Monthly Archives: March 2011

Illamasqua Viridian

March 23, 2011 Leave a comment

First I must tell you that I got both Illamasqua Viridian and Scarab polishes at an absolute steal on Asos Beauty Sale, the link to which is right here! I mean £10.35 for two full sized bottles… RRP is £13.50 each! I also bought a Nails Inc. polish at full price in the same transaction, and because I had a Diet Coke voucher code, which you basically find on Diet Coke cans, bottles and multipacks. Mine was £5 off when you spend £20 so in total I only spend £16.35, and the delivery was free. Even the delivery was amazing, it arrived 5 days ahead of schedule! (The Style Saver shipping ensures you’ll receive it within 10 days for free!) Very impressed with Asos.
So here are the piccies 🙂

Sorry for my lobster hands… they weren’t actually that bad, the camera just seems to always pick it up! This is what the polish looked like most of the time, dark shimmery green.
But in direct light and sunlight all of the fabulous shimmer basically dazzled me!
More lovely shimmer 🙂
Viridian is a deep green, it reminds me of the colour of the sea in harbours when there’s no sun. Then when the light hits it you see it glistening, just like the surface of the sea when the sun hits it! Can you tell I’m in love? Most of the time it just looks a very dark, foresty green, but when in direct light you can just about see the turquoisey beautifulness of it.
The polish applied beautifully, two coats and I was good to go! It dries quite quickly, I mean I couldn’t actually tell when it was properly dry as it dries a sort of velvety look and matte texture so I really wasn’t sure. But nevertheless I fell asleep about 20 mins after application and had absolutely no sheet marks the next morning! This makes me very happy as  a long term sheet-mark-sufferer. Removal too was fab, it came off very smoothly and didn’t make a mess at all. Love it. Can’t comment on the wear because as usual I only kept it on for a day and a half because I couldn’t wait to try Scarab!
Now this is something I’ve never been aware of, and I confess I applied my first coat of Viridian with the square lid with some difficulty, feeling surprised that at a RRP of £13.50 they couldn’t come up with a better cap. Much to my surprise the cap then came off and I thought “err it broke, definitely not worth the money”. Then the brain cells decided to fuel together and I decided it was probably meant to happen and was actually a much better idea than the square lid. Result = better polishing! I was surprised that I’d never read this before though :s It reminds me of the L’Oreal Resist & Shine polishes which have a similar lid function.
Overall I am madly in love with Viridian and think everyone should have it. Especially at the fabulous price offer, you just can’t go wrong! 🙂
Sorry for not blogging for a while I am finally feeling a bit better but going for a blood test tomorrow, which I’m a bit wary of because last time the nurse couldn’t find my vein and had to do it on my writing arm a week before my GCSE’s and guess what, it resulted in inflammation and bruising for about 10 days! Lucky me. Anyways. Hope everyone is well, and go and get the Illamasqua Duo! It’s beautiful!
Emma xxx
Disclaimer: Everything mentioned in this blog post was either bought by myself with my own money, or given to me as a gift from friends/relatives. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Nails Inc. Petticoat Lane

March 19, 2011 Leave a comment

With flash, 2 coats.
This is what it looks like with no artificial light or sunlight!

This is another of the polishes I received in the Lucky Dip, so it’s a discontinued polish, but I’m fairly sure there have been a few floating around on eBay recently. This is basically a raspberry coloured jelly, packed with pink glitter suspended in the polish. It applies beautifully and dries ever so fast! I am slowly becoming addicted to Nails Inc. polishes, largely for their fast-drying properties! I’ve had my eye on a few raspberry jellies recently so I was more than pleased when I opened my Nails Inc. package to find this beauty! My only qualm is that it looks quite dark when it isn’t in direct light, but it is gorgeous and I love it, this is my second wear in 2 weeks! It kind of reminds me of the O.P.I. Katy Perry polish in The One That Got Away, but with more, and larger, glitter.
I didn’t fancy the glitter removal challenge after the first day of wearing it so attempted a leopard print design…

