{Nails} Barry M – Aqua Glitter

I was really impressed with Barry M Pink Silver Glitter so wanted to try another one of the glitters, but I wasn’t as impressed with this one. Pink Silver Glitter is almost a foil finish, but this one is large glitter pieces in a aqua polish which means it isn’t as opaque.



I decided that three coats gave the best coverage, one was terrible and two still left some bald patches. This would work well over another polish though. As expected from a glitter like this it was an absolute nightmare to remove and I was finding glitter over my hands for about a day afterwards. I love the colour, but was disappointed after how much I love Pink Silver Glitter.

xoxo

{Nails} £1.99 Essie Polishes

This wasn't the post I had planned for today but when the postwoman turned up at my door I couldn't not post about this. I did sort of mention it in my last post but thought I would draw more attention to it.

There are a few sites at the moment selling cheap Essie polishes (£1.99 as the title suggests), I found out one from a blog and the other from Miss Budget Beauty on Twitter. I love Essie, always have, even old Essie! I think I only have 4 of the diffusion line which compared to my Essie collection isn't much. I resisted at first, but they had some shades I really wanted.

I ordered from Fragrance Direct on Friday and these polishes arrived today, despite the bank holiday weekend. Xtras is selling Essie too, but for £2.99, still pretty cheap though!

❤ Essie Chubby Cheeks
❤ Essie Power Clutch
❤ Essie Brooch The Subject
❤ Essie Mademoiselle
❤ Essie Ballet Slippers
❤ Essie Fill The Gap base coat

The first 3 are the old type with the narrow brush, but Mademoiselle and Ballet Slippers both have the new brush which I was very surprised at!

If you like Essie then I would definitely recommend you head over to Fragrance Direct, they won't be there long!

xoxo

{Nails} Essie – Case Study

Sometimes I just want a change from bright colours, this happens quite a bit really. This time I decided on Case Study, a polish I have had for a long time but not worn, it was then when I noticed that it matched my new Forever 21 jumper and so I decided to add some pink too to match the rest of my jumper. Barry M Bright Pink was the best match. This is 2 coats of both polishes.



Essie Case Study is a bit different from my usual neutrals, it's less brown and grey and has almost a green-ish tone to it and a bit of beige. I think this is a bit of an usual taupe and can currently be picked up for £1.99 from Fragrance Direct (I ended up buying quite a few Essie's from them this week).

I really like this combination and think I will definitely be wearing it again, though maybe not at the same time as the jumper. I’ve been wearing my Forever 21 jumper non stop, definitely a good buy!

xoxo

Illamasqua Fight For A Fair Price For Beauty

Just a quick post to tell you about what Illamasqua have been up to lately. Illamasqua have been one of my favourite make-up brands for a while, and not just because they make amazing nail polishes. They are currently petitioning to try and get fair prices for make-up in Australia, they have to pay 61% more than we do in the UK for the same products, how is that fair?! They have started a petition to try and change this.

They currently have 10,000 votes but want to reach 20,000. All you have to do is give your name and email address, I signed it this afternoon and I hope you will as well.

Fair price for beauty petition

xoxo

{Review} Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain

I have always wanted to try the Clinique Chubby Sticks but couldn't face spending £16 on one of them, i'm quite tight when it comes to make up, it has to be really worth it for me to spend a lot of money on something (that said I am getting very tempted to buy the new YSL foundation and I did recently buy a Nars blusher but that was so worth it).

I had heard all the hype about these and knew I had to try them, they are currently on offer for £5.99 (definitely in Boots and maybe still in Superdrug) and I now have two in my possession.

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Cherish Devotion

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Lovesick

I have been really impressed with these, they're easy to apply and have a minty fragrance to them which I like. I find Lovesick to be really long lasting and leaves my lips with a nice stain, to the extent that I can't even get it off with make up remover, but Cherish Devotion is a different story! It fades badly on my lips and leaves me looking as if i'm just wearing lip liner, which is not a good look! Despite this I am keen to try out some more shades, perhaps a more neutral shade.

