bailey pup had the time of his life outside and little Ralphie stayed warm and toasty upstairs laid beside the heater - he's very sensible!

xoxo

Video Diary: Yesterday.

Video Diary: March 22nd 2013 | sailorjennie from sailor jennie on Vimeo.

This happened yesterday!

Are you having a lovely weekend?

xoxo

GIVEAWAY: Lomography Diana Mini & Flash Package!

Today I am so super excited to be hosting this Diana Mini & Flash Package giveaway! I'm a huge fan of Lomography and this really is such a lovely camera that I know one of you will have so much fun with! This little beauty takes 35mm film which is super accessible and easy to get developed so I predict the winner will get through several films this Spring & Summer and capture lots of memories in the process! I'm actually secretly totally jealous but shhh don't tell anyone! On to the rules, please read closely!

1. You must be a follower of this blog either via Google Friend Connect OR Bloglovin'. Please leave your GFC name or Bloglovin' link with your comment below.

2. Either 'like' the Lomography Facebook page here OR follow Lomography on Twitter here. Please leave your facebook name or twitter handle in your comment below. If you do both, please let me know so I can give you an extra entry.

3. Please leave a comment letting me know what the first thing you would photograph with your new camera if you were to win would be!

4. Please leave a way of contacting you if you were to win - either a twitter handle or an email address. Thank you! 

♥ Follow me on Twitter here @sailorjennie & leave your twitter handle in your comment below letting me know!

♥ 'Like' the Sailboat Facebook page here & leave your facebook name in your comment below letting me know!

♥ Tweet 'Jennie @sailorjennie is holding a @lomographyuk Diana Mini giveaway over at http://www.sailorjennie.com & I would love to win!' Please leave your twitter handle in your comment below letting me know you've done this if you do!

* This giveaway will be open until April 11th 2013 at 11:59pm BST.
* Please enter only once.
* This giveaway is open internationally.
* I will choose a winner at random after April 12th 2013 & either email or tweet letting the winner know they have won.
* The winner will then have 72 hours to respond. If no response is received I will go ahead and pick another winner.
* The winners shipping details will then be passed to Lomography who will then post the prize.
* If you're under 18 please get the permission of a parent or guardian because I will need your shipping details.

GOOD LUCK!

xoxo

Review: L'Oreal GlamShine Stain Splash [Lolita, Marilyn, Milady & Juliet]

For the past couple of weeks I've been hearing a lot of buzz around the new L'Oreal GlamShine Stain Splash lip stains (longest name ever!) and well, I just couldn't resist giving them a try. They have been described as the high street version of the YSL Glossy Stains and after not being quite able to part with that many pennies for a lip product, I was especially looking forward to trying the more affordable alternative. 

Lolita is a super wearable nude shade that looks pretty with any make up look. Wear with a smokey eye for a beautiful night time look or with neutral eyeshadow & a nude blush for a fresh & natural look.

The colour range is quite nice, although I wouldn't say it was amazing, there seems to be an okay range of colours from nudes to pinks through to corals and reds. A few of the peachy coral shades look super pretty but because I tend to stick to more pink shades with my make up I didn't end up purchasing any - perhaps I'll change my mind come summer time! The scent probably isn't going to be to everyone's taste but I actually really love it. It reminds me of cherry sweeties and to be honest, I'm a huge sucker for any lip product that smells like sweets. One of my favourite things about these is the packaging, I think the outer casing is sleek and luxe looking & the applicator is the perfect shape & size to quickly and easily apply the product to your lips - perfect in my eyes!

Marilyn is a beautiful pink shade that with one coat gives a hint of colour and with a couple of coats can be built up to give a real pop of colour. This is my favourite of the four shades I own because it's the most versatile. I'm excited to wear this with a pretty pink blush & lots of mascara for a super girly look.

I think these look, feel and wear like a product that's much more expensive, I had high hopes to begin with, but I think they've even been exceeded! The formula is consistent throughout each of the four shades that I have, they all look super glossy on the lips, they have lovely pigmentation and they wear nicely throughout the day. The darker/brighter shades, Juliet & Milady, leave more of a stain on the lips, which is to be expected and I can easily go 7-8 hours without having to reapply. The shine obviously starts to wear off but because the colour left behind is so even and not patchy in any way, there's no need to touch up unless you want that shine back. With the lighter shades, Lolita & Marilyn, I tend to reapply after 4 or 5 hours, just to top up the colour. They seem to layer really well, they don't ever go gloopy or weird and they never look too heavy on the lips.