Looks alright in flash, right?
Here is what it looked like 90% of the time, so dark that it just looked a mess! Such a shame because I love the picture in flash. So I ended up removing it anyway. For the leopard prints I used Boots 17 Lasting Fix ‘Peacock’, and the little unknown gold polish I got in a makeup set for my birthday (which is actually of surprisingly good quality – PrettyPink from Argos, and BUAV approved!) and my trusty Rio Nail Art Pen in black.
So my lesson is learnt, this polish is not really one for the nail art pile, but I’m happy wearing it alone anyway so I don’t mind too much!
Hope you are all well, I have a suspected stomach ulcer so I’m feeling a bit rubbish atm, hence my absence on here and Twitter!
Emma
xxx
Disclaimer: Everything mentioned in this blog post was either bought by myself with my own money, or given to me as a gift from friends/relatives. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Being Human Inspired Nails + A Nail Art Tip.

March 14, 2011 2 Comments

Hello all!
In case you weren’t already aware (how could you not be), it was the Being Human Series 3 finale last night. Words cannot describe my love for Being Human. Anyway. In honour of the occasion I did a little bit of nail art with my new favourite blue, Nails Inc. Chandos Place. This polish was one of the ones I received in the lucky dip and I must say I was very lucky! This is a very close match for Barry M’s Navy, although perhaps a tad lighter. I will do a comparison soon.

Hehe… can you guess the relevance of each nail?
In daylight.
Nails Inc. Chandos Place in daylight, 2 coats.

My nail art tip. Now I’m sure that I am by no means the first person to come across this trick but so far I haven’t spotted it on any blogs, otherwise I would be giving credit. So apologies to anyone who may have come across this/invented it, I promise this was just a compromise of my own making! For the full moon you see on my ring finger I was totally stuck as to how to make a perfect circle on the nail, since I suffer from shakey hands. I was umm-ing and ahh-ing until I came up with my initial solution. Cotton buds! However I then remembered that cotton buds are lint-hoarders and I didn’t fancy furry nails. My Barry M 3-in-1 Base Coat, Top Coat and Nail Hardener has been on a hiatus as it became very gloopy with less than a quarter of it left in the bottle. I would suggest using an old base coat/top coat/clear polish as it will become lint-tastic after this trick. Also make sure it’s clear to avoid ruining the colour of your circle. here are your instructions!

1. Dip the cotton bud into the base coat/top coat/clear polish and immerse it in the polish.
2. Remove the cotton bud, trying not to keep too much polish on the cotton bud so as to minimise the dry time.
3. When the polish on the cotton bud becomes tacky, gently mould the end of the bud into a circle.
4. Let the bud dry fully.
5. Once the bud is dry, apply a small amount (a small blob!) of the polish colour you desire for the circle to a piece of paper, and dip the end of the bud into it.
6. Ensuring your base colour is totally dry, apply the coloured cotton bud-end to the nail, and do not squish it around or you will ruin the circle!
7. Likelihood is, you’ll get quite a weak colour with this first application. You have a choice – either fill in the centre using the circle as your margin, or apply repeatedly when the circle is dry to build up the colour.

Sorry for the obvious tip but if it helps just one person then I’m happy.

Nails Inc Chandos Place is a lovely lovely lovely colour. I’m guessing as it was in the lucky dip and is discontinued it’s old stock, which may explain its slightly thick consistency. However this dries beautifully and lasts forever, even without a top coat. I’ve already used up about a 5th of it I love it that much! I’m aware that Chandos Place is/has been recently available on eBay.

The piccies were drawn freehand using Rio Nail Art pens, which I love!

Sorry for the Being Human post but I am well and truly OBSESSED! with it. I mean really, really obsessed.