Have you tried any of these? Is my bad experience with Cherish Devotion a one-off?

xoxo

{Nails} Barry M - Turquoise

I'd fallen out of love recently with Barry M, the few I wore barely lasted 24 hours on me before chipping and I'd just had enough, but when I went away to Birmingham I thought i'd give them another chance. Turquoise is one of the first Barry M polishes I bought, and it was because of Kelly.

It's more blue-toned than I always imagined turquoise, but it's an amazing colour, I received several compliments while wearing this! This was two coats and it lasted three days without a single chip, it may have lasted longer if I hadn't taken it off a day after my trip. Since wearing this I have bought three more Barry M polishes, oops!

xoxo

{Nails} My Summer Polishes

I kinda feel that this post is long overdue, but the sun is still around so maybe I'm just in time! These are the polishes that I have been loving this Summer and keep reaching for. I have linked below to swatches of all of them.

My favourites:

❤ Illamasqua - Stance

❤ OPI - Mermaid Tears

❤ Ciate - Bon Bon

❤ Topshop - Adrenalin
❤ Essie - Lilacism
❤ Essie - Cute As A Button

xoxo

{Review} Bags Of Love – Kindle Case

I had seen products from Bags Of Love on several blogs and have been really impressed by them! When eyeing up their website the Kindle case kept jumping out at me, I adore my Kindle so thought it only fair it had a nice case to live in.

I have been so impressed with Bags Of Love, my case arrived the day after I ordered it and the quality of the printing is brilliant! Even my boyfriend was impressed with the quality, and it feels like a good sturdy case (it’d need to be with all the crap in my bag that it needs protecting against).


My case is printed on both sides with different photos, but I didn't want to show the other photo as I don’t want to put it up without my friend’s permission and he doesn't know about my blog. The whole process was so easy, the tricky part is deciding which photos you want to include! There is also an option to add text on, perfect if it’s a present.


I think Bags Of Love is a perfect site for presents, I know come Christmas I will be ordering a lot of personalised gifts. I love the make up bag that StyleFake designed. What would you design?

xoxo

*pr sample

{Nails} Barry M - Pink Silver Glitter

I saw this in Superdrug and couldn't resist, it's amazing! I have been really starting to love glitters lately and this one just helped that obsession!

This was just two coats, but it looks very pretty with just one. I put top coat over it, but it was still a little rough but nowhere near as bad as usual glitters!

It just sparkles so beautifully in the sun. The only downside is that I have got quite a lot of tip wear after two days, but it's barely noticeable! I will definitely be picking up more of the new Barry M glitters.

xoxo

{Hair} Today, With A Ramble

It's late and I should be in bed, but I wanted to write this before I fall asleep on my laptop. I liked my hair today, which is rare lately, and so I felt I should take some photos (stereotypical blogger right there!).

I also tried out my Nars Sheer Matte sample today, first impressions were really good! It's more of a gel texture and was quite weird to apply, and photographed well, but not sure how well it's lasted on me. After about 4 hours though it felt very heavy on my skin and has started to wear in the typical patches now and I look very shiny. I'll try again tomorrow. First impressions of Nars Sheer Glow weren't good, it just doesn't last on me and goes patchy, but I think I may be in love with the new YSL foundation! I'm going to try and get a second sample from another store to properly test it.

xoxo

{Nails} Essie - Fifth Avenue

This is one of the polishes I picked up in Birmingham. Me and Lydia were in Superdrug staring at the Essie stand for ages, I already had Dive Bar in my hand (i'm saving that for Autumn) but was looking at others and kept coming back to this one.

I used to rarely wear pinks and reds, traditional colours, but lately i've been craving them. I only own 2 other red cremes and they're both more blue-toned, so this makes a change. I just can't stop staring at my hands right now!

This was 2 coats, but it was opaque in 1 coat. It's not very shiny on its own, but 1 coat of Orly Polishield (my favourite top coat at the moment) and it's lovely! It's slightly less orange looking in real life, but so beautiful! My favourite red right now!

xoxo

{Haul} What I Bought In Birmingham

I went away for a 'weekend' in Birmingham, I say weekend but it was actually Thursday to Saturday, with Sinead, Carla and Lydia. I actually ended up spending most of the time in bed as I was ill, but I still managed to get some shopping done! The most exciting part for me was Selfridges, I don't have access to many high end brands at home so it was nice to play with some different make up.