Milady is a berry shade that is the most out of my comfort zone but one I am looking forward to experimenting with. This is most flattering for my fair skin with just one sheer coat to give a slightly darkened fuchsia colour but it can also be built up to give a really intense colour.

They do feel slightly sticky, but not too much, certainly nowhere near the stickiness of say, a MAC lipglass and I personally like that they have that element of stickiness because it means they don't move or smudge, which is important for the bright shades. Although they claim to be non-drying, I do find my lips to feel a little dry after wearing these all day, but that's nothing a good slick of lip balm won't solve! The first coat will give a really pretty sheer wash of colour but if you really want to build up the full colour intensity a second application is needed, but I like that they're versatile like that.

Juliet is a beautiful red shade that I know I'm going to be wearing so much during the summer. It's the most perfect non-fussy red lip, I know it's not going to smudge or fade unevenly throughout the day which I absolutely love because I hate high maintenance lip products! 

Overall I'm really impressed with these and I can't lie, I'm sure a couple more of the coral shades will find their way into my collection in time for the warmer weather! But shhh, don't tell my boyfriend! For those in the UK you can find these in Boots & Superdrug for £7.99 each (& if you're quick, you'll be able to grab them on 3 for 2 in Boots!)

Have you tried any of the L'Oreal GlamShine Stain Splashes yet? 

Do you like them?

xoxo

Monthly Favourites: February 2013.

Well, I'm horrendously late with my favourites this month once again. I don't know what's wrong with me, I seem to be losing all track of time recently which is not good, I need to snap out of this phase asap! I hope you don't mind this being so late, I figured it's still kind of relevant because I do still like these things! Enough rambling, on with my favourites of last month...

L'Occitane Shea Serum♦. // Organic Surge Million Dollar Anywhere Balm♦.

My skin has been a bit of a nightmare recently, it seems to like alternating between being super blemish prone and dryer than the Sahara. For the majority of last month the latter was the case so I was reaching for the L'Occitane Shea Serum♦ on a daily basis to offer that extra bit of hydration before my moisturiser in the mornings. I really like this because it sinks in almost instantly and doesn't leave an oily film over the skin so make up applies like a dream over it. For any particularly dry areas I couldn't be without the Organic Surge Million Dollar Anywhere Balm♦, which is one of those really handy multi-purpose products. I have been using this mainly on my lips (best lipbalm ever!) but it also sorted out a patch of dryness on my nose overnight.

Pur Minerals 4-in-1 Pressed Mineral Make Up♦.

For base make up, I just have one stand out favourite which is the Pur Minerals 4-in-1 Pressed Mineral Make Up♦. I've been using this to set my liquid foundation & give a little extra coverage and I have to say, I am seriously wowed. I've used mineral make up before and really liked it when I was a bit younger and my skin was a little more on the oily side but in recent years I've tended to stay away from a lot of powder products. There's something about this that's different though, it never seems to highlight dry areas at all, instead it just smooths everything over leaving you with a flawless base. Love this!

MUA Undressed Eyeshadow Palette. // Estee Lauder Stay-On Shadow Paint in Halo♦.

So something pretty amazing happened last month. I have finally managed to find a product that keeps my eyeshadow on for longer than 5 minutes. It's a blooming miracle! What is this wonder product I hear you ask? Well, it's one of the Pure Color Stay-On Shadow Paints♦ from Estee Lauder. This one is in the shade Halo which is a light neutral skin tone shade that covers up any redness on the eyelids and really smooths everything over in preparation for eyeshadow. I have never found anything that keeps my eyeshadow from melting off so well, so although I don't always get a full days wear out of it, I do tend to get a good 7 hours which in my book is incredible. For eyeshadow I've been getting a lot of use out of the MUA Undressed Eyeshadow Palette♦ which is amazing value for money and all of the shadows are really wearable for every day looks.

Tinted Lip Balm. // Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector in Nude Shimmer.

Despite usually being a pink lips kind of girl, for the past few weeks I have been really enjoying the nude lip look. I've really been enjoying this nude tinted lip balm, which I won't talk about too much because I actually have no idea where it's from. It's not so much this exact product, it's more the colour which I think it pretty similar to one of the nude Revlon Lip Butters, I think it's called Creme Brulee. I'm also still completely in love with the Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfectors, this one is Nude Shimmer & it gives the perfect amount of colour and shine.

Stila Convertible Colour in Gerbera. // Japonesque 924 Blush Brush&diams // Collection Shimmer Shades in Blushalicious.

