52 Week Challenge: Week 9

Week 9's challenge was 'rainbow' and it was a challenge!

Thumb: Essence - Let's Get Lost

Index: ELF - Fluorescent Pink

Middle: ELF - Teal Blue

Ring: BeautyUK - Lilac Girl

Little: Collection 2000 - Hip Hop

All too bright for me so I ended up toning down the brightness, turning it in to a comic book

Swatch: 17 - Magnetized Polish in Lilac

52 Week Challenge: Week 8

The challenge for this week was 'taping' and I used tape as part of the manicure so, I think it counts!

Base: 17 - Peacock

Red striping tape

Comparison: Revlon Colorstay - Ivory V's Rimmel 25 Hr - Ivory

"How do the two ivory shades compare?"

While the photo isn't overly clear in my opinion revlon colorstay - ivory is a much lighter pink undertoned foundation. The rimmel lasting finish - ivory is a darker colour and is yellow undertoned.

Swatches of Rimmel 25h Lasting Finish in five shades: here

Review of Rimmel 25h Lasting Finish Foundation: here

Tutorial on how to make your Revlon colorstay in to a pump action foundation: here

Review: Lush - Snowglobe Soap

They say ~ Although this is a refreshing citrus soap, it has a different blend of sharper citrus oils to give you an invigorating wash morning or night. We've used organic lemon myrtle for a fresh, slightly herbal citrus note, and lemon grass to complement the fragrance. This soap goes perfectly in a bath cocktail with Uluru, Avobath or You've Been Mangoed to shake the cobwebs off your tired brain.

I say ~ Like this one! I didn't think I did originally as I got it as a freebie but when I opened and used this the scent is lovely. Minty, pepper minty with a little mango. It isn't drying at all and the scent lingers on your hands for a while which is always nice.

If this product comes out again, as it was a 2010 Christmas item I will be purchasing a nice chunk of this!

10 / 10

Lush

Nails: Snowflake

Nails: Robotic

Base: NYX - Robotic

French: NYX - Purple Ink

Stamp: BM 208

Stamping Polish: Nails Inc - Electric Teal

Nails: Purple Giraffe Print

Base: ELF - Purple Dream

Stamp: BM 208

Stamping Polish: ELF - Black

Nails: Half Moons

No.7 - Violetta

Rimmel - Hard Edged

Swatch: Kleancolor - Holo Chrome (94)

Finish: Holographic, more of a lilac than a chrome

Opacity: Four coats needed, better for layering

Brush Type: Flat and wide, not as wide as OPI

Scent: Quite Potent!

52 Week Challenge: Week 7

The challenge this week was to come up with a manicure based on a tutorial 

I chose a frenchy dot tutorial as explained by Leslie from polishartaddiction

Sleek - Poisoned Ivy (green)

Sleek - Royalty (red)

Sleek - Oxford (blue)

Review: Studio Powder Brush

ELF state that ~ "This new anti bacterial, synthetic haired Taklon brush is softer and more absorbent and can be used with wet or dry products. Creates a professional sculpted look-Full coverage color. Use for powder or blush for perfect contouring"

My thoughts ~ I really like this brush, its perfect for applying liquid foundation. I tend to use it in a stippling motion to get an even coverage. For liquids which dry fast (like Revlon Colorstay) I like to spritz ELF's Mist and Set spray on the brush. This also helps the coverage to be lighter. The brush is densely packed with brush fibres.

Down sides of the brush are that ELF claim it is good for contouring, but its too big to give any definition to the cheek bones. It's a little difficult to clean as well, but washing through with olive oil and then brush shampoo does work well.

10 / 10

£3.50 - ELF

Swatch: Accesorize - Aztec Polish

This is such a difficult one to swatch accurately!

This is primarily a purple duo chrome, which does need two or three coats in order to build up an opaque nail coverage.

With the first coat it seems to be a green toned polish but once you have applied more coats it looks purple. I think that this polish and Orly's Space Cadet are very similar in tone.

I like this one, it seems to be a polish similar in colour to the oil on water effect you sometimes see.

The talented Helly managed to take some more colour accurate photos here, if your interested

10 / 10

£4 - 10ml

Accesorize | Superdrug

Review: ELF - Studio Eyeshadow - Charcoal

I own both Raspberry Truffle and Amethyst which I like. I was expecting this shadow to be of similar quality which is why I ordered it. The packaging is nice, has a little mirror and a good amount of product (2.75g) for the price.

Eyes Lips Face claim that their studio eye shadows are "beautiful soft texture melts into the skin for a vibrant color that lasts. Apply wet or dry for a fabulous look that never creases or fades"

Sounds great, however for this particular shade I have to disagree as the eyeshadow is lacking in pigment as you can see from the swatch (without) primer below

A very disappointing grey, and yes you can build up the colour however it would take a very long time and effort in order to achieve the colour in the product promotion photos.

Comparison: OPI - Nevermore V's NYX - Purple Ink

I think the NYX and the OPI are very similar.

Nevermore seems to be a little bit more of a gritty texture, which would be smoothed out with a top coat.

52 Week Challenge: Week 6

This weeks challenge as the title suggests was a brown / beige theme

Base: ELF - Mod Mauve

Tips: Barry M - Dusky Mauve

Top Coat: Maybellene Express Finish - Cosmic (840)

Nails: Teal Squares

Base: ELF - Teal

Stamping Polish: ELF - Black

Stamping Plate: BM203

Nails: Recent Attempts

Just a couple of designs I tried out recently

Swatch: Kleancolor - Blue Eyed Girl

Firstly lets start with the Kleancolor polish, Blue Eyed Girl (191)

These swatches are over a black base 

Hex shaped glitter with other varying sized glitter in a navy base

Yes its a pain to remove like all glitters! Its stunning and a near enough dupe to Lippman's Lady Sings The Blues for me.  

52 Week Challenge: Week 5

This week's challenge was themed 'Halloween'

Nails I actually did for Halloween;

NOTD: Magnetic Stars

Base Polish: 17 - Blue Magnetic

Stamping Polish: Stargazer - Silver Chrome

Stamping Plate: BM 21