Shopping: January 2012

Nothing too interesting really, still succeeding with my 'no spend' January as all I spent was the £20 which I was given for Christmas. 

- Kids Earmuffs: Primark £1

- Black Headband: Primark £1

- Black Hair Doughnuts x2 £1 each

- Acetone: Sally's £3.50

- Candle: Poundland £1

- Flickering faux Candles: Poundland £1

- Nail Art Pen £1.99

- W7 Metallic Jupiter £1.99

Swatch: Essence - Let's Get Lost (55)

LED lighting is down to the fact northern England doesn't seem to get much if any sunlight at the moment!

I actually won this polish from Lara, it is smaller than a typical polish, 5ml, but the brush and lid are fine to work with. I usually struggle a little with mini bottles, such as OPI.

Lasting Power: 3 - 4 days 

Opacity: Two coats  

Brush Type: Standard

Anyone know how much this brand of polish usually sells for in Euros? Its not available in the UK and I would really like to get my hands on a couple, especially before they get discontinued!

Swatch: Miss Sporty - Cherry (160)

Finish: Shimmer, medium red

Brush Type: Standard

Opacity: Two coats needed

Lasting Power: Standard 3-4 days

Also good for stamping with!

Nails: Blue Filigree

Base Polish: OPI - Road House Blues

Stamping Polish: Stargazer - 233 Blue Chrome

Stamping Plate: BM04

Swatch: Essence - Steel Me 03

And of course once magnetized

I like the effect but its a little bit gritty in texture, much prefer the look of the 17 magnetized polishes. Not enough to go and purchase their silver version though!

Storage: Mascara

Last year I went over my mascara's, you can find that post here. Eleven months on and it seems to have grown, a little tiny bit...

Models Own - Fabulous Mascara

Maybelline - One By One Volume Express

Maybelline - Great Lash Mascara 

(can't imagine how many of these I have had over the years!)

17 - Wild Curls

Primark - Ball Games

ELF - Waterproof and Regular Mascara

ELF - Lengthening and Volumising Mascara

(love this! watch out for a review coming soon)

MUA - Clear (1)

(perfect for setting unruly brows, hence the discolouration)

MUA - Black (5)

Nails: Purple Flowers

I have such a thing for purple polish right now!

Base Polish: ELF - Purple Dream

Stamping Polish: ELF - Black

Stamping Plate: BM 203

Shopping: December 2012

What with a wedding and Christmas to pay for there has been little money to go around for buying things for myself. I was lucky enough to be given a bit of money for Christmas myself and so managed to squeeze a few purchases before 2011 finished and my No Spend January began. So far I am doing great with that, although my lust list is rapidly expanding!

These I got for Christmas

I had swatched the magnetic polish before but didn't own it. The Essence is possibly a dupe of Lippmann's Across The Universe and Metallic Neptune and Black Emerald look very similar.

These are the ones I bought myself

Buy 5 get a free topcoat!

Red Dazzle is a fine red glitter within a sheer red base, swatch has 3 coats

Blue Dazzle is a fine blue glitter in a clear base, swatch has 3 coats

Green Dazzle is a fine green glitter in a clear base, again swatch is 3 coats
Fluorescent Green is almost pearlescent in finish and reminds me of Shrek. The swatch is 2 coats

Sheer Lemon, a cremé finish which after three coats isn't sheer

Hair: Halo Hair

Having long hair there is so many things you can do with it and yet I always seem to revert to the same couple of styles. I needed a messy, boho up do.

[picture from Google Images]

I had been inspired to try out a halo hairstyle by TorrinPage, who is really talented however her hair is much longer than mine and I never thought I could do that style hair. While Mary-Kate had shorter hair than myself in the above photo I am sure she will have had extensions and a team of people making her red carpet ready.

I came across a tutorial for this being done on someone with shorter hair than me I couldn't help but try it out. This was my second attempt and while its not perfect I am surprised by how easy it was to do. It needs to be more messy I think.

Tips: 

Make sure you can French plait normally before trying this version around the head!

Don't plait tightly if you want a messy look

Are you stuck in a style rut? 

Apparently two thirds of British women are because they lack the confidence to change

Nails: Golden Globes 2012

So the other night at the Golden Globes Zooey Deschanel was wearing a stunning green gown, with tuxedo nail art. This is my version of the nail design, for me her nails had too much white so I added a suit jacket to my version

As you can see her nails don't have the jackets

[photo from: Mirror]

What do you think? Would you wear this if you were going to a formal event?

Review: Dove - Intensive Repair Conditioner

There seem to have been a lot of nail related blog posts of late, but this is something a little different. 

I have fully used this up now and have made my mind up about what I think. I got a sample free with something which is why I went and tried this rather than my usual Lush / Aussie combo.