Anyways, hope you are all well 🙂
Emma xxx

Disclaimer: Everything mentioned in this blog post was either bought by myself with my own money, or given to me as a gift from friends/relatives. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Glamour Magazine Clinique Freebies

March 13, 2011 Leave a comment

I’m sure you all know that Glamour Magazine is giving away 10 different Clinique sample freebies in their magazines, one sample in each. Obviously Clinique is quite a high end brand and so these freebies are like an ultra bargain! I waited a week or so to pick one up as I knew there would be a bit of a rush in the first few days for everyone to get their desired product. Having read around a bit, I learnt that the lipstick was probably the best value for money as it’s close to full size. Hence why I picked up the lipstick. Here are some piccies 🙂 (lots of pics…)

Can you see all that gorgeous golden shimmer?
White teeth illusion…
With flash.
Without flash.
To give you an idea of the size.
The High Impact Lip Colour in Rouge Impact “17 Rosette”. SPF 15 which is always a bonus.
This lipstick is a gorgeous red, packed with golden shimmer. It’s absolutely stunning, and for someone who doesn’t tend to suit red lipstick, I am overly happy with it! The combination makes me think of a sunset.
Application was lovely, this is a very moisturous (not a word but I can’t think of a better one!) lipstick in that it doesn’t dry your lips out as much as a lot of  supposed “moisturizing” lipsticks. *cough natural collection?* It glides onto your lips beautifully. It stays on for quite a while, but definitely doesn’t dry out, as every time I touched my lips my fingers were left loaded with gold shimmer. I talk quite a lot and I found that this also seemed to somehow remove a lot of the pigment. It certainly does not last the 8 hours advertised online! Maybe you’re meant to keep tight-lipped.
Considering the usual price tag for this lipstick is £15, I would expect a little more of the formulation, for example to last a bit longer or dry just enough to prevent losing it all at every sip of a glass! But there we go. The one I have is called “17 Rosette” but the online swatch looks totally different to the colour I have, so that may be something to watch out for if you ever buy this online.
Definitely worth the bargain £2, plus the Glamour magazine which is packed with clothes, makeup and celebrities etc.. I’m considering picking up a few more as I’d never spend £15 on this lipstick! Glamour can be found in most supermarkets, newsagents and ‘drugstores’.
Hope you’re all having a lovely weekend.
Emma xxx
Disclaimer: Everything mentioned in this blog post was either bought by myself with my own money, or given to me as a gift from friends/relatives. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Boots 17 Lasting Finish Toasted Almond x Accessorize Magical Mocha

March 13, 2011 Leave a comment

Left to Right: Accessorize Magical Mocha, 17 Toasted Teacake, Magical Mocha, Toasted Teacake. Both with two coats.
I often get to the point in an evening where I am so tired that all I want to do is crawl into bed and sleep. Usually very late at night, actually. And hence I am forever grateful for the lovely polishes that dry quickly enough to give you a beautiful finish and let you have max possible sleep!
Both these polishes dry very quickly. Magical Mocha is a wonderful brown shimmery-foily polish, with a hint of mauvey-purple. I love it! It’s one of those colours that looks subtle let sophisticated. Toasted Teacake is a beautiful browney-gold pearly polish, which is simply gorgeous. This too is subtle yet ever so glam 🙂 The formula of both of these polishes is fab, I would 100% recommend both of them.
I love the look of both of them on their own, but for a little interest I decided to go for a mixture of both, and it really turned out well! The best part is is that they are both subtle enough to go with most outfits.
The Boots 17 Lasting Finish retails at £2.99 usually, while the Accessorize polish can only be found in Superdrug (and possibly Accessorize itself – not sure on that one) at £4 a bottle.
I’m in love! I’ve dragged both out a couple of times when I’ve just been too tired to do anything that takes any large amount of drytime.
Really pleased that I had no sheetmarks whatsoever, despite applying the second coat about 15 mins before I was deep in the sleep! 🙂
On a sincere note I am devastated by the Japan disaster, I can’t stop thinking about it. I wish I had money to donate but I just don’t have anything 🙁 so so sad, my heart goes out to everyone affected by the incidents.

Emma xxx
Disclaimer: Everything mentioned in this blog post was either bought by myself with my own money, or given to me as a gift from friends/relatives. All opinions expressed here are my own.