Almond Extension Perfection

A couple of weeks ago I decided it was time to splash out and treat myself to some full on gel extensions as the days of wishing my nails would grow naturally into the desired length and shape were becoming more frustrating as all they seem to do is break. I made myself an appointment to go and see Chris of sketch nail design at the brand new a prestige salon The Edge. Featured in the ‘one-to-watch’ Union building The Edge offers a new dimension to Norwich beauty with its minimalist modern and stylist furniture (oh so insta-worthy), panoramic city skyline views and laid back atmosphere.

I got myself ready to go teaming the hat and leather jacket combo to combat the rainy August day.

image

On arrival I noticed the reception looked incredibly premium and brand new with integrated screens and clean white surfaces and seating , it defintiely offered a great first impression. The Edge salon is on the 4th floor so I made my way up there. There’s lots of work going on in the building as the building is still in development but don’t let this put you off as soon it’ll be one of the places to be with the first Norwich rooftop bar and restaurant coming here soon.

When I walked in the salon I instantly fell in love, the furnishing was just up my street. I love big airy open places particularly with natural light and The Edge is definitely not short of that with its huge Windows and panoramic views!

Chris used to do my nails when he worked in Jarrolds and this is the first salon that had been a good location for me to get to so my long wait to be reunited with his talents was finally over! I picked myself a colour (N93) and we got started, he started by getting the tips and glueing them to my natural nails- for those extension sceptics gel extensions don’t require filing into your nail- the next step was to create the perfect almond shape which Chris did perfectly! Following this because this is a sculted gel extension he created the shape and thickness with a clear gel which is cured first….

image

I actually kind of liked it like this but hopefully you can see the strength and thickness from the photo. After this stage there was more filing to make the shape even more perfect before the colour was applied and cured. The colour application is the quickest part and gives the lovely shine too! He used The Gel Bottle shade N93 which I had spied on his Instagram! Colour cured can only mean one thing…. Voila!

I love them! The look so perfect! The whole process took a couple of hours but 2 weeks later and they’re still looking pretty spectacular AND these bad boys you can infill too!

Thank you so much Chris for your precision and being a perfectionist! Go check him out ladies on Instagram @sketchnaildesign and @theedgenorwich

Thanks for reading!

Has anyone been here or have any stars of their own nails to share?

Holly xx

The Doughnut Diaries

So, I am having to write this post as a matter of urgency because these DELICIOUS doughnuts did not hang around long and I wanna get words to page whilst I’m still experiencing the immense sugar high. If you’re local to Norwich or have visited in the last few weeks you may have noticed a number of people walking around proudly carrying a Krispy Kreme dozen and wondered where they came from. Well on Friday the 2nd of September a Norwich Krispy Kreme fresh store will open its doors in Chapelfield for the first time.

On Thursday night I attended the Norwich Bloggers social at none other than the Warwick Street Social and we were very privileged to be joined by the lovely folks from Krispy Kreme!! On arrival I was presented with my very own assorted dozen!!! After a proper rubbish day I was made up only having tried an original glazed the previous week and already hooked I was gagging for the extra flavours! As you can imagine by the speed this post has been published the following 24 hours involved a lot of doughnut eating…..

 

Thursday Night Dinner- Nutty Chocolatta- The most delicious, amazing, topped and filled doughnut filled with NUTELLA!! All that chocolate hazelnutty goodness set me up good and proper for a few drinks at the WSS!

Midnight Snack- Glazed Raspberry- A classic raspberry jam filled doughnut with that signature iced glaze on top, shared with the mother and put a smile on her face.

Friday Coffee and Cake- Cappuccinos for 3 and an Original Glazed, Nutty Chocolate, Chocolate Iced and an Apple Pie- shared with my parents who grew up in the 50’s and state they’ve “never had doughnuts so light” and their childhood holidays both mostly consisted of seaside resorts famed for doughnuts!