As I'm sure most of you know, blush is my all time favourite make up product, but I think I have found a new ultimate favourite in Stila Convertible Colour in Gerbera. This is the perfect combination of pink, peach & nude in a beautiful light weight formula that blends like a dream. I really want to look at more colours from this range but I'm on a blush ban! My favourite powder blush over the last month or two is the Collection Shimmer Shades in Blushalicious, which has the most amazing name! I really like that this has 4 super pretty shades that can be used individually or you can swirl all the colours together to get a pretty peachy pink flush. For under £5 this is a complete bargain. Finally, my current favourite powder blush brush is the Japonesque 924 Brush. This manages to apply just the right amount of product and blend it flawlessly into the skin. It's super soft and I like that it has a short handle because it fits in my make up bag perfectly for on the go touch ups.

What were your favourite products from February? 

xoxo

Would You Like to Keep in Touch?

Hello, would you like to stay in touch? With Google Reader (and potentially ultimately Google Friend Connect too) soon to be retired you may be thinking about switching to another method of keeping up with your favourite blogs & deciding which would suit you best. It would mean the absolute world if you would like to subscribe to Sailboat through one of the following - thank you!

Bloglovin' is my absolute favourite method of keeping up with my favourite blogs because it's super simple and user friendly. It lets you know when the blogs you're following have new posts you haven't read yet & you can also explore the popular pages to perhaps discover a few new reads! If you want to switch to Bloglovin' you can quickly & easily import all of the blogs you already follow via Google by clicking here which is much less hassle than having to search one by one!

Sailboat on bloglovin'

HelloCotton is another option with a user friendly interface and, well, the splashes of hot pink throughout the site is undeniably pretty! I've found some of my all time favourite blogs through HelloCotton, there are particular categories to explore if you're looking for some new reads and the home page ensures everything you need is within easy reach.

I hope I'll see you over on Bloglovin' or HelloCotton sometime very soon! 

Have a lovely Sunday ♥ 

xoxo

Five Happy Things.

What's making you happy right now?

xoxo

March Wish List!

1. I just can't seem to get these Prism London New York clear frames off my mind. They're super pricey but I can't find anything even remotely similar from any other brand, and believe me, I've been trawling glasses websites whenever I have a spare few minutes. I think I may just have to purchase these very soon.

2. I've been hearing a lot of good things about the L'Oreal GlamShine Stains (I'm not exactly sure if that's what they're called) & I after having a quick look at the shades in Boots the other day I can see why. Pretty much every shade looks really wearable, I really like the glossy formula and they smell like cherry sweeties to me which is always a bonus! A couple of the lighter colours have caught my eye because at the moment I'm all about the nude, low maintenance lip products.

3. DotComGiftShop has very quickly become one of my favourite online shops to browse because well, they have so many pretty things to look at. These super sweet glass bottles (1, 2, 3) would look lovely pretty much anywhere, for some reason I seem to have developed a bit of a thing for pretty looking glass bottles!

4. I don't think I'll ever be one to invest in a super expensive bag, purely because I'm so indecisive so ebay has become my number one go-to place to look for bags. There's no denying this ebay tote has been heavily 'inspired' by a particular designer bag and, well, I just love it, it's structured and comes with a long strap. I also don't have a nude coloured bag, so this may be the one! 

5. I'm completely out of Fuji Instax mini film so I definitely need to invest in some more. I love my Fuji Instax Mini camera, I always think instant pictures are so fun and they look really lovely in frames.

6. I often look through the new in section of ASOS and this sweet French Connection heart necklace really caught my eye. There's something about the cute red heart and edgy stud detail that I really love & I think this would look so cute with a simple white dress in the summer time!

7. Another DotComGiftShop favourite is this Garden Roses Wooden Produce Tray. I think a few of these would so sweet stacked up in the garden or even just one on the dining table would look lovely. I have so many home ideas whirling around in my head, I just need to decide on what to go for!

8. Estee Lauder make up has really been catching my eye in recent months and I am completely in love with their Mad Men Collection! The Mad Men blush in the shade Light Show has the most beautiful packaging I've ever seen and the colour looks like it would give a perfect natural yet sculpted look. The Mad Men nail polish in the shade Pink Paisley is the perfect 60's pink and I think it looks stunning!

9. How freakin' cute does this Diana Baby 110 camera look?! Oh my gosh, I need it in my life! I've never had a 110 camera before and this one is pretty affordable so it may be the one I just have to get! I especially like that you could keep it in your bag, handy for any moment and it won't be too heavy!

