31 Day Challenge: Day 6- Violet/Purple

Woo hoo! I have been looking forward to this day of the challenge! Last week when I was hunting for the recently re-released GOSH Holographic nail varnish, I found a little beauty called Gasoline. When I saw that Day 6 was a violet/purple challenge, I knew that Gasoline would be in the mix:-

 

Look at that shimmer. Oh yeaaahh!

You wanna click on enlarge on all of these pics. Beautiful!

 

I painted my nails in Nails Inc for InStyle in Power Pink first as a base for Gasoline. Once dry, I then applied a wavy nail sticker- like the french tip stickers, only wavy. A good idea here is to stick the template sticker onto your skin a few times, just to take away thereal 'stick.' You don't want to take your base coat away.

I then applied Gasoline above the sticker. Once it had started to dry and was still tacky, I gently peeled the nail sticker away. Once fully dry, I applied glossy top coat.

When the 31 Day Challenge is complete, I am going to dedicate a separate post to Gasoline! Its a beautiful purple-pink and blue fleck shimmer suspended in a clear purple jelly base. It particularly looks amazing under artificial light (strangely looking its best in my local coffee shop!) So, when I do a straight swatch, I shall be experimenting with some lighting!

 

Ugh! Disgustingly beautiful. I <3 Purple!

Tomorrow's challenge is black and white! Another one I have been looking forward to!!

31 Day Challenge: Day 5- Blue

In yesterday's 31 Day Challenge post, I mentioned that today's challenge would be violet nails. Well, I was wrong. Its blue, and without further ado (a rhyme :D):-

So, this mani is not a straight-up swatch. Oh no, siree! I have blended two Model's Own varnishes to create a unique blend of colour and texture. The two varnishes mixed are Indian Ocean (from the Summer Beetlejuice collection) and Balearic Cool (from the Hed Kandi collection.) I simply dabbed blodges (somewhere between a blob and a splodge!) of varnish onto the nail and used a fine nail art brush to swirl it together. I paid attention to not overmix them, as I didn't want it to look like just one nail varnish on the nail.

Indian Ocean is a beautiful colour shifting varnish however, it is a pain in the @$$ to photograph clearly! The lighting this morning wasn't great either. I have taken lots of pictures in different lightings, so you can see just how the colour in Indian Ocean shifts.

 

Under artificial light.

 

Artificial light- brings out the shimmer!

 



 

Natural light.

 

Both Indian Ocean and Balearic Cool are untrieds. I had to even break the cellophane off them! These pictures really don't do this mani justice, it was waaaay prettier in real life. I hope to do some straight swatches of these soon, especially seen as I have to rest of the Summer Beetlejuice and Hed Kandi collections!

 

Super looking forward to tomorrow's violet challenge! C'mooooon! See you tomorrow!

31 Day Challenge: Day Four- Green

Hey guys!

Today's colour was green! Personally, I LOVE green nail varnish and I have a fair few greens in my collection. However, since the emphasis of the 31 day challenge is untried nail varnishes, I had to use this little lovely:

 

MAC Salad Dressed.

 

Close up shot.

 

APOLOGIES!! For the smudge on the pinky finger! As I was taking pictures of my mani, my soon to be one year old daughter thought it would be a GREAT idea to whack the camera down on to my still wet nails. Aboo. 



Smudges aside, I liked how this turned out. Salad Dressed is a mid-green creme varnish that leans toward a teal shade. Application was smooth and problem free. I also decided to do some simple nail art, just to jazz the mani up a bit- I didn't want you guys to just see a plain creme mani. *snoooooze*

So yeah, sorry for the smudge! Tomorrow's challenge is purple, and I have a new pretty polish just waiting to be tried!

31 Day Challenge: Day 3- Yellow

Hey guys!

I have decided to take part in the grueling 31 day challenge after seeing some mentions of it on Twitter. This challenge will be particularly tough, what with a young child and a full-time job, but I'm gonna try my damndest to do it!

So, I am joining two days late, however I fully intend to catch up on the first two days!

Here is the schedule for the month of September:-



To add a unique twist to the challenge, the focus will also be on using polishes from stashes that haven't been tried before. This will be particularly easy however, because if you're anything like me, you will have quite a few untrieds in a 100+ polish collection!

So without further delay, here is my yellow day three!

 

Sally Hansen Hi Definition in Lite.

 

Close up shot.

 

I bought this polish about four months ago from Poundland! What a bargain!! I also picked up another three of these Sally Hansend HD polishes, as they're not available in Superdrug or Boots. In fact, I'm pretty sure you can't get these anywhere in the UK!

 

Lite is a bright but not neon, shimmery yellow polish. Like a shimmering canary (imagine!) It thankfully avoids being a frost(eugh), but you do have to apply in thin, even coats or you will experience bubbling. Still, its pretty unique, and is more than welcome in my collection!

 

I'm super excited about the challenge, and can't wait to see what my fellow nail bloggers come up with!!

L'Oreal Chrome Intensity Eyeshadow - Eye Look and Review

Hey guys!

Here is a look I did this week with a L'Oreal Chrome Intensity eyeshadow in Blue Jeans. This shadow had been catching my eye in the shops for a while because of it's deep, royal blue colour and shimmer.

 

Blue Jeans.

