Spotty Dots

I am looking forward to the next few days off work and spending Easter weekend with my family and friends. What are you up to over this Easter?

I wanted to do a fun spring manicure and this is what I came up with.

Here I used Models Own Pink Lady for the base (two coats) then using a biro (yes a biro, I don't have any dotting tools yet, I need to buy some, but I think this came out pretty well!) I scattered random dots in Models Own in Snow White and Fuzzy Peach. 

My nails are fairly short at the moment but I quite like them, they are still neat and am able to do some nice manicures. I am really pleased with how this turned out.The colours compliment each other and love how the dots turned out near perfect only using a biro.

£1.99 for 3 Accessorize shadows

I went shopping and popped into Superdrug for a few bits, I am doing another swap with Nicole soon and she has asked for some polishes from Gosh. After I had found her polishes I discovered a bargain basket filled with sets of trios of Accessorize eye shadows for £1.99. I had to pick up a set because it was such a bargain, each shadow is normally £4 each.

I picked up the one which has lilac, slate grey and a pastel green.

I swatched each shadow on my arm over a white base (Maxfactor smokey eye effect) the colour transfered really well and is extremely pigmented. The shadows themselves feel silky and creamy which I love. Am going to try them out for work this week to see how the feel on my eyes and how long they last.

I am glad I picked these up, I love a bargain when I see one and I adore the bright colours. 

It worked!

So my first attempt at using nail foils was a massive fail, I watched videos on how to apply them and the method is very simple, but when I tried I just could not get the foil to transfer properly. The foil just applied really patchy and I couldn't get it to transfer smoothly. That was about a month ago and I just decided that I was never going to get this right. Determined not to be defeated I fished my kit out today and wanted to have another go. I am thrilled to say this time round worked, really well! I am not sure what was different, I think my base polish was the difference which might be the reason.

I painted my nails with two coats of a gold polish by Orly (sent from my swap friend Nicole over at Noir Lacquer) then painted a thin coat of the nail glue on the bottom half of my nails and waited till the glue dried clear. I cut off a section of foil and placed the piece on the nail where the glue was (colour side up) and rubbed the piece on the nail with making sure there were no lumps and bumps. Carefully lifting the paper up I was thrilled the foil had transfered. I love the way this looks, so pretty.

This time round my faith has been restored in my ability to apply foils to look semi presentable. I think the key with foils is practice and patience! 

New release for May 2011 - Collection 2000 Hot Looks nail polish

Nearly the weekend! Hope everyone has had a lovely week? I have some exciting news to share. Collection 2000 have a new set of nail polish perfect for summer. Consisting of five new shades, their Hot Looks line has pretty pastels and neutral tones. I was sent the range to test out and am pleased with the results, another triumph for Collection 2000.

The top picture is one I took, the second is the image I was e-mailed from their PR team. The shades from the second image are Fruit Loop, a gorgeous coral colour which I found to have a warmish pink undertone. Milkshake is a very neutral brown toned shade, Angel Wings is a slate grey, Lemon Soda a bright yellow without being garish and finally Candy Floss a lovely pastel pink. Here is a closer look at each polish:

Fruit Loop (46) This picture makes the polish look lighter than how it appeared in real life. On my nails it is a fabulous coral shade, the picture doesn't do it justice.

Next up is Milkshake (47) This was my least favorite shade, I find neutral tones are lost on my skin tone, they blend in too much for my liking. However this shade would be good if you wanted a light colour on your nails without being too obvious. 

Now we have Angel Wings (49) a fantastic blue ish grey, which is my favorite polish from the collection.

Lemon Soda (45) is a bright yellow, lighter than a pastel but not too in your face like a neon, this yellow is just right. I just adore the way this colour transfered on, it is a very jolly colour which I am going to be wearing a lot of in the summer. This would look great with some sort of black Konad design over the top.

Finally we have Candy Floss (48) a gorgeous warm pastel pink, another particular favorite of mine from the collection. Again this picture is not shade accurate, the polish is more pink in real life, a very light pink which would be good for summer weddings if you wanted a more delicate colour.

Overall I am impressed with Collection 2000 with this line which is due to be released May 19. The bottles will cost £1.79 each which I think is a complete bargain. 
The formula is fairly thick, so two thinner coats and you are good to go, there is no visible nail line showing through which is great. The varnishes dry very quickly and have a lovely shine, the creme formula is one of my favorite finishes for polishes. 


What do you think of this new range?

(The products in this post were provided for a review)

Lush Tiny Hands - a fail for me

I was given this solid hand serum (£3.95) by a friend, I hadn't ever used a serum quite like it before so was keen to give it a try.

I like the shape of this serum, as you can see it looks like a hand, but the first thing that hit me from the bag was the smell. It is so strong, very overpowering, which I was not so keen on. I held the serum in between my hands for a few moments so the warmth from my skin could melt the solid serum. I then just rubbed it into my skin.