10. Lastly, I need to stock up on some 35mm film and I think that Lomography have some really good deals. I've learned that film on the website goes in and out of stock all the time, so if there's something that catches your eye, you have to purchase straight away!

What are you lusting over right now? 

xoxo

A Sweet Gift: Carly Watts Illustration!

Recently the sweetest email popped into my inbox containing the most beautiful illustration of me & Ralphie in a sailboat from the beyond talented Carly Watts. I have been reading Carly's blog for a little while now and I'm completely utterly in awe of her talent so I was thrilled when I opened her email and found this waiting for me. It was a beautiful surprise and I am going to get it printed & framed so I can see it every day. Carly has captured little Ralphie perfectly, from his fluffy cheeks to the little tuft between his ears & I just adore every single thing about it.

It would absolutely make my day if you would pop over to Carly's blog and say hello! I'm sure she would love to hear from you & I know she's always willing to work on custom illustrations or organise some prints if you fall in love with a particular piece. She is such a lovely lady and I know she is going to go far with her illustrations! ♥

Thank you so much once again, Carly! I love you!

xoxo

GlossyBox March 2013: Get City Chic.

It barely even seems like a week has gone by since I was opening the February GlossyBox, but here we are in March and I have to say, it's a good one! This month the theme is city chic and it's all about achieving a glossy & groomed look that city girls maintain from boardroom to bar stool. GlossyBox promise to include really versatile products to help you achieve said glossy look, sounds interesting to me, lets see what's inside! 

March 2013 GlossyBox♦

Usually this would be the point where I start with the product I'm not really all that excited about, but, well, there actually isn't a product this month that I'm not looking forward to trying which I think is pretty impressive. One of the things I was most excited to see is the Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream because it's one of those cult beauty products that I've wanted to try for ages, but just never quite got around to. This product is the true definition of versatile, it can be used to refresh skin, soothe chapped lips, smooth cuticles and so much more. This is only a tiny sample but I've heard that a little goes a really long way so I'm excited to see if this lives up to expectations. The full size 50ml retails for £25.

If there was ever a nail polish colour to inspire me to stop biting my nails so I can wear it it's Bruton Street from Nails Inc. This is exactly the kind of nail colour I love, it's simple and polished but still pretty & girly. I got a mini of the Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Top Coat in a previous GlosyBox so this colour will be the perfect accompaniment. Now, all I have to do is grow my nails - wish me luck! Full sized Nails Inc polishes retail for £11.

Next up is a mini Tresemme Salon Finish Extra Hold Hairspray which I've tried before and love. I know a lot of people prefer light hold hairsprays but they just don't work for me and I like to know that once I've backcombed the crap out of my hair to get even the smallest amount of volume, that it will actually stay put. Oh the annoyances of having fine hair, you thick locked beauties are so lucky! I have a feeling my mama will pinch this off me at some point because she also loves a good strong hold hairspray and this one smells really nice, which is always a plus. A full size 500ml retails for £4.69.

Over the last few weeks my hands have been so dry & cracked that I've been going through hand cream like there's no tomorrow and my favourite brand for them is definitely L'Occitane. I have never tried their Brightening Hand Care before but if it's anything like others in the range, I know I'll love it. This also has SPF 15 in it which makes it perfect to use on an everyday basis, especially as I often forget to apply sun screen to my hands! A full size 75ml retails for £19, so it's not the cheapest but L'Occitane is a brand I'm always willing to invest in.

Lastly, we have a make up item, which I'm always happy to see inside a beauty box! This is a Lip Blush from Jelly Pong Pong, which claims to be a lip stain and moisturiser in one. It goes on quite sheer but you can definitely build up the colour and it feels really comfortable on the lips. From first impressions the packaging doesn't seem to be all that sturdy, I can see the lid coming off in a bag for example so I think this is one I would keep in a make up bag at all times. I absolutely love the colour and I can see myself reaching for this a lot already because I'm a huge fan of easy to apply lip products. This is a full size and retails for £12, which seems quite expensive so I'm excited to see how this wears throughout the day.

Also included this month is a My Little Travelling Book which runs through the must-see places in a whole bunch of different countries from Japan to Canada. It's so nicely designed and although I'm not much of a traveler, I really enjoyed flicking through & there are some super cute stickers in the centre! I think this is one of the best boxes I have ever received & I can't wait to start trying out the products!

Are you subscribed to GlossyBox?

What do you think of this months box? 

xoxo