 

 

Without flash.

 

With flash. Damn chrome effect packaging- almost blinding!

 

 

Ooo. Look at that shimmer. Beautiful!

 

 

 



This look was super easy to create. I started by tracing a faint line above my socket crease using a blue eyeliner. I then used a dampened MAC 272 brush (sadly now discontinued) to pack the eyeshadow colour within the traced line, and blended it into and above the line, to avoid a harsh 'sketched-on' look.

 

I then wanted to give this gorgeous blue, what I consider to be an 'imperial' look -I think I'd been reading about Russian tsars! So, I lined my upper lid with a 17 Cosmetics Starry Eyes Liquid Eye Liner in Stardust, a dense gold glitter liner. These eyeliners are da BOMB! Seriously, for less than £4, you can pick these up, and in they're just as good as the Urban Decay or Too Faced glitter liners. They apply well, with a good amount of glitter, and they don't feel gritty or irritable on my skin. Result.

 

The eyeshadow is an awesome colour, however the pigment is seriously lacking. I originally attempted to apply Blue Jeans with a dry brush, but soon gave that up as a bad job! The sponge applicator that come in the case is also pointless- it just didn't deposit enough shadow and it looked washed out. However with a damp brush, and some perserverance in packing the shadow on,  the result is pretty good! I also found it easily blendable, especially when my 272 brush had dried after packing the colour on. I just wish that L'Oreal did this colour in it's Color Infallible range, because the formula and pigment on those shadows ROCKS.

 

Starry Eyes Glitter Eyeliners are £3.99 and are available exclusively in Boots stores or on boots.com

 

L'Oreal Chrome Intensity Eyeshadows are around £6, and are available from Boots or Superdrug.

 

 

Freebie Alert! 17 Cosmetics Get Bronzed Kit

Everyone loves a good freebie, myself included. At the moment, 17 Cosmetics (a Boots exclusive brand) are offered a free 'Get Bronzed' kit, when you spend £5.99 or more on the brand's products. Easy done, right? In fact, I only had to buy one product, an Instant Glow bronzer, and the kit was on it's way home with me!

 

Get Bronzed Kit

 

 

Considering this is a freebie when you purchase under £6 worth of product, I'd say this is a pretty good freebie! Inside you get Statuesque, a metallic nude eyeshadow; In The Nude, a roasted caramel colour lipgloss, and Bronzed, a shimmery bronze cream blush. The cream blush in this kit is limited edition, but the eyeshadow and lipgloss are permanent products in the 17 Cosmetics range.

 

 

Inside the kit.

 

 

Statuesque eyeshadow.

 

 

In the Nude Lipgloss.

 

 

Bronzed Cream Blush.

 

 

Swatches l-r: In the Nude, Statuesque, Bronzed.

 

The colours in this kit are totally wearable, and would be great on their own for a daytime look. The Statuesque eyeshadow would go great with a dark brown eyeshadow to create a smokey eye for a nighttime look. The only product in this kit that I'm not entirely convinced with is the cream blusher. It wouldn't be enough on its own for me- its too sheer. However, blended on to the apples with a deeper bronzer as a contour- now that would work!

 

The kit is available in Boots stores and is free when you spend £5.99 or more on 17 Cosmetics. The kit is available until the 4th September 2012, so you better hurry!!





 

 

Lash Love #1: MAC 34 Lash

Hey everyone!

Its probably no secret to you all that I am a serious lash-a-holic. Seriously, I love them. Even when I take them off, forget where I put them, then get the bejeesus scared outta me when I find them and think they're spiders!

My MAC lashes however, I treat with a bit more respect. Especially considering they come in such a neat little case, making it hella lot easier to care and maintain them properly. The 34 lash is the most recent addition to my lash collection, and they are simply beautiful:

 

MAC 34 Lash

 

MAC describes these on their website as "dramatically long. Wispy. Features a long, wing-cornered edge." I totally agree! However, on their website, they omit to mention that some of the lash strands in the strip are actually BROWN. Ooo, I've never tried brown or at least part-brown lashes before. As always, I try everything with an open mind! I'm glad I do, because look at the lashes on...

 

 

 

Brown strands are visible in this close up shot.

 

How super flattering are these? I wanted to keep the eyes neutral so that you can see the lashes clearly, without any loud make up detracting from them! In these pictures I am wearing some shades from my trusty naked palette (Buck and Naked, I think) and these lashes perfectly complement this natural, day time look.

 

With regards to application, the 34 lash was exceptionally easy to apply, due to it being lightweight and the strip being flexible. I used my usual DUO adhesive to apply them. These lashes were also a good size, and I didn't need to trim them. Thanks to the wispiness of these lashes, they were also comfortable to wear. You know the heavy feeling you get about halfway through the day, when all you want to do is rip your lashes off, and William Wallace stylee, scream 'FREEDOM!!' Yeah, I didn't get that with the 34 lash.

 

I would say that the 34 lash is great for a daytime look, to add some oomph to your own lashes. The flipside of this is, that if you want to achieve a more dramatic eye look, then you should probably choose a completely black lash. I would certainly recommend these to false lash newbies, thanks to ease of application and wear.

 

The 34 lash is £10.00 and is available at MAC counters and online MAC.

 

More lash love coming soon!