What I bought:
❤ Forever 21 jumper
❤ MUA Undressed palette
❤ Nars blusher in Deep Throat
❤ MAC Electric Cool eyeshadow in Pure Flash!
❤ MAC Electric Cool eyeshadow in Superwatt
❤ Essie polish in Fifth Avenue
❤ Essie polish in Dive Bar

I also got samples of the YSL Le Teint Touche Eclat foundation, Nars Sheer Glow foundation and Nars Sheer Matte foundation.

I am really pleased with all of my purchases and i'm sure they will be popping up on the blog again, there will be a NOTD coming very soon!

xoxo

{Review} Clynol Hair Products

I was recently given the opportunity to try out 2 Clynol products, I’ve called this a review but it’s more like first impressions. I’ve only had these products a week so can’t give you a full review but will give you my first thoughts and then update in about a month or so.

I haven’t tried Clynol before, but have heard good things, the packaging is minimal, but smart. The products I have been testing are the Repair Leave-In Instant Keratin Filler* and the Polish Gloss Pomade*.


Leave-In Instant Keratin Filler* (£10.15)
The Clynol website lists it’s benefits as:

• Liquid keratin protection
• 3D repair & restore
• Reduces hair breakage by up to 95%

I have been impressed with this, firstly it smells amazing, first time I used it I couldn't stop sniffing my hair! It comes in a spray bottle but has a very creamy texture, thicker than most spray leave in conditioners. I feel this has been benefiting my hair, I used it with my usual shampoo and conditioner (Aussie Take The Heat at the moment), I got out of the shower and sprayed this all through my hair, went to get out my comb and it glided through my hair. Usually my comb is covered in hairs after a shower, but no hairs were pulled out from trying to comb through my hair. It’s also helped keep the tangles at bay during the day, I never touch a hair brush until bedtime, but after using this my hair was much less tangled than usual. Definitely a thumbs up so far. I am currently trying to grow my hair so I will update with whether the condition of my hair continues to improve.

Would I repurchase? Yes


Gloss Pomade* (8.70)
The Clynol website lists it’s benefits as:

• Texture and natural hold
• Intense gloss shine
• Instant result

My first impression of this was that it was much thicker than I expected, it has almost a gel consistency, which may be expected seeing as this has a hold level of 2 out of 5. When I first used it I was disappointed, I decided to straighten my hair and hoped that will the added hold in this would keep my hair straight for most of the day, it didn't. Perhaps I just had high expectations, but seeing as I don’t usually use any products with hold in my hair I expected something more. It left my hair shiny, but I'm not sure if it gave me anymore shine than usual. However, I tried it on my wavy hair today and was much more impressed, my hair still looked just as nice at the end of the day, after running round the park after my 4 year old niece, my waves were still in place and it still looked smooth. But I'm still not sure how much added shine it gave, which seeing as this is one of it’s main benefits then I'm not sure how effective it is.

Would I repurchase? No


I will update this review when I have used these products for longer, but these are my first impressions after a weeks use. I am definitely keen to try out more Clynol products, I can see a purchase of some shampoo and conditioner once I've used a few more products from my stash.

xoxo

*pr sample

{Nails} Essie – Pink-A-Boo

I have been wanting this polish for a long time, I ordered the mini set off eBay but it got lost in the post! I finally got around to re-ordering it, and unfortunately am disappointed. It’s a lovely colour, but clearly I didn’t read other reviews properly as this polish took 4 coats!!



 
It’s a lovely shade of pink that has glass flecks in it, and even a blue duochrome that is visible in real life but I could not capture it on camera. You might notice the marks on my nails, well this was because it took 4 coats so even with top coat I could not avoid the dreaded duvet marks in it! This saddens me as it has ruined the manicure! It’s beautiful, but I'm just not sure it’s worth the time and effort of 4 coats, sadly I don’t think I’ll be buying a full size.

xoxo