[Hair reminder: 34" long, relatively straight and thick, recently bleached and in need of TLC]

Dove describe this product as: Dove Intensive Repair conditioner provides instant deep nourishment and helps prevent split ends and breakages. Dove recognises that the main reason for our hair struggles is damage. That's why we put damage care and repair at the heart of everything we do.

Regular conditioners mainly repair surface damage but some damage lies deep inside the hair fibre, our unique dual-action formula contains:- Treatment with Fibre Actives™ which penetrates deep inside to rebind damaged proteins and reconstruct internally without weighing hair down.

Conditioner with Micro Moisture Serum which intensely nourishes and seals lifted cuticles to protect against future damage. All the benefits of a treatment at the speed of a conditioner, leaving your hair nourished, strengthened and protected from split ends.

TL:DR? Well basically its a quick acting treatment you can use everyday without a build up effect

Overall I think that it is a good conditioner, however it doesn't seem to continue treating the hair. First few times of using it works wonderfully however it must have built up as it didn't seem to be all that amazing after that. I wouldn't repurchase this.

Positives

+ Left my hair feeling sleek and smooth

+ Minimises flyaway's

+ Leaves hair smelling nice

+ Thick creamy consistency

+ Cuts down time standing about waiting in the shower

Negatives

- You can't stop split ends from splitting further without trimming them off, product claims to stop them

- Built up quickly

- I had to wash my hair more often when I used this

7 / 10

£3.36 - 180ml

Boots

Nails: Purple Pleaser Stars

I need a bit of help coming up with titles I think!

This is just something I wore over christmas

Base Polish: ELF - Purple Pleaser

Stamping Polish: ELF - Black

Stamping Plate: BM05 and BM20

Swatch: Essence - Blue Addicted

Dupe Alert! Lippmann - Across The Universe This polish had been on my lust list for ages, but seeing as Essence polishes aren't available in England I didn't manage to get it. My wonderful sister however managed to get me it for Christmas and I love it just as much as I expected too! Thank you!

This is a quick swatch of Essence - Blue Addicted

Left: Two coats of Blue Addicted

Right: Two coats of Blue Addicted on top of one coat of Models Own Emerald Black

I'm quite sure there will be a more in depth post about this stunning hex glitter polish. Just wish Essence would sell in England, it is in Europe after all!

Swatch: Model's Own - Emerald Black

This polish is part of Model's Own Beetle Juice collection, this is one of the more subtle duo chrome in the collection shifting from almost black to a deep emerald colour. 

Lasting Power: 3 - 4 days

Opacity: One thick coat works 

Brush Type: Round with blunt flat tip

£5 - 14ml

Models Own | Asos | Boots

52 Week Challenge: Week 15

Challenge for this week was to do some nail art inspired by a song. 

I couldn't think of anything so flicked on the music channels and first song was 

Lady Marmalade from Moulin Rouge

[pic from PhotoLog]

This is what I ended up with...

Any good?

Nails: Magnetic

17 Magnetic Polish - Blue

Essence Magnetic Polish - Steel Me

Review: Stiletto Nails

This shape of nail is very either you love it or hate it. I am of the opinion they can look good but are incredibly impracticable, and therefore are best for artistic purposes. Nail art is after all an art and each nail is a mini canvas for you to work your talent on.

This particular product is nail tips shaped in a pointy / stiletto heel style, and I got them from BuyInCoins.com. As usual they arrived within two weeks, packaged really well and the different size nails were individually packaged up inside so it is easier to select the right size nail.

The quality of the nails isn't 100% however for £1.39 I think they are well worth it. They aren't soft enough to flop, and aren't too hard so you can't cut them and trim them down in to a much more wearable stiletto length. If you were looking for a cheap stiletto nail tip then I do recommend these ones.

Both Rihanna and Beyonce have their nails at a more wearable length. Imagine doing the dishes with the nails Katy Perry wore, below!

 [photo from: Katy Perry's twitter page]

These nails were a trend during 2011 for celebs such as Rihanna, Beyonce, Gaga and Jessie J. I am not one for following fashion and trends however I think at a shorter length this shape nail can be practical and look good too. Any longer than these Gaga ones and I doubt I could type!

[image from: becomegorgeous.com]

What do you think of this shape of nail?

I have done another blog post featuring the stiletto shaped nails if you want to see that click here.

Stamping Plate: Bundle Monster 20

This stamping plate is from Bundle Monster, its part of the 21 piece first set

If you want you can see all the designs I have done with this plate here

Again all of these designs printed across well I really like the stars and the stars and arrows! 

Only problem is the images are on the small side. 

Which design do you like?