Special Delivery for the one I love- Strawberries and Kreme, Chocolate Dream Cake, Chocolate Sprinkles and Triple Chocolate Cake- I hand delivered these to my boyfriends building site for him to share with his boss, strawberries and kreme is his favourite and was perfect as always, he gave 2 to his boss who proceeded to buy him lunch and let him leave off early. There really is no denying the joy that is the Krispy Kreme effect!! *Bribery is never a good route to go down but if you’re planning on it Krispy Kreme is clearly a damn good idea to use*image

 

Friday Night In- Strawberry Gloss- Now this is 100% my new favourite. Definitely the one that always caught my eye at service stations with its princess pink glittery, glossy, glaze; thankfully its taste did not disappoint. O M G is all I can say, I’ll be going back for this one first. Teamed with a glass of fizz this was the ultra girly night indulgence.

image

 

Sharing is Caring- Chocolate Custard- I was gonna eat this with my lunch but as I had already definitely had my fill but I gave it to a friend at work when she coincidentally told me how this was her favourite KK. Definitely made her morning.

12 doughnuts. 6 happy people. 36 hours. 

 

If you do decide to let your dozen hang around longer than I did do not refrigerate to ensure soft and fluffiness and they are good for 3 days.

Enjoy folks, do not underestimate the power of the Krispy Kreme. 1st in line for the Norwich store on the 2nd gets a gold card which is a years worth of free doughnuts and many more giveaways too so get yourselves down to Chapelfield to enjoy the launch. I on the other hand will be hopping on the treadmill to jog off my day of doughnut decadence.

Whats your favourite KK?

love Holly x x

 

Norwich Bloggers Event

On Sunday the 10th of July the Norwich Bloggers invited me to come along to one of their networking events for bloggers in Norwich and surrounding areas,  I was actually there working, representing my company Benefit Cosmetics who are hugely into networking with bloggers and influencers and building on their social media following because they are a brand that do not pay for advertising. I arrived at around 1.30 ready to get started for the bloggers arriving at 2 and set my little area up with a table bursting with goody bags supplied by the company. There was lots of other brands there too from Lisa Angel, Neals Yard, Exposed brushes, The Curl Company, FYFO, Arbonne, White Rabbit Gifts, Jarrolds and Courteney who is one of the Norwich Bloggers founders doing gel nails for everyone free of charge. The event had such a great vibe, a real sense of community amongst like minded people who share a passion. The was no rivalry at all and everyone was just so kind and interesting to talk to and offer advice to each other. The was a huge range of subject matter across the attendees too with a strong beauty leadership but also lots of lifestyle, fashion, fitness, cooking, crafts and motherhood too!

In our Benefit goody bags everyone got a super cute passport holder and mini Lollitint, along with the details of the blogging scheme that Benefit has started for bloggers to be able to sign into a portal designed exclusively for them to be in with the chance to receive products to review and demo and info about events and launches! For more info feel free to get in touch!

Goody bags galore!

Goody bags galore!

Almost all the brands and businesses had something great to offer and the generosity was astounding from the gifts and goody bags provided. I just had the dream of starting a blog in the back of my mind at this point but after meeting some girls I can hopefully now call friends I just knew this world was something that I was dying to be part of and here it is becoming a reality. Norwich Bloggers is a such a great was to unite and meet people and the girls behind it Courteney, Justine and Hannah are incredibly proactive at doing lots of events and getting people together. Hopefully I’ll be able to attend the next event as a blogger <3

Supplying delicious sweet treats at the events the had Milk and Moss Coffee who had made the most amazing vegan and gluten free cupcakes with super adorable Norwich Bloggers toppers! They were amazing and as someone who doesn’t do well with wheat it was a real treat to be able to enjoy a cake worry free!!

image

 

Are you local to Norfolk and like the sound of this kind of event? Does anyone else have groups like this in their home town or have any amazing events they’ve attended? I’d love to hear!

Thanks for reading, let my journey commence.

Holly  x