The actual product was not what I am used to and didn't like the way the serum felt, it was too greasy for me. The oils did make my skin smooth but I just disliked the way it felt, the oils didn't seem to sink into the skin easily, I found it just sat on the surface. It did absorb eventually, but took a while.

I think I will be giving this one a miss in future! It is the only product from Lush I have tried which I really disliked. 

Colour changing polish - a novelty

So glad the weekend is finally here, I have been so tired recently I just need a couple of days off work to just have a lie in and relax. Hope you are all having a good weekend?

I did a nail polish swap with the lovely Nicole from Noir Lacquer fairly recently. The package she sent me came really fast, but the one I sent her literally arrived a couple of days ago, it took nearly a month to arrive to her in the USA, we posted our packages within three days of each other, so it was a bit annoying that mine took so long to reach her. I was so worried it had got lost in the post, I even had the form to fill in to give to the Post Office ready to complain

I wonder why it took so long to reach her, could it have been caught up in customs perhaps?

I hadn't used the Claire's Mood colour changing polishes Nicole sent me since I swatched it. I wanted to give it a go as the idea of a colour changing polish is just amazing to me.

This particular one is happy/ earthy and changes colour between green and yellow depending on whether you run your hands under hot water or cold water. What I love is that it creates a gradient manicure without even trying. Near the nail bed the polish is yellow then gradually changes to green on the nail tips. I couldn't photograph the gradient effect as well as it appeared in real life but hopefully you get the idea.

I found the actual polish very sheer, this is four coats and you can still see the nail line, so I think in future I might apply a base coat of white polish. I love the effect though, I haven't seen anything like it in the shops in the UK and love the novelty of the colour change.

Models Own meets China Glaze

Hope everyone is having a good week so far? 

Tonight I am off out to the theatre with my mum to do a review for work, the show is called The Naked Truth. I am looking forward to it.

At the moment I am wearing a China Glaze nail polish Cheers To You and Models Own glitter Juicy Jules as a top coat. 

Glittery goodness! Here are the other polishes I used, two coats of Cheers To You, then two coats of Juicy Jules and finished off with Seche Vite top coat.

In the shade the Juicy Jules looks like a dull silver glitter, but when the light catches it the multi coloured particles looks awesome. The glitter had a slightly gritty texture but the top coat soon sorted that out. I much prefer to use a silver base coat and then the glitter on top rather than to use several glitter coats to build up a solid colour.

Fizzbanger

The nearest Lush to me is in Exeter which is over an hours drive, so I don't go there very often. When I do I always pop in and have a browse. This time I bought a couple of my absolute fav bubble bar Flosty Gritter, which I found out is being discontinued, so I am now every sad. This was the only product in Lush I was faithful to, I went back time and time again. The shop assistant said it was one of their popular bubble bars, so god knows why they are discontinuing it.

I also bought a bath bomb, which is unusual for me, but this one smelt lovely and I thought, why not. I picked up Fizzbanger. I love that name!

Now, since Lush products can be quite pricey I want to get as many uses out of my products as I can. So, out came a kitchen knife to break this bad boy up....

I love the glitter bits in it and the orangey yellow bigger chunks, the smell is kinda zesty with a hint of sweetness. I dropped one of the larger chunks in the bath and it fizzed up like it should do. But then there was a a crackling noise, like crackling candy. I guess this is where the bomb gets its name Fizzbanger from. A nice added touch. The water turned a yellow orange colour and the scent filled the bathroom which lasted a long time.

I will definitely pick this one up again, it cost £2.99 but if you break it up then you can have multiple baths out of one product. Have you ever tried this particular bath bomb?

Weekend nails with glitter

Hope you have had a good weekend? I had a relaxed one and caught up on my sleep, went home to see my family and give mum her mother's day presents.

I wanted to wear a couple of nail polishes I hadn't worn in ages, Barry M Pure Turquoise and N.Y.C Starry Silver Glitter top coat.

Love these two! The Barry M is a perfect bright turquoise, it leans more towards blue though, it is so vibrant and was perfect in two coats. This is what is looks like on its own.

Waited for this to dry then added two coats of the N.Y.C Starry Glitter top coat, this is an amazing top coat. It is a clear base with tons of silver and multi coloured glitter particles with larger blue and purple/pink particles.

I really like this glitter top coat! In the right light the smaller glittery bits flash a rainbow of colours, in normal lighting the larger particles shimmer away. After I had applied this I added Sech Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.

some more pictures:

I love this combination, am going to try the top coat over different shades soon. What is your most treasured top coat?

Shattered and purple shimmer

For today's eye shadow look I wanted to use two colours which are a deep and shimmery, I went for Shattered from Urban Decay and a deep plum from MUA. I applied a white base, then applied shattered on the inner corners and MUA's purple on the outer corner. This is what I ended up with: 

I really like this way this looks, purple and green seem to compliment each other well. I love the purple MUA shadow, for £1 an amazing colour and I recommend picking this up next time you go shopping. What colour combinations on your eyes are you wearing at the moment?