On Sunday the boyfriend and I headed out for breakfast; before reality stole its way in and made us do an emergency Morrison’s shop. However, I managed to come away with something more exciting than their chicken tikka sandwich pieces, as hard as this is to believe.

What I picked up (or rather snatched up in an effort to escape food-shop-boredom) was this little wonder: Rimmel’s ‘Lasting Finish Colour Rush’ and it has indeed got my heart a rushing.

Admittedly it looks and sounds like a knock off Clinque Chubby Stick. Both describe themselves as lip balms with colour in one way or another, and as you can see below there is some definitely (read deliberate?) similarities in the packaging.

In my rush, I picked up what looked like a soft pink (Give Me a Cuddle – that’s what Rimmel has called this shade, I’m not just weirdly whispering to you), but when I put it applied it is turned out to be more of a Barbie pink. Well, no, it turned out to be a very Barbie pink. It did cling slightly to the skin of my lips; however after a while the balm did its job leaving my lips in prime pouting condition. What impressed me most with this product was that it really was a lasting finish; I applied it at around 8.20am and did not have time to reapply it throughout the day. However whenever I checked my reflection the colour had more or less stayed put. Yes the shine had gone, but after various drinks and a sandwich can you really expect it still to be there? It had faded slightly, but evenly; to put it simply I had transitioned from Barbie to a soft pink, not that I was too fussed.

Since both of the images were taken whilst sat in a onesie in various states of being camara ready, for the sake of your eyes I have cropped out bits of me that weren’t really relevant and although they were taken in different lighting I hope they give you some idea about its staying power.

P.S It does look a lot more pink in the day light.

P.P.S It also has a creamy vanilla scent- yum!

After a manic week and work and the sad news of Robin Williams death I figured we could all do with reading something a bit more positive. So here’s a blog about one of my all-time favourite places – Towneley Hall.

Towneley Hall is set in Burnley, with expansive gardens, art galleries and golf club.

Owned by the Towneley family, the house was lived in until 1902 until it was bought by the Burnley Cooperation and opened to the public in 1903. You can learn more about the history of the house here.

I went just over two weeks ago, and baring this blog in mind I did take some photos but unfortunately the sun paired with the rubbish camera on my phone meant that many of them were really not worth sharing, so the images are from the Towneley Hall website.

I took my niece along who is 9 and we spent a happy three hours there. The gardens are perfect for rambling through with the dogs with memorials and wooden sculptures hidden along the paths. Plus there is a (practically) permanent ice-cream van; and not just any old ice-cream van, but one that serves sparking ice-cream!

The house itself has been made more child-friendly in recent years, with interactive areas and a mouse-hunt. The mouse-hunt in itself is worth borrowing a child to take there (with the child’s parent’s permission, obz) though as we soon discovered the ‘packs’ they offer you at the start are more of a hassle than anything.

Within a metre and a half of the ticket desk, our backpack had already collapsed and I had to sulk back to the desk, broken microscope in hand.

While the art gallery has the standard (but brilliant) art you would expect from a house like this, it also has a novelty piece I quite liked.

Looking at what seemed to be an odd chandelier reaching from the floor up to near the ceiling I glanced at the plaque, only to find it had been made out of all the lost earrings found in Towneley Hall, so if you like new installations – or miss-matched earrings make sure to search this out.

Also while you’re in the chapel keep your eyes peeled for a gruesome discovery. I won’t spoil it and say what (although I really want to) but needless to say, this little artefact was found behind a wall and presumably before that on a person.

I love visiting stately homes, possibly because we all now it’s inevitable I’ll be seeing out my days in one – here’s looking at you Prince Harry.* Can you suggest any others?

*But seriously, if you know/are Prince Harry…Call me maybe?

So this is my first ever blog post on rebeccacotzec.co.uk (Yay!) and unfortunately I feel I should start this blog with a confession: this design isn’t mine. I’ve borrowed it from Nailedit who sell gorgeous false nails.

However, I’m not really fan of wearing falsies (how do people manage to type in them?!) so I thought I would try to recreate the look because:

• It’s more fun.
• I thought this design would be perfect for shorter nails –which is great as I’ve broke all mine.
• It’s not your typical palm tree look.
• It’s also fairly simple, so great if you’re a nail art beginner.

I started this nail art design with a pale pink base, I used Rimmel’s ’60 Seconds Nail Polish’ in ‘Ring a Ring a Roses’ and while I loved the colour – a pale pink that looks neither washed out or sickly sweet- it wasn’t great to apply. Yes drying in 60 seconds(ish) is all well and good and admittedly helpful for nail art; however it’s a bit thin to be honest. It takes quite a few coats to get coverage, and after them it’s not even. I’ve been practising nail art for over a year now, and I struggled to get a smooth even finish. Maybe because it’s so thin and watery, but I don’t think that the fact it dried so quickly helped matters.

Once the base was dry, I used a dark purple from called ‘Benn’a Berry’ from Collection 2000 (is it still called that?) to add on the ‘branch’ of the palm tree. Ok… So in a realistic world I suppose you’re supposed to use brown, but I think that the dark purple is dark enough, while the slight reddish tone works well with the other colours. I used a dotting tool, using a medium end to draw the line. If you’re new to nail art, using a toothpick works just as well – sometimes even better if you want a fine line.

Next I used a green that is just described as ‘matt green’ from the always-awesome w7 Cosmetics. If you haven’t used this brand you must try them, they honestly are my favourite. They last quite a while, even for someone who chips their nails as much as me, they also have a great range of colours. If you’re shopping on their site, investing in their eye-shadow is another must! Love it!

Anyway, getting back to the point of this blog, now we begin to add the ‘leaves’ Try to make the leaves thicker towards the branch getting thinner as they splay out. As you can see from the photo I’ve left gaps in between my leaves, but tried to elongate them to cover more of the nail.

The final step is to add in some more ‘leaves’ you could do them all in one colour however I personally think that doing them in two shades just gives it a bit of depth, the detail adding to the overall effect.

I used ‘Pear Drop’ from Rimmel’s ‘I Love Lasting Finish Collection’ and just added in leaves wherever there was space. You can see an example of the lighter shade next to the (badly drawn) arrow.

The Finished Design

And that’s it! You have palm tree nails! If you decide to give this design a go, why not show me by commenting or tweeting me… I’d love to see! Or if you’re currently rocking some nail art, share it with me too… I’m always on the lookout for